《The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox》


 Chapter 1: Beginning After The End

    Chapter 1: Beginning After The End


    <em>''I I''m really getting a second chance?''</em>


    Evelyn still found it unbelievable, even as she stared at her tiny body in wonder. Her hands and feet were small and chubby, just like a newborn child, and her dark pink hair was long and slightly wet. She didn''t even know if this appearance was considered out of the norm in this world.


    Her reflection in therge ss ball blinked along with herself, mirroring her movements perfectly. She had no idea what the purpose of this ball was supposed to be, but she had the feeling that it must be some sort of image recording object, like a camera.


    <em>''All these people look exactly like humans, but I came out of this egg? How fascinating''</em>


    "Monmon, look, she''s so cute! Ah, ah, why can''t I touch her yet?!"


    The woman iming to be her mother looked proud, enthusiastic, and full of energy. Quite contrary to the image of exhaustion and relief that she would normally expect from a woman who had just given birth.


    "Calm down, Be! You have to wait! The image is almost done forming, and she still has to finish consuming her shell."


    And she assumed that the man trying to desperately calm her down was her father. Evelyn was slightly surprised to discover that she could understand what they were saying, but didn''t ponder on it too deeply yet.


    The woman seemed to calm down instantly, her previous enthusiasm seemed to havepletely disappeared. "What''s going on? Aren''t babies born from spirit eggs supposed to eat their shell the moment theye out? Is there something wrong with the shell? Did someone poison it?!"


    Her anxiety made even Evelyn nervous, but the man seemed to be quite calm and grabbed her hand before she could touch one of her shell pieces.


    "You shouldn''t touch it, dear. This is what she has to do herself, so just wait for now. If she doesn''t start soon, we can try to hint it to her somehow. If nothing else works, then we''ll have to call father to figure something out."


    The man then pped his hands, and a short but stoutdy in a servant''s attire entered the room. "Lord Desmond, Lady Isabe."


    "Go inform the patriarch that there''s been a minorplication that might need his help."


    The servant left in a hurry as soon as the words left the man''s mouth.


    Although she was a bit hesitant, Evelyn understood that if she did not start eating her shell soon, it will just create more needlessmotion. Anyway, what could go wrong?


    Rolling her tongue in her mouth, she could feel six tiny teeth each on the top and bottom. It was better than being a toothless baby for sure, but one look at the thick and firm looking shell made her doubt if these were enough.


    When she finally set her mind on eating the shell pieces, she could feel a kind of natural instinct slowly taking over. Within moments, it became impossible to control the overwhelming urge. It felt strange because she had never felt such apulsive instinct in her previous life. The temptation was many times greater than that of a ss of cool water after almost dying from thirst.


    "Sh-she''s doing it!"


    "Shush!"


    Before she knew it, one of her tiny hands was already stuffing a piece as big as her fist into her mouth. Given that its thickness was simr to a coconut shell, and the texture in her hand was less like an egg and more like ceramic, she was already prepared for a very painful and slow chewing experience.


    "She did it!"


    "Kyaa!"


    But as the shell contacted her tongue, all her doubts vanished in an instant. It melted in her mouth like warm chocte. Like a soft explosion of the most luxurious strawberry ice cream on her tongue, and for a while she sat there stunned.


    <em>''Wow that that has got to be one of the most delicious things I''ve ever eaten, right?! Is this really an egg shell? Suddenly I''m really looking forward to the food in this world!''</em>


    Of course, given her past life wasn''t the most opulent, she hadn''t really eaten any luxurious meals on earth. Maybe this was just a taste of what she had always been missing out on.


    She didn''t even notice when she had finished the entirety of her shell, the total volume of which should have been many times that of her tiny belly. It was only when her mother picked her up with a squeal that she was shaken from her daze.


    The constant chatter of the surrounding adults was like a buzz in the background, and she couldn''t make out what they were saying at all.


    [ Consumed Natal Spirit Egg Shell ]


    [ Spirit Power +5 ]


    A wave of drowsiness seemed to hit her all at once as she snuggled into her mother''s embrace, and like a dream, the events leading up to her rebirth began to rey in her mind.


    ----------


    It felt like just yesterday when she was still in her home, studying for the uing exams. It had not been long since she had gotten back her motivation to turn her life around, her teenage mind full of hopes and dreams. She no longer cared about the identity of the mother who abandoned her at birth.


    One day, she''ll shine so brilliantly that her birth mother can only look up to her and regret it, begging for forgiveness that will never be granted.


    One day, everyone who looked down on her or made fun of her will only be able to look at her with admiration and envy. What of the scar left when she was abandoned? She still had her two hands! Even if her face was ruined, her head was intact!


    I am smart, and I work hard, I will be a winner of life without any help from anyone, just you guys wait, she thought.


    That day never came.


    The next morning when she woke up from her dreams full of hope and determination, it was not on her small bed but on a conveyor-belt feeding into what looked like a huge meat grinder. Not only was she bound and gagged, even her thoughts were groggy from drugs. She did not even know who did it, and could only try to scream helplessly as her lower body was slowly turned into minced meat as pain unlike anything she had ever felt before wracked through her body. It barely came up to her thighs when everything went dark.


    Herst thoughts were filled with both relief and regret. <em>''It''s over, it won''t hurt anymore. It''s over It''s over''</em>


    The next time she regained consciousness was in a dark space with four dimly lit yellow orbs allowing her to barely see anything. It took her a minute to realize that the space wasn''tpletely empty, and the lights weren''t lights, but eyes. Humongous, grotesque eyes of what she could only think of as some sort of cmity inducing space creature.


    She could only make out the vague silhouette of the ginormous translucent being that seemed to be floating atop a mountain of what looked like a variety of pale white, hairless and naked corpses. The only source of light seemed to be from its eyes, and for a moment she wished it really waspletely dark.


    Those four dimly lit orbs of pure yellow without any iris or pupil did not provide her with anyfort or security, despite looking almost like light bulbs. What they showed, however, only filled her with fear and anxiety.


    The creature seemed to be leisurely chewing on its food, and through the dim lighting she could make out some features that differed quite a bit from a human corpse, with stone grey skin and an elongated neck. It was probably some alien race, she thought.


    Evelyn kept trying to see her own body, and after a lot of squinting she finally got some results. It was worse than she expected, a lot worse than missing legs.


    "This is not my body this is not a body at all! I-I''m a doll now? A puppet?!"


    Her shock wasn''t unjustified, as her current body looked eerily simr to a poorly made wax doll. At this moment she just wanted to run away, but she couldn''t even make the wax doll twitch.


    "<strong>C</strong>r<strong>i</strong>t<strong>t</strong>e<strong>r</strong>"


    A chillingly cold voice echoed, and she subconsciously felt as if death hade for her once more. She did not even feel this kind of fear when she was certain of her doom on that conveyor belt. She felt that if it was this being who killed her, she would perish in a way that''s decidedly more unpleasant. But even through her fear, she could make out the words it spoke clearly. It was as if she was forbidden from ignoring this being.


    This was the pressure of facing a higher-level life form.


    "<strong>C</strong>r<strong>i</strong>t<strong>t</strong>e<strong>r</strong> s<strong>e</strong>r<strong>v</strong>e <strong>m</strong>e, <strong>a</strong>n<strong>d</strong> <strong>I</strong> s<strong>h</strong>a<strong>l</strong>l <strong>g</strong>r<strong>a</strong>n<strong>t</strong> y<strong>o</strong>u <strong>a</strong> c<strong>h</strong>a<strong>n</strong>c<strong>e</strong>"


    "Serve you?"


    It was not important how she was addressed by this being, that was the least of her concerns right now. More importantly, what could she possibly be capable of that this being isn''t? It was absolutely absurd. If she wasn''t mistaken, the reason she didn''tpletely die was because of this creature. That alone was far beyond what she, or any other human, was capable of.


    As if aware of her thoughts, the being seemed to chuckle in mirth. She also noticed that it had stopped ''feasting''.


    "<strong>D</strong>o <strong>y</strong>o<strong>u</strong> w<strong>a</strong>n<strong>t</strong> i<strong>t</strong>, o<strong>r</strong> n<strong>o</strong>t?"


    Evelyn felt a tremor deep in her soul, and at this moment she realized that if she did not ept this chance she might be decisively removed, without a second thought. Even though she knew that maybe the corpses that this being had been feasting on were the people who had ''failed'' their master, and if she epted then she might one day join them, even if she ''served'' well Between dying now and dyingter, she knew where to ce her bet.


    She tried to nod hurriedly, before realizing her neck was too stiff and slow, so she could only yell her assent.


    "Yes!"


    She wasn''t sure if it was her illusion, but the space seemed to rumble as the creature moved its tentacles around.


    "<strong>H</strong>m, <strong>a</strong> s<strong>m</strong>a<strong>r</strong>t <strong>c</strong>r<strong>i</strong>t<strong>t</strong>e<strong>r</strong> <strong>G</strong>o<strong>o</strong>d."


    The creature said nothing more, and a vicious momentum struck her. Her mind spun with vertigo as it felt like her doll body was flung away carelessly.


    "Stop stop help me help me!"


    Her desperate cries for help went unanswered. She didn''t even know if she was screaming or if it was just a loud echo in her own mind.


    It felt like hours before her doll body painfully crashed into solid ground, wracking her still spinning mind with pain. A painful scream should have torn through her throat at this moment, but all she heard was a muffled grunt.


    "This doll body really is trash I can''t move as I like, but I can feel like shit very well!"


    Bursts ofughter assaulted her as the words left her mouth, sending chills down her spine as she carefully started observing her surroundings. But the more she looked, the stranger it got.


    "This room ispletely closed off not even a gate or a window just how did I no, nevermind that What am I supposed to do now?"


    Her question was, of course, directed to the voices who hadughed at her. She was quite sure the abomination who gave her a new life had already stopped caring about her, and she was now under the supervision of its underlings. Since a superior being like that was actively seeking underlings, there''s no reason it wouldn''t have a process in ce for them already.


    There were a few chuckles she heard in response, but no one answered her question.


    The room wasn''tpletely empty, of course. She could see what looked like two more people, in the far corner of the room, sprawled on the floor, much like her. The one key difference was that they seemed to have genuine human flesh and hair instead of wax or whatever it was that she had.


    She could only helplessly try to drag her doll body to the ''other people'', internally cursing at how useless it was. It was only when she got a lot closer that she noticed that they weren''t just lying down, they werepletely motionless.


    "They''re dead?!"


    Her reaction this time only brought forth a few chuckles, but the ''spectators'' seemed to be bored of her already. Their voices seemed to ring out all at once, and she could barely keep up with their so-called conversation.


    "Choose one, you''re thest one here. You''ll just die soon anyway, so don''t waste our time and let the test start."


    "You think the newbie will be fun to watch? Ahahaha"


    "I''m hopeful of the first guy, he really lucked out. Heh, too bad for the others in this round, but being lucky is being lucky. What can you do?"


    "Tch. It''s always pathetic watching these ants kill each other. But it''s funny."


    "Although it''s pathetic, it''s a good way to weed out garbage, ahahaha Lord Chronos is really not picky, this kind of garbage is also given a chance, huh. Thankfully, he has us to make sure only thepetent ones get the chance."


    "You really have a death wish. What if the Lord heard?"


    "Don''t be such a tight-ass. The Lord has faith in us, so we have to do our best, ahahaha"


    Choose one you''ll die.


    Choose one you''ll die.


    The words seemed to echo inside her head endlessly. A mixture of rage and despair cycled through her soul, making her wish to tear these careless underlings apart.


    "Even your boss is more courteous than you, morons! Can''t you do your jobs properly? What''s with this careless attitude?!"


    is what she tried to yell out, but only a mixture of grievance filled grunts came from her broken mouth.


    It was only then she realized that in her rage she had unknowingly broken not only her wax fingers, but also her jaw. Her mind was nk as she tried toprehend just how garbage this doll body was. How could it be able to destroy itself so easily? The worst part was that she could still feel the paining from her broken jaw and wrists.


    "No it''s not hopeless, I can choose one of those two in front They said I''mst, meaning these are leftovers, but even if they''re no good, they must be better than this trash wax doll."


    As she got closer, she finally had a clear view of the two ''people''. But the more she looked, the colder she felt.


    The body on the left was that of a scrawny female child. She could already feel the intense waves of hunger assaulting her as she thought of possessing this body. The worst part was that she was going to have to go into a survival test where she would likely have to fight a lot. With a body like this, how could she win?


    On the other hand, the body on the right seemed to be of a medieval woman with very heavy-duty build  the kind that looked like she could work twenty hours a day and not get tired. Slightly overweight, but overall a far better choice than the one on the left. There was only one problem her legs were crushed. They were not even properly amputated, it looked like something heavy had been smashed on them repeatedly until they were ruined.


    She could only helplessly crawl over to the scrawny body on the left, and as she got closer, she felt a tearing sensation from deep inside her, and then hunger.


    "Ohhh uh"


    She could speak normally now, but still made only grunts as she clutched her empty stomach. This body was clearly not used to being hungry, but had been left abandoned and starving for a long time.


    A door appeared in front of her at this moment, and she scrambled towards it in a hurry. Anything to take her mind off the pain in her belly.


    As the door mmed shut behind her, she felt like the pins and needles from the gazes of the earlier ''spectators'' had disappeared. Or at least, she could not feel it anymore because perhaps they were further away.


    The corridor she entered was also all ck, and just like thest room, mostly empty. Her starving eyes still went through the room meticulously, hopelessly searching for anything she could eat. Although she didn''t want to think about it, she would probably even eat rodents or insects at this point.


    Her hopeless gaze paused as she noticed that there was a small coin like object on the ground.<ol><li>Please keep in mind that the events from this point on and until the end of chapter four have already happened, and Evelyn is only recalling them.</li></ol>

 Chapter 2: Survival of The Fittest

    Chapter 2: Survival of The Fittest


    The tiny ck coin was barely noticeable, its colour matching closely with the floor. If she hadn''t been desperately looking for even the tiniest insects, she would never have spotted it.


    Evelyn walked over and examined it carefully, but could not find anything special about it except that it had ten vertical line marks in two rows of five.


    "Is this the number of people in the test? Or does it serve some other function? Or is it just a scratched-up coin? This room is so meticulously clean but this is still here, it might have some purpose."


    She couldn''t be sure, but it was better to keep it with her for now. Since she didn''t have any clothes or anything to keep the coin in, she could only helplessly clench it in her hand and walk forward. If nothing else, it was a hard thing she can hit someone with.


    As she came to the end of the corridor, another door appeared in front of her, and this time intense light assaulted her the moment she touched it.


    "What?"


    The corridor was gone, and so was the gate.


    Tall trees and shrubbery filled her vision with greenery, it looked like a forest that went on as far as the eye could see.


    "A jungle? But this might be good for me."


    Her body was scrawny and weak. It would be stupid to go around looking for fights. To make matters worse, she didn''t have any weapons except for the coin, and she had her doubts of finding anything useful in the jungle.


    "Well, sticks and stones are still better than these tiny fists. And I have to find something to eat, it hurts so fucking much."


    She ignored the phantom stabs of pain from her belly as best as she could. Her primary concern was the nature of the test. If she understood correctly, the test was just a barbaric elimination, and whoever survives in the end wins.


    If she really had to rely on just her bony fingers and muscle strength, the scrawny body she had was really too hopeless to pass such a test.


    "No, focus Evelyn. Humans didn''t dominate the animals because they had the strongest bodies. I just have the be smarter than nine other people and I can get through this alive No matter what, I can''t die again after getting a second chance!"


    She first found a tall bush nearby and carefully crawled in. After making sure she was hidden and wouldn''t be easily found and killed by a roamingpetitor while she wasn''t paying attention, Evelyn started thinking about how to survive till the end.


    "They said it''s funny to watch them kill each other so maybe the others are fighting each other to the death whenever they cross paths."


    In that case it was better to hide until they were done killing each other.


    She had no futile fantasies of thest remaining people eliminating each other and achieving victory without fighting. Evelyn knew very well that she would have to fight at least thest person who remained besides her. But that didn''t mean she had to fight everyone else and get injured or exhausted before the inevitable final battle.


    Suddenly, the coin in her hand gave a pulse of warmth, attracting her attention.


    "What''s going on? One of the marks vanished?"


    Her lips arced unconsciously as hope spread through her chest. "If I can tell how many people are left at any time through this coin, then I will know exactly when to make my move!"


    Although there was a possibility that both her conjectures of there being tenpetitors and the coin being able to track their survival were wrong, there was no other lead she could think of holding on to. At this point, she could only ce all her hopes on this path, and tread dauntlessly.


    The eerie silence of her surroundings made her feel strange. Unlike a real forest, it was as if the entire thing was created on a whim, and the creator did not bother putting ''unnecessary'' things inside.


    "This ce is way too silent for a jungle I can''t hear any birds, no animal calls, not even mosquitos"


    Although it was a good thing for her, it also made her slightly worried. Her body was in a state of starvation, and in such condition, she didn''t know if she could survive an encounter with the final enemy. Even if they were not in their best state, even a healthy teenage boy could kill the current her quite easily.


    "No just hiding is not enough. I must make sure I''m ready when theye!"


    Evelyn didn''t even consider going out hunting and searching for her enemies in this ce. With her numerous disadvantages, doing so would simply be suicide. In that case, she might as well make it a test of patience.


    After looking around for a while, she spotted a lush treeden with red fruits around a hundred steps away from her hiding spot. Even though she couldn''t hear anything unusual or spot any humanoid figures in the distance, Evelyn decided to crawl on the ground slowly, making as little sound as possible.


    Although she was covered in mud by the time she reached the tree''s base, Evelyn didn''t mind at all.


    "This might even work as camouge"


    She chuckled as she tried to climb the tree, which was not too difficult even in her starving state. Her scrawny body was quite light and nimble, if nothing else.


    "Alright, now here''s hoping that it''s not poisonous"


    Evelyn gulped nervously before biting the red tomato like fruit.


    Almost immediately, a burning sensation spread throughout her mouth, making tears drip continuously from her eyes as she spat out the fruit and breathed in and out rapidly.


    "Hot! It''s hottt!"


    Even in such a panicked state, she tried to keep her voice down as she squatted on the tree branch, only asionally letting out some whimpers.


    "It''s like eating hot chili peppers, but worse No, but I can''t go around scavenging for more food. At least it''s not poisonous, I might not be so ''lucky'' next time."


    After gritting her teeth and building her determination, Evelyn decided she might as well fill her belly with these peppers for now.


    It was definitely not healthy, but she just needed to survive till the end of the test. That was her primary goal for now. As for what happens after that would it even matter if she died before that even became a consideration?


    Bite after painful bite, the fire seemed to spread from her mouth, to her lips, and then to her entire face. Her chest, stomach and even hands seemed to be on fire.


    Despite all that, after chewing through eight of these strange fruits, the feeling of starvation finally left her body. If she ignored all the burning sensation and blurred sight, she could even feel herself getting more energetic than before.


    Evelyn quickly crawled down from the tree after filling her belly, and covered herself with fresh mud, leaving no patch of skin untouched. As she crawled back into a tall grass, the burning feeling was slowly abated by the cool mud, although her mouth still felt like it was on fire.


    Despite the decidedly unpleasant experience, Evelyn still brought down four of the strange fruits, which was all she could hold. Even if the experience was painful, these fruits were juicy enough to satiate both hunger and thirst. But that wasn''t why she brought them down with her.


    The painful burning feeling earlier gave her an idea, and without any dy she decided to take her chances and quickly got to work.


    "Hopefully I won''t need this, but better safe than sorry."


    She did not know if the daytime in this ce was still just as long as her home, but by the time she was staring at her make-shift "shovel" the harsh noon light had already dimmed considerably. It would probably only take a few more hours for it to gopletely dark.


    Evelyn had seen people identally step on shovels and simr objects while running carelessly, and it seemed like an easy enough "trap" to set up even with her limited knowledge and resources. However, the so-called shovel looked flimsy and hopeless. Even the "danger" end that she had imagined with bloody spikes only looked like funny splinters with red juice smeared on top.


    With her heart pounding in anxiety, she was still unwilling to abandon the trappletely. "It''s not aplete waste of time, but there''s only four marks left on the coin, meaning it may not be too long till someone finds my location."


    After concealing the "shovel" carefully with leaves near the fruit tree, she took the sturdiest wooden branch she had found and made into a crooked spike. Then she left the area and went back to the tall bush. Although there were many such fruit trees, she believed that others would definitely pay more attention to ces close to food and water.


    Although she wasn''t starving anymore, her current body was still a scrawny brat with very little fighting power. As for her so-called weapon, Evelyn knew very well that even if she had a proper knife to sharpen the wooden branch with, she would not have been able to make a good wooden spear with her skills. Not to mention the far worse version she had made with the coin.


    Not long after, she felt the coin warm up, sending her heart beating wildly. She subconsciously looked at the coin, although there wasn''t any need to do so in her mind.


    Her pupils shrank as she started at the only two remaining marks. "What?! Weren''t there four... two were killed at once? Or did I miss one earlier? No wait"


    She took deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, and tried to remainpletely silent as her eyes darted around from within the tall bush. Her heart was jumping like a little deer, and the shadows nearby seemed to weave and shake, as if at any moment a boogeyman would jump out from within.


    "There''s probably only me and one other person left they will definitely find me, definitely"


    As the light got dimmer, however, there was no sign of another person appearing nearby. It was almost night by the time she heard a very faint rustle from a few steps behind her bush.


    Her heart made a BOOM as she felt excitement and terror course through her being.


    "They saw me, definitely, they''reing to kill me."


    She had been staring at her surroundings for hours, memorizing every detail. There was no sound that she hadn''t made herself for so long, there was no way it wasn''t the other person if she heard anything in this ce. She was not so delusional yet.


    "Coming to kill meing to kill me"


    Despite her dted pupils and rapid breathing, her mind was suddenly devoid of fear.


    "Comee"


    There was no more rustle, but she could feel the other person only a few meters behind her. Since it was almost night, she could barely see anything, and the same went for the other person.


    They probably felt that she was in this bush, but weren''t making any sudden moves to alert her in case she wasn''t in there but somewhere else.


    She wasn''t going to wait anymore.


    There was a loud whoosh as she shot off from the bush, away from the presence behind her. After running for a few seconds, she felt that she wasn''t being chased, and she turned around, unnerved.


    Gulping nervously as she stared at the tall and buff shadowing out from behind a tree, she clenched her makeshift spear and coin behind her.


    "Hah, what a waste."


    The disdain in the thick, manly voice was clear. "I thought what kind of fighter myst opponent would be, to survive this long without me even catching a glimpse. But it was just a puny rat bitch that only knows to hide and run. I feel like a moron when I think of how I was nning toy around and ambush you after you exposed your location. Phew."


    His silhouette slowly became clear, and the thick blood on his naked body made it no secret that he was a hunter in this game of life and death. Evelyn wasn''t listening to his derision, however. Instead, she was staring intently at the vulnerable looking thing dangling between his legs, and then his eyes.


    It was the first time she had seen that thing exposed like that, but she still knew that was a ''weak spot''. There was only one thought in her mind. "If I can spear either that or his eyes, I might win."


    One look at the almost meter long heavy wooden club he was carrying on his shoulders like it weighed nothing, however, made her think twice about whether it would be wise to get close to him.


    The man didn''t seem to care for her response or thoughts anymore, and his rxed staring quickly changed into a pounce as he cleared half the distance between them almost before she could react.


    Evelyn bolted in a panic, almost falling down several times. Theughter of the ''hunter'' behind her rang in both her ears and heart.


    "Don''t go wasting my time, little bitch!"


    "Eek!" A painful wheeze tore through her throat as she felt his club almost brush across her back. She knew it hadn''t touched her. She knew because she wasn''t dead yet, because that thing would have shattered her spine if it made contact. But it still felt like she was cut in half.


    Theughter behind her seemed to intensify as she ran past the fruit tree, and then abruptly changed into a mortified shriek.


    Without wasting any time, she bounced back using a tree, ignoring the ringing pain in her bones, and stabbed haphazardly with her spike. Evelyn didn''t even pay attention to how brutally her makeshift trap had skewered the man''s privates, not only mutting it but also sending the pepper juice straight into the wound.


    "Die die die die die die!"


    Despite being almost out of her mind, each of her stabs burst with almost all the power that her scrawny body could manage, and she focused on nothing but his eyes.


    " die"


    " please die"


    " please"


    With darkness getting thicker, she could no longer even see the state of her opponent. All she could feel was her own rapid breathing, the ringing in her bones, the burning from the splinters in her skin and the silence of her enemy.

 Chapter 3: Vera The Guide

    Chapter 3: Vera The Guide


    "Congrattions on clearing the test!"


    The jungle was gone, like a bad dream.


    A cheery voice greeted her as she seemed to wake up from her slumber. The golden walls of therge hall seemed to convey a sense of peace and security, but she could still feel a lingering fear. Btedly, she realized that the scrawny body that she was slowly getting used to was once again changed to the supremely frustrating wax doll.


    Her gaze slowly turned to the one talking, and it was shockingly a blue-haired beauty who uncannily resembled an amateur cosyer in a bikini suit. After the nkness in her mind had worn off, she was ready to face those unfriendly voices from before the test, but instead was greeted by this strange person.


    Her heart was briefly ted. It felt the same as when she had been dreading for a practical exam with the stingiest of the teachers, but when she entered the room, the kindest one was waiting instead.


    "Your test supervisors seemed quite upset with you!"


    And the kind teacher told her the examiner was in the other room, where the stingy teacher was staring at her with disgust for beingte.


    Well, regardless, this person at least seemed to not hate her personally.


    "Hoho, what''s with the silent treatment? Not used to the container, maybe? Or is it the broken jaw? Nevermind then, first let''s get that patched up and then we can talk!"


    The ''bikini cosyer'' gave her no time for response as she abruptly grabbed her immobile wax arm and dragged her doll body to a corner of the hall.


    "Please, pick one!"


    Evelyn''s baffled gaze shifted from the strange girl to the wall she pointed at. There was a row of capsules containing people, or was it just bodies? A total of sixteen capsules, all containing different body types. The first one was mysteriously empty, or was that an invisible body?


    Evelyn was a bit apprehensive and excited as she looked through the selection. <em>''Is it going to be my body in the future?''</em> she wondered, and the other person seemed to have guessed her thoughts.


    The blue-haired girl twirled around with uncontrobleughter, though Evelyn had no idea what she possibly found so funny. "Hahahaha you''ll just be borrowing it, just so you know. Tem-puh-rari-ly. You can call me Vera, by the way."


    "Oh"


    Some of the pressure she had been feeling to judge the best possible choice disappeared, and she picked the capsule closest to her, which contained a young, pink-haired girl. Vera nodded, and the next moment, Evelyn was looking at a copsing wax doll from inside the container.


    <em>''Wow I couldn''t tell what happened at all. Is it so easy to change bodies?!''</em>


    Vera seemed oddly cheerful, as if pleasantly surprised by her choice. "It seems like number eleven is the lucky one today, huh? Come then, let''s get started, follow me."


    <em>''If I was going to pick one for myself from the selection, it would definitely be the four-armed army looking guy. Although it would be a massive change from what I''m used to, survivales before anything else. But since this is just temporary, it doesn''t matter.''</em>


    Her thoughts stopped abruptly as she started to notice how amazing this body waspared to her old one.


    <em>''Wow, it''s so springy. And it feels like I have an endless amount of energy. Like I can tear apart mountains with my bare hands, and reach the moon with a single leap.''</em>


    It was probably just her imagination, but in any case, this body was definitely far, far superior to the one she used to have.


    <em>''I might have been wrong earlier Maybe for these beings you really can''t tell how strong someone is just by looking. Maybe that four armed thing is actually weaker than this little girl.''</em>


    She was interrupted from observing ''number eleven'' further by her guide, who was now standing in front of a pedestal with a glowing yellow orb floating on top of it.


    "This is the crystal core of the supervisor pce. You''ll decide on your future here."


    As Evelyn stared at the orb nkly, Vera bought up the topic she had been dreading all this time.


    "Now then, like I said before, your test supervisors seemed quite upset with you."


    The calmness of her tone made a sharp contrast with the peppy and cheerful self she had been showing so far, and it made Evelyn slightly unnerved.


    "What did they say? I wasn''t told of any rules, so I don''t think I could have broken any."


    Vera nodded with a smile, but Evelyn could not feel any warmth. "Of course, of course. There are no rules in the test, so how can you break any? ording to your supervisors, you barely won by a fluke, and ended up killing a truly outstanding candidate that they were very hopeful for."


    Her heart made a dull thump as grievances flooded her mind. Was she supposed to just roll over and die? Even when she somehow managed to win with all the disadvantages, she now had to justify her survival? Mixed with her grievances was a deeply concealed rage.


    However, she had dealt with injustice and discrimination before, and she knew that responding based on her emotions when facing such things would only make the results worse.


    "I passed the test. I didn''t do anything I wasn''t supposed to do. If the other person was so outstanding, how could they fail even with all their advantages?" Evelyn''s voice was firm, and although no hint of anger could be detected, it was clear that she wasn''t pleased with the assessment given by her so-called supervisors.


    Only an idiot would be okay with such an assessment, she thought.


    "Aww, don''t look like that. It''s not all bad."


    Vera''s eyes twinkled, and words seemed to pop out on the ''crystal core'' that was supposed to decide her future.


    It was anguage she had never seen before, but just a nce was enough for the meaning to be conveyed directly into her mind.


    <strong>[</strong> Evelyn Knox<strong> ]</strong>


    <strong>Test Cleared.</strong>


    <em>Starting condition: <strong>10th</strong></em> <em>of 10 (Bonus +100%)</em>


    <em>Injuries sustained from opponents: 0, ranked <strong>1st</strong> of 10 (Bonus +100%)</em>


    <em>Highest direct elimination: <strong>1st</strong> of 10 (Bonus +100%)</em>


    Even Vera, who seemed to have expected something, looked shocked. "Y-you you really killed the guy with the strongest pick with the weakest pick?! And no injuries? No wonder they called it a fluke but, even if it''s a fluke, that''s amazing."


    Vera''s smile was far more genuine this time. "With this, there''s no need to worry about what those people said. Normally, all passing candidates get five hundred points, and the supervisors can award a bonus of up to twenty percent if they think someone deserves it."


    The blue-haired girl pped her hands, and a number reced the ''results'' on the core.


    <strong><em><< 2000 >></em></strong>


    "The core is a very objective judge. It cannot be flexible, and only awards based on facts and results. Normally, if the first pick with the strongest body wins, he gets zero bonus. If the supervisors like them, they might get a little, maximum twenty percent, but that''s it. The core, however, can give a bonus of up to four times. If your objective bonus is greater than twenty percent, the supervisors not giving you any bonus doesn''t matter at all!"


    Evelyn''s gaze was slightlyplicated as she stared at her maxed out score. She had a bad hunch that the entire thing was rigged somehow to make her feel that the system was very fair, and even if everything was against her, she would be judged fairly. But perhaps that was just the pessimist in her. At the very least, this wasn''t a bad thing.


    <strong>[</strong> Base Reward: 500 Energy<strong> ]</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> Supervisor Bonus (basic authority): 0 Energy, Penalty Rmended<strong> ]</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> System Bonus (core authority) is +300% = <strong>+1,500</strong> Energy<strong> ]</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> ''System Bonus'' is higher, ''Supervisor Bonus'' is discarded! <strong>]</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> Total Energy: <strong>2,000</strong> <strong>]</strong>


    "With this, you can decide your future. I don''t know what world you will go to, and what your situation will be like, however, it will almost certainly be very different from what you have been used to till now. You can use this energy to modify your soul, and the benefits it brings you will be with you forever."


    It was impossible for Evelyn not to feel moved at all, whether it was rigged or not. As someone who had spent her entire life struggling due to a low starting point, however short that life may have been, she could still feel a burning heat through her heart at the thought of starting fresh. Not just starting fresh, but starting fresh with an advantage.


    Even as she was lost in thought, she continued to pay attention to Vera''s monologue about the uses of energy points and how they affect the soul. But there was one thought that kept nagging at her since the start. Nevertheless, she had refrained from asking directly, because it was a question that she did not want to know the answer to.


    Suddenly, Vera stopped speaking and cleared her throat before continuing in a more sombre tone. "Now before we really begin with the process, let me first inform you of something. Please pay very close attention. Ready?"


    Here ites, she thought. But she could only nod helplessly. "Yeah."


    Although her voice was sombre, Vera''s gaze was still quite warm. "Evelyn Knox, Lord Chronos has given you this life. You should have died, but you did not. In your new life, you may go to various ces, learn various things, and grow stronger."


    Contrary to Vera''s kind words, Evelyn''s thoughts were quite pessimistic. In other words, after the initial investment, they are thrown away to survive on their own. If they prove to be of some useter, good. Otherwise, they are to be discarded like trash.


    The warmth from her eyes was reced with indifference, and her tone grew more professional. "In due time, we shall reach out to you, and you must assist us to the best of your ability. In this matter, you have no choice."


    Of course, a tool''s usefulness is limited to the resourcefulness of the user. Given how unfathomable this bunch of people seem so far, Evelyn was certain they would find a use for all manner of ''tools'', herself being one of them.


    Vera seemed to have given this little speech countless times, and even the mannerism and timing of her gestures seemed almost robotic at this point. Nevertheless, her words did not fail to convey the meaning they intended. "Remember, what Lord Chronos can give you so easily, he can take away with just as little effort."


    Evelyn couldn''t help butmend them for being thorough, if nothing else.


    First appeal to her conscience  You would be dead if not for us. If you know how to repay gratitude, your second life should be dedicated to us.


    Then, appeal to her logic  You only have to do what you''re capable of. It''s not like we''ll be making unreasonable demands. Moreover, as part of an organization, it is only right to obey your superiors.


    Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, dispel any thoughts of rebellion with the threat of death  If you betray us, you''ll be crushed like a bug!


    All very simple and straightforward, but no doubt very effective. No fluff and filler, no cushioning to make the person delude themselves somehow.


    With a p of her hands, Vera seemed to suddenly switch back to a cheerful, grinning idiot. "Oh, don''t look like that. You should already know we''re fair if nothing else. Even if there is someone who wants to harm you intentionally from within, the procedures are so rigorous that it would be nearly impossible to do so. Not to mention, you have me looking out for you!"


    Evelyn nodded with a gentle smile, wondering internally whether or not this blue-haired girl meant even half of what she said. "Thank you."


    Vera seemed to have guessed some of her thoughts, but either she didn''t care or did not think exposing them would do any good. "Enough of the depressing stuff! Let''s get you the system that suits you the best, and you can start your new journey! The sooner you go, the sooner we can meet again as equals Hehe, hope you won''t forget little ol'' Vera when you''re a bigshot!"


    Vera''s words were like a ray of light scattering the dark clouds in the sky,pletely evaporating Evelyn''s pessimistic thoughts. "I thought I would just get a stronger soul or something making my body or luck better than others A system upgrades? There might be a lot more to this than I thought"


    Vera reached into the solid looking crystal core with a look of concentration on her face, and her hand phased through it easily. After a few minutes, each second of which filled Evelyn with more uncertainty, she finally pulled out a strange yellowish rubber ball.


    "Alright then, wait a bit, let''s see hm"


    Evelyn could only make a look of confusion. There was just too little she knew, so she could only remain quiet and wait helplessly.


    Suddenly, the blue-haired girl jumped with a smile. "Alright, we''ll go with this then! Based on your memories, I''ve decided that a game like system would suit your growth path best. What do you think? Although it''s not very good in terms of growth rate, it''s great in terms of managing your growth path. It''s not necessarily a good thing to progress faster if you''re not going in the right direction, after all."


    Evelyn''s eyes went wide, and for the first time since she woke up on that meat grinder, she felt a surge of excitement. In her past life, games and novels were her only friends. After all, her strange but proud personality and poor background,bined with her scarred face, were a bit too exotic a taste for most.


    "That would be great! That, um, if you don''t mind me asking does that yellow thing contain my memories?"


    Vera seemed to find her reaction very amusing, and burst into giggles. "Hehe, I knew you would think so It''s a bit different, but I suppose you can think of it that way. It''s very vague and scattered, but it works. Anyway, no worries, let''s just move on to the next step. ce your hand on that crystal ball. Be careful not to use too much force!"


    Although the thought of some of her memories no longer being private deeply unsettled her, Evelyn could only reluctantly drop the topic and do as she was told.


    As her hand rested on the crystal ball, the room seemed to quickly fill up with windows like some futuristic movie scene. She couldn''t help but think it was cool.


    "You notice that number on the top, right?"


    Her eyes moved, and she noticed the corner that said ''Energy: 2000''.


    Vera started patting her on the shoulder as ifmending her for a job well done. Even her tone was slightly proud.


    "This is the highest amount of energy I have seen anyone get so far. Although it must have not been easy winning with the worst body against someone who got the best of the best, even if it involved a little luck, it''s not without its merits. Greater risks mean greater rewards! It''s just there''s something I''m curious about"


    " what is it?"


    "Why did you choose the weakest body? Did you already know you will get the highest bonus that way? And how could you be sure that you will win with that? Even the boon must have already been taken by the time thest picker arrived. Only an idiot would put themselves at an even further disadvantage, right?"


    Evelyn''s mind spun as something clicked. "So the other body wasn''t supposed to have its legs crushed"


    As for the boon, she must be talking about the coin.


    Vera''s look turned grave. "Crushed legs? No way, we don''t give that much of a handicap no, maybe one of the earlier participants sabotaged it! But in that case, they would have received a heavy penalty from the core after passing, and the energy they would end up with should be abysmal"


    The blue-haired girl looked a bit distressed as she kept mumbling to herself. "Why wouldn''t the supervisors stop it? It makes little sense what the hell are they thinking?"


    Evelyn felt a twisting feeling in her gut as Vera''s mind seemed to wander. It was like the doctor that was going to operate on her kept arguing with someone about something irrelevant, as if her operation was an afterthought. "Uhm Vera"


    "Ah! Sorry I guess I can take care of all thatter Let''s get started then You can ce your hand here, and the targeting moves with your thoughts, if you focus on one thing for a long time, more details will be revealed if avable and then"

 Chapter 4: The Future Path

    Chapter 4: The Future Path


    As Vera exined to her how the system worked, Evelyn focused all her thoughts on how to maximize the use of her energy. No matter what the purpose of this organization was, what she cared about right now was making the best possible use of what she had.


    There were only two main windows floating in front of her. The first window was "Status", and the second window was "Abilities". She decided to look through them carefully first before asking for help. Even though she was confident, she knew that the next few moments would have major impact on her future, and thus she would rather be overly careful than regretter.


    [ Status ]


    [ Physique : 10 + ]


    [ Spirit : 10 + ]


    [ Vitality : 100 + ]


    [ Soul : 10 + ]


    She wished the status was simpler, but unfortunately the reality seemed moreplex. She barely understood the distinction that Vera tried to exin between spirit and soul. At least physique and vitality were simple enough.


    Vera gave her an encouraging smile at the end of her exnation. "Don''t stress yourself too much. Simply think of physique as how strong the body is, and vitality as how long that body will live. Hmm, if you want, you can even think of ''spirit'' as ''magic'', and soul as well, I don''t know how to exin that. It''s just soul."


    "Thank you. I understand it now, for the most part."


    Evelyn gave Vera a grateful nod and then began looking through the ability window.


    She noticed that there were two tabs, primary abilities and misceneous abilities. Primary ability tab only had twelve entries, and she noticed that each attribute in the stats screen had three entries here. The worst part was that some of these "primary" abilities were far too expensive, but she didn''t let that bother her too much. Knowing more could always help, who knows.


    [ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    Primary Abilities


    (10) energy for [Basic Spatial Maniption] Requires 10 Spirit


    (100) energy for [Advanced Spatial Maniption] Requires 100 Spirit


    (10,000) energy for [Disaster] Requires 1,000 Spirit


    (10) energy for [Basic Regeneration] Requires 10 Physique


    (100) energy for [Advanced Regeneration] Requires 100 Physique


    (10,000) energy for [Undying] Requires 1,000 Physique


    (1) energy for [Basic Charm] Requires 10 Soul


    (10) energy for [Advanced Charm] Requires 100 Soul


    (100) energy for [Cmity] Requires 1,000 Soul


    (100) energy for [Disease Immunity] Requires 100 Vitality


    (1,000) energy for [Poison Immunity] Requires 1,000 Vitality


    (100,000) energy for [Reincarnation] Requires 10,000 Vitality


    "Ah, I almost forgot to tell you well, you would have noticed when you tried to increase them anyway. But keep in mind that each of the attributes cost different amounts of energy. The most expensive are Spirit and Vitality, which cost a hundred points each to raise. Physique costs ten points to raise, and the cheapest is soul, which you can raise by ten points for just one energy."


    Evelyn gave her a nk stare. "Why is there such a big difference?"


    Vera looked a bit out of herfort zone as she tried to exin. "Oh, uh, well, how do I put this it''s not that one of the attributes is worth less than another, it''s just how much energy is used to manipte them in the way we do it."


    "So alright, I get it"


    "No, well, sorry, maybe I''m not the best person to exin it. Anyway, you can think of it as we''re just putting all this energy into your soul to enhance the body you will inhabit in the future. Since we can directly enhance the soul here, it is the ''cheapest'', and the mortal body is not very hard to change, but it will still be ten times harder getting it der on its own. As for the longevity and spirit power of that body, it''s even worse, and uses even more energy to change!"


    Evelyn''s expression was slightly moved. "Makes sense thank you, Vera. I don''t know why you''re helping me so much, but thank you."


    The blue haired girl justughed it off. "Haha, don''tpliment me too much, my head will grow bigger. I just think you have a lot of potential, it would be a shame if it was wasted because of my carelessness, so I''m just putting a little more effort. I know there are more talented guides you could have gotten, but I can only make up for it with sincerity. It might be a long time before we meet again, but I hope we''ll meet again as friends."


    Evelyn didn''t know when she began to smile happily. " Thank you I''ll look forward to it."


    Neither of them spoke anymore as Evelyn concentrated on her ''build''. It wasn''t too daunting since she could add and remove things as she wished till she was satisfied with the end result.


    "Might as well start picking out some core abilities first, and then upgrade my stats to match them Oh, it''s better to look through the ones I can''t have as well, doesn''t hurt to know more."


    As she was nodding to herself, Vera just chuckled next to her. "Aren''t you just curious?"


    [ Basic Regeneration ]


    Costs 10 Energy


    Requires: 10 Physique


    -Enablesplete recovery. The body will no longer by susceptible to permanent injuries. The recovery is not autonomous and requires external aid.


    "So basically, no more scars or long-term injuries, hm."


    [ Advanced Regeneration ]


    Costs 100 Energy


    Requires: 100 Physique + Basic Regeneration


    -Increases vitality over time. Passively heal self without external aid. Speed of recovery depends on physique and vitality. Consumes vitality upon use.


    [ Undying ]


    Costs 10,000 Energy


    Requires: 1,000 Physique + Basic Regeneration + Advanced Regeneration


    -Greatly enhances vitality over time. Instantly regenerate physical injuries until vitality is exhausted.


    She carefully started allocating her stats points after thinking it through, first spending nine hundred energy to raise her ''Physique'' by ny points to a hundred total. This allowed her to acquire both basic and advanced regeneration. There was no need to even think about the third one, it was far out of her reach.


    [ Energy : 2,000 ]


    [ Physique +90 ]


    [ Energy : 1,100 ]


    [ Acquired Basic Regeneration ]


    [ Energy : 1,090 ]


    [ Acquired Advanced Regeneration ]


    [ Energy : 990 ]


    She already felt the pain for spending half of all she had, but she felt that this was the least she needed to confidently survive in her next life. Advanced Regeneration was also the only grade two primary ability she could get with her points, excluding the soul abilities. Soul abilities were cheap and she estimated that her leftover points should be enough for that.


    "Next, there''s spirit based primary abilities"


    [ Basic Spatial Maniption ]


    Energy Cost: 10


    Requires: 10 Spirit


    -Enables ess to a personal pocket dimension for storage. The size increases with spirit power.


    "Inventory! I definitely need this. I already have ten spirit points so let''s get it right away."


    [ Energy : 990 ]


    [ Acquired Basic Spatial Maniption ]


    [ Energy : 980 ]


    She looked at the description of the grade two and three spirit abilities and could only sigh wistfully. She would need nine thousand energy just to meet the requirements for grade two, which was impossible even if she removed everything else.


    [ Advanced Spatial Maniption ]


    Energy Cost: 100


    Requires: 100 Spirit + Basic Spatial Maniption


    -Allows user to perfectly conceal their presence and allows minor free maniption of space.


    "That''s a perfect cloaking skill, right? I think that would make someone pretty much invincible against most opponents."


    She sighed enviously before looking at the grade three skill, just to satisfy her curiosity.


    [ Disaster ]


    Energy Cost: 10,000


    Requires: 1,000 Spirit + Basic Spatial Maniption + Advanced Spatial Maniption


    -Allows user to move through space instantly, maximum distance increases with spirit power. Also allows major spatial maniption, depending on vitality and spirit.


    "How much is that? The increase is too much, is this a bug?"


    Veraughed. "There are no bugs."


    She gulped as she calcted silently. It''s basically just teleportation, why would it cost almost a hundred thousand energy? She really hoped getting a movement skill wasn''t going to be a nightmare. Shaking her head, she moved on to the vitality skills.


    [ Disease Immunity ]


    Energy Cost: 100


    Requires: 100 Vitality


    -Diseases and natural defects are no longer effective on self. Consumes vitality when necessary.


    [ Poison Immunity ]


    Energy Cost: 1,000


    Requires: 1,000 Vitality + Disease Immunity


    -Enables internal restoration, all harmful substances within the body are purged instantly. Consumes vitality when necessary.


    [ Reincarnation ]


    Energy Cost: 100,000


    Requires: 10,000 Vitality + Disease Immunity + Poison Immunity


    -Permanently reduces vitality with each use, depending on the state of the body at the time of death. All stats, abilities and memories are retained in the next life. Reincarnation skill will be disabled if vitality falls below the requirements at any point.


    "That''s over a million points of energy for grade three, right? Why even show me this, it''s clearly far beyond me right now."


    Vera giggled, looking a bit embarrassed. "Mhm, well, it''s not like I can hide it, but it''s all the same. Although it''s impossible to change bodies once your stats reach a certain threshold, there is nock of people whoe here to use their own hard-earned energy to give their descendants a bit of a boost. The core shows everything it has, whether or not you can afford it."


    Evelyn sighed wistfully. Perhaps all the advantages she was so happy to receive were nothing to some people. "Well, I understand."


    Evelyn took a deep breath to shake off her wandering thoughts before moving on. She decided to think of it like just because she entered a shop didn''t mean she should be able to afford everything inside. It''s good enough if she can afford what she needs.


    "I already have the required vitality, so let''s just get disease immunity. I don''t wanna cryter just in case."


    While she did have advanced regeneration, if a disease managed to damage her body faster than her healing could fix it, her death would be a matter of time. It''s good if there was medicine to cure it, but if there wasn''t then what? Moreover, regeneration consumed vitality, and as long as the disease wasn''t removed, she would exhaust her vitality sooner orter.


    [ Energy : 980 ]


    [ Acquired Disease Immunity ]


    [ Energy : 880 ]


    As she moved on to the soul abilities her mood lifted a bit. It was the only grade three ability she could get after all.


    [ Basic Charm ]


    Energy Cost: 1


    Requires: 10 Soul


    -If attributes match preferences, opponent will feel greater attraction, slightly reducing theirbat prowess and lowering their defence against you.


    [ Advanced Charm ]


    Energy Cost: 10


    Requires: 100 Soul + Basic Charm


    -If the opponent is not directly repulsed by your attributes, they will feel greater attraction, reducing theirbat prowess and lowering their defence and resistance against you.


    [ Cmity ]


    Energy Cost: 100


    Requires: 1,000 Soul + Basic Charm + Advanced Charm


    -Enables acquisition of opponent''s core ability, requires any type of affection value to reach highest threshold. Bypasses preferences.


    Her disappointment from the first two turned into excitement once again.


    She hissed in wonder as she looked at the grade three ability''s description again just to confirm. "I thought it would be a bit worse considering it''s cheaper than the others, but this is not bad at all!"


    She nodded her head decisively and started allocating points.


    [ Energy : 880 ]


    [ Soul +990 ]


    [ Energy : 781 ]


    [ Acquired Basic Charm ]


    [ Energy : 780 ]


    [ Acquired Advanced Charm ]


    [ Energy : 770 ]


    [ Acquired Cmity ]


    [ Energy : 670 ]


    "Alright, now that I''m done with the primary abilities and the minimum stats I need for them Let''s look at the secondary abilities now."


    There were only two abilities avable in the secondary skills list, each with three grades. The first was probe, and the second was shield.


    [ Basic Probe ]


    Energy Cost: 100


    Requires: 10 Spirit + 100 Soul


    -Allows you to view basic information of an opponent. Not effective if the opponent''s spirit power or soul value are higher in total.


    [ Advanced Probe ]


    Energy Cost: 500


    Requires: 100 Spirit + 1,000 Soul + Basic Probe


    -Allows you to view basic information and attributes of an opponent. Not effective if the opponent''s spirit power or soul value are higher in total.


    [ Essence Probe ]


    Energy Cost: 1,000


    Requires: 1,000 Spirit + 10,000 Soul + Basic Probe + Advanced Probe


    -Allows you to view basic information, attributes and description of an opponent. Not effective if the opponent''s spirit power or soul value are higher in total.


    She decided to get the grade one skill first and raise it on her ownter. ording to Vera, secondary skills were easier to upgrade so it would be a waste to use too much energy on them anyway.


    [ Energy : 670 ]


    [ Acquired Basic Probe ]


    [ Energy : 570 ]


    She moved on to shields next.


    [ Minor Shield ]


    Energy Cost: 50


    Requires: 15 Spirit + 100 Soul


    -Be immune to probe as long as your spirit power is not exhausted.


    "Alright, this should be it then."


    [ Energy : 570 ]


    [ Spirit +5 ]


    [ Energy : 70 ]


    [ Acquired Minor Shield ]


    [ Energy : 20 ]


    She looked through the next two skills and was happy she didn''t ignore any descriptions just because she didn''t have enough energy to buy them.


    [ Major Shield ]


    Energy Cost: 250


    Requires: 50 Spirit + 1,000 Soul


    -Be immune to probe as long as your spirit power is not exhausted. Protection can be shared with certain individuals within a certain range.


    [ Reflective Shield ]


    Energy Cost: 1,000


    Requires: 100 Spirit + 10,000 Soul


    -Upon being probed by an opponent, their own information will be exposed regardless of any shield skills. Not effective when opponent is probing targets with shared shield.


    "I was only looking at the descriptions to make it easier to learn on my ownter, but thankfully now I also know not to use probe on people who might have grade three shield or I''d just be exposing myself no matter how good my shield is."


    Veraughed as she heard what Evelyn was mumbling to herself, and upon seeing her confused expression, she chuckled again.


    "Grade three shield is not some vegetable. Although learning secondary abilities is easier, I think it would be amazing if there are ten people with grade three shield on one."


    Evelyn nodded in understanding, a little more relieved.


    Vera smiled. "Actually, there are countless number of secondary abilities you can get, but unfortunately only these can be directly imnted using energy. For the rest, well, you will have to learn them on your own or acquire them by yourself."


    Evelyn nodded, still deep in thought. "I understand."


    She still had some twenty energy points left. Not enough for even a single point in ''Vitality'' or ''Spirit''.


    "I can get either two more physique or put it all into soul"


    Since Vera said all attributes are more or less uniformly enhanced normally as you grow, she decided that a twenty percent increase in soul was better than a two percent increase in physique. Although she already acquired the grade three soul skill, the sess rate of probe depended on soul as well, so it was far from useless.


    [ Energy : 20 ]


    [ Soul +200 ]


    [ Energy : 0 ]


    Vera smiled. "All done?"


    Evelyn looked through her final choices once more to see if she missed anything.


    [ Status ]


    [ Physique : 100 ]


    [ Spirit : 15 ]


    [ Vitality : 100 ]


    [ Soul : 1200 ]


    [ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    [ Basic Spatial Maniption ]


    [ Basic Probe ]


    [ Minor Shield ]


    [ Disease Immunity ]


    [ Advanced Regeneration ]


    [ Cmity ]


    ''It seems like the lower grade ability merge once you acquire a higher grade ability of the same type. Of course, I still had to buy the basic ability to buy the advanced version. Everything else looks as it should be, alright.''


    "I''m ready."

 Chapter 5: Seeds of Sorrow

    Chapter 5: Seeds of Sorrow


    As the current patriarch of the Knox family, Osmond Knox would seldom stay at one ce for a long time. There were too many responsibilities he had to fulfill, and too many things that needed to be looked after.


    On this day, however, he could be found staying in a single room from dusk to dawn. Today, a smile was stered on his old face as he gazed gently on the sleeping child in the crib. He regretted that he was a littlete, having missed the child breaking her shell.


    In public, he was called ''King Osmond''. It was only a title with no real meaning behind it anymore, just like the leaders of the other ancient families. On this day, however, he truly felt like a king.


    "I have finally been able to do justice to my descendants, Desmond we finally have a child born from a spirit egg It''s a pity that neither Nadina nor Rachel''s sons could have the same luck well, their misfortune is my fault, we couldn''t even afford little Eve''s egg if not for her aunt"


    Desmond felt distressed looking at his father worry like this even on a happy day. He knew a certain someone must have spouted nonsense in front of him, or this thought shouldn''t havee to his mind, not today. "Don''t me yourself so much, father Although our little Evelyn received a great gift from both the family and her aunt, all the other children of our family are doing well for themselves, are they not? Both Tristan and Oliver are set to go to the prestigious ancient academy in the future. Even if our family declines, their future will remain quite bright."


    The old man seemed to breathe a little more at ease after hearing his son''s words. "You''re right All our descendants shall have a bright future I shall not have it any other way as long as there is still some strength in these old bones!"


    While the father and son were in a good mood, the atmosphere in the first Lord''s mansion was gloomy like a graveyard.


    The firstdy of the Knox family, the eldest daughter-inw of King Osmond, was currently wailing in the arms of her husband. "Why? Why could our Tristan, as the eldest descendant of his generation, the firstborn of King Osmond''s oldest son, not have what she has? How is this fair?!"


    George sighed helplessly as he patted her back. "Stay calm, Nadina, you know the Knox family has a lot of expenses to manage. Our business is declining, most of our ancestral property is already gone"


    Neither of them seemed to notice the little eyes watching them from the crack in the door with distress.


    "No! You don''t know anything George! Everyone says all the ancient families are declining, but tell me which of them doesn''t have a single spirit baby?! None! Only our Knox family didn''t have one, and Iforted myself, I convinced myself, that we just couldn''t afford it, maybe"


    George looked distressed as he saw his wife choke back tears. "Nadina"


    "No, George let me speak You remember what your father said at that time, right? Then tell me, George, tell me how is it that two, nearly three years after that, when our family has declined even further, that pretentious little bitch Isabe can have her daughter be born from such an expensive looking spirit egg?! Are you dumb?! Isn''t it clear enough that old bastard Osmond is favouring your little brother?!"


    George mmed his fist on the armrest, making a resounding boom. His eyes were already red from rage. "Nadina!"


    "Keep pretending, George, keep pretending! Don''te crying to me when your beloved little brother steps on your face as the next patriarch of the Knox family!"


    It was as if someone lit a fire in his chest, and George found himself having difficulty breathing properly. He loved his wife dearly, she was his everything in the world. But that didn''t mean he could hear her insult his father and brother. "You''re out of your mind, Nadina, don''t keep talking nonsense anymore! Father has always been just and fair He is proud so he doesn''t want to expose his weaknesses to us, but that doesn''t mean you can spout shit from your mouth! As a daughter-inw, can''t you show a little more respect?!"


    Nadina''s cries grew louder instead of calming down, and George''s temples throbbed in pain as he too tried to keep his temper in check and calm his breathing down.


    "Alright, since you can''t be convinced, I''ll tell you. I''ve heard that Isabe''s sister financed a considerable sum"


    A burst of hystericalughter from Nadina cut off his words, and George clenched his jaw in anger.


    "That slut Bree? Do you think she can afford it?"


    With his breathing heavy, eyes red, and jaws clenched, George looked like a beast as he pushed his wife away with a roar. Despite his almost beastly rage at the moment, in front of his wife, he truly felt impotent today. "Heh, even if you''re dumb as a door, you couldn''t have already forgotten that the Devaughn family used to be one of the great ancient families as well? You tell me, can they not afford it?"


    Nadina''s earlier distress seemed to bepletely gone, a condescending smile pasted on her lips, but the trembling rage concealed in her voice was still clear as day. "The dead Devaughn family? Aside from that dumb slut Bree and pretentious bitch Isabe, who else is left? I doubt if that dumb slut can even afford to live on her own without whoring herself out, let alone afford to"


    Her words were cut off with a loud smack, and little Tristan bolted away in fear with tears streaming down his face, no longer daring to stay outside the door anymore.


    Far away from the Knox family, across the endless ocean, ady of peerless beauty, a goddess in her own right, gazed sharply at the pink moon in the sky.


    With long cerulean blue hair weaving down to her knees, a single ultramarine pearl earring on her left ear, and a forlorn look in her azure eyes, she could easily be mistaken for a goddess of the ocean. Standing in the uppermost balcony of the Bluemoon Pce, the stronghold of the Fairfax family, she was none other than Gwendolyn Fairfax, one of the undisputed supreme beings of the, and the leader of the ''New World''.


    To the untrained eye, the three moons tonight were not any different from yesterday night. However, Gwendolyn had been staring at them every night since before the ancient families of the old world even existed, and she could tell that the glow of the pink moon was different.


    "Did you notice it, Bonnie?"


    Bonnie Fairfax, the most promising descendant she had so far, shook her head in confusion. Her paleblue ponytail flicking left and right to make sure the great amount of confusion was properly conveyed. It almost destroyed the mood. "It looks the same to me?"


    Gwendolyn sighed in disappointment and moved away from the balcony to reclinefortably in her chamber. Whenever she talked to this descendant of hers, she felt like beating someone up.


    "Bonnie, you know, when I was born, the blue moon wasn''t bright like this. In fact, it was quite dull, not much different from the pink moon you are now used to But as I grew up, it became brighter and brighter, and the radiance you see now has been constant since I reached my peak strength"


    The little girl shuddered because she knew this was something perhaps very few people in the world knew. Her ancestor was one of the strongest beings on the, she knew, but exactly how strong? She had no idea.


    "I remember when the white moon too, was dull, like a rotten egg then that fellow, Urah, I suppose he calls himself Shinra now, right? He grew like a parasite, a weed upon this world, and now this repugnant yellow thing, the so-called white moon seems to forget its ce every passing day."


    Bonnie''s heart threatened to beat right out of her ribcage, because if anyone else had heard her ancestor''s words, would Shinra, the so called one true God, remain silent? Moreover, if the moons represented the two of them and their strength, then perhaps Shinra was even stronger than her ancestor by now. Why hadn''t she just killed him, when she knew he was growing stronger? Isn''t it just right to crush a bug if it was bothering you?


    Perhaps the way the two of them thought was just too different, because in her ce Bonnie would never allow someone she disliked to grow to a point they could threaten her. But Bonnie didn''t say anything. Last time she interrupted her ancestor while she was monologuing, Gwendolyn had stared at her in silence for almost three hours. It was pure torture for someone hyper active like her.


    "The pink moon''s glow is still gentle perhaps because the one it has chosen is still young Bonnie, perhaps one day you will meet them. Maybe you will be friends, even. Be kinder to your peers, Bonnie. Now go, go rest so you can continue to grow. Make me proud. And perhaps when you meet them, the two of you can be good friends and support each other, unlike"


    Gwendolyn paused abruptly as her face went nk, and then she waved her hand, causing Bonnie to leave in a panic.


    After Bonnie left, Gwendolyn finally allowed tears to fall from her eyes. If Bonnie saw her right now, her worldview would definitely copse. In their mind, their ancestor did not seem to care much about anything. How could she possibly be bothered enough by anything to make her cry?


    Gwendolyn hoped that Bonnie did not repeat the mistakes from her past. Her brother''s talent was nowhere near Gwen''s, but he had been a better judge of people since the start. Although he had long since perished, it was his descendants that called her ancestor and made the Fairfax n prosper.


    When she saw Bonnie''s potential, Gwendolyn had not hesitated to give out blessings all over the world. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the ability of Bonnie''s generation to realize their potential, and even their potential itself, had been boosted by Gwendolyn by hundreds of times.


    "I thought I would give Bonnie somepetition, but it''s possible I could have created a lot of trouble for her future sessor did I make a mistake?"


    The Lotus Seat  the chosen of the third moon, was finally making an appearance. It''s not wrong to say that Gwendolyn''s heart was stirred, as for what the specific feeling was that stirred within her, even she did not know. It had been too long since something of significance had changed in her life. Moreover, this change was tied to one of her greatest regrets in life.


    "I wonder if she realized it was me who killed her I wonder how she felt at that time I wonder"

 Chapter 6: Amara Gilmore

    Chapter 6: Amara Gilmore


    CRASH


    The sound of ceramic shattering broke the silence in the third lord''s mansion, and Evelyn gazed at her tiny toes in embarrassment as her ''maid'' Amara cleaned up all the broken shards.


    ''If I was a few inches taller, this wouldn''t have happened I''m not stupid or clumsy, I''m just short!''


    Being reborn as a baby, Evelyn had expected a lot of embarrassment heading her way. Breaking a few things while getting used to her new body was of course within her expectations. It wasn''t something that she would be too bothered about. If it looked too expensive and easy to break, she wouldn''t try to touch it anyway.


    However, the two things she dreaded the most since her first day were breastfeeding, and changing diapers.


    She remembered neither of those from her first life, and she wasn''t even sure if anyone would have bothered taking care of her like that then. But she was quite certain that facing those things in this life would leave her with permanent memories of deep embarrassment and shame.


    Much to her shock, however, the adults seemedpletely unconcerned with either of those, and she didn''t seem to need them either. Not that she wasn''t happy, but it was quite simple to conclude that her body in this life was considerably different from ''normal''.


    It was as if her body operated entirely on pure energy, and she did not need to rely on eating food. Even though that was the case for her, everyone else seemed to need to eat regrly, which she found very curious.


    Now almost three years old, Evelyn was able to easily waddle through various parts of the mansion on her own. Of course, her dutiful ''maid'' Amara followed her around to make sure she didn''t fall face first.


    With everyone treating her like a child, even she unconsciously showed some childishness from time to time. After a while, there was no other way but to just get used to it.


    She got over her embarrassment very quickly, and began running around looking for things of interest again. The mansion was chock full of interesting little gadgets, and she fell in love with exploring it ever since she left her crib.


    Once, she even stumbled upon the very same orb she saw when she first arrived in this world, and it was indeed a recording device as she thought! Not only that, it also showed her parent''s wedding! It was the only expensive and easily breakable thing that she really couldn''t resist touching.


    Unfortunately, before she could tinker with it for long, she was quickly picked up by the panicked servants. Well, they can''t be med, as at that time she was barely sixteen months old.


    With her father and mother being unusually busy these days, Evelyn was of course being looked after by someone else. With shoulder length red hair and emerald green eyes, Amara was quite a striking ten-year-old. From the day she first saw her, Evelyn knew she wasn''t just some servant. She stood out too much, both in terms of age and appearance.


    There were almost ten servants in her father''s mansion three years ago, but now she barely saw anyone else. Perhaps she would have believed it was theck of manpower that led to this ten-year-old looking after herself, if she didn''t have her system.


    There was no point of having the ''Basic Probe'' skill if she didn''t use it on anyone she came across! Even if it consumed one spirit power per use, it was all restored after a good night''s sleep anyway.


    [ Amara Gilmore: Level 16 ]


    [ Special Physique: Blessed Spirit ]


    [ Physique: 58 ]


    [ Spirit Power: 72 ]


    [ Vitality: 439 ]


    [ Soul Value: 66 ]


    [ Enhancement (avable): Burn-me-not ]


    [ Affection: Budding ]


    Even though Evelyn had grown tremendously over thest three years, she was still baffled when she first saw the stats of this little girl. She had already tried to view the stats of everyone she met, but most of the time the results were far more ''normal''. Most people had all their stats below twenty, with only vitality being close to a hundred.


    Evelyn frowned as she looked at her own stats with slight disappointment.


    [ Evelyn Knox (Age 3): Level 9 ]


    [ Hybrid Physique: Blessed Spirit, Lotus Throne ]


    [ Physique: 110 ]


    [ Spirit Power: 35 ]


    [ Vitality: 107 ]


    [ Soul Value: 1215 ]


    For servants, whom she considered normal civilians, their spirit power would not exceed twenty points. As for the vitality, the older they were, the less vitality they had. The highest she had seen among servants was a hundred and twenty.


    The ''outstanding'' stats she had seen so far included her mother and father, and Amara''s stats were multiple times higher. She couldn''t see her grandfather''s stats, unfortunately, since her probe skill didn''t work on him.


    Her curiosity drew her closer to the redhead, and unknowingly, she began to indulge herself in talking with her more and more.


    After staying with Amara for a long time, Evelyn was able to dig out that this little redhead was from a prominent family that no longer existed, and was seeking shelter in the Knox family. Looking after ''little Evey'', as she called her, was apparently this girl''s hobby.


    Evelyn thought it was a little strange, because most people would consider babysitting a chore.


    She had some pride when she thought ''Well, with someone as smart and mature as myself, I guess it''s not such a chore, right?'', while ignoring all the trouble she has been causing so far.


    "Do you like children?"


    As she asked this question with a curious tilt of her head, the redhead gave her a thoughtful hum, wondering what kind of trouble was brewing inside her adorable little pink head, again. "I have a little sister, just like you We don''t have parents, so I''m used to taking care for her, it''s much easier to care for you."


    Normally she wouldn''t tell this to a child, but being with Evelyn for a while, she felt that this child, no matter how adorably cute she looked, was far more advanced than her age in terms of mental maturity. She didn''t consider her a peer yet, but refused to treat her like an idiot.


    Amara herself did not like it when adults looked down on her for being a young. Despite her age, she was the one who had looked after both herself and her little sister, all by herself. If she hadn''t grown up, the world would have long since chewed them both up and spat them out.


    This was the reason that she decided that until Evelyn did something to show she didn''t deserve being treated like a good kid, she would treat her like a peer in her heart. No one can me her for bullying the baby from time to time though, okay? Her reactions were adorable!


    Evelyn''s eyes were shining,pletely oblivious to Amara''s ''evil'' thoughts. "A little sister? Huh hmm I know! Why don''t you bring her here next time? We can y together, and you can take care of both of us. Twice the results for half the effort!"


    Of course, her internal thoughts were ''If Amara has an enhancement to unlock, then maybe her sister does too! If we''re childhood ymates, wouldn''t it be a piece of cake to max out her affection eventually?''


    Of course, it did not matter what kind of affection it was, only its strength mattered. Otherwise, she would not have had two ongoing missions of maxing out the affections for both of her parents. Given that they already loved her so much, she could already feel the juicy experience points and enhancementsing her way.


    Amara burst into giggles at her words. "Where did you hear that from? More like twice the trouble! Do you even know what that little devil is like?"


    The redhead gave Evelyn a mischievous smirk. "That little devil ys around in the worker''s quarter or the gardens while I''m with you. Trust me, she can eat up a cutie pie like you in one bite!"


    ''What? Do you think I can''t handle a little kid? Who do you think I am?! She''ll love me like I''m her mother within a week, humph! Don''t you go dropping your jaw when she follows me around like a little duckling!''


    Seeing her look skeptical, Amara couldn''t help but grin. "Alright then, since you don''t believe me, don''te crying once she pulls out all your hair and makes you bald."


    Evelyn shuddered. She had forgotten how unscrupulous some children can be in their innocence and had growncent due to the doting and care from the people around her. Who''s to say Amara''s little sister really won''t make her bald? Although her long pink hair got stuck in ces from time to time, and she even tripped over it once, she would very much love not to part with it.


    Their conversation was rudely interrupted by sharp whizzing sound followed by a loud thwack.


    Evelyn couldn''t tell what happened at all, only that Amara suddenly knelt down while holding her closely in her embrace.


    "What happened?! Amara Amara?!"

 Chapter 7: Who else could it be?

    Chapter 7: Who else could it be?


    Her first thought after the entire discussion about Amara''s little sister being a troublemaker was that this little sister was truly a little too devilish!


    However, soon enough she realized that it definitely couldn''t be her. Amara''s little sister was younger than herself, meaning she wasn''t even three years old yet! From the sound alone, that thing couldn''t have been too small or light, and must have been thrown at a decent speed.


    Most importantly, the culprit definitely threw it from the window, which was too tall for a three year old to even look through.


    Only one name came to her mind - the first Lord''s son, her cousin Tristan. He was barely tall enough to be able to peek through the window. That bastard with his early growth spurt!


    "I-I''m okay, don''t worry"


    Once Amara let her go from her embrace, allowing Evelyn to stand on her own and look at her, she was startled to see a faint bruise on her forehead. ncing at the window, there wasn''t even the shadow of the culprit to be seen. The little bastard probably didn''t even stay to look if the stone hit!


    "You''re not okay at all! Argh! Tristan that little idiot, I know it must be him!"


    Amara frowned, feeling that the headache of calming Evelyn down was going to be worse than the hit just now. "Shush, Evelyn, calm down!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but stomp her feet in frustration as Amara picked up the small stone that had hit her and kept it in the pouch like pocket of her apron. Even if she knew that with the redhead''s 58 physique stat, a stone throw from a child couldn''t hurt more than a bug bite, she still felt like beating that little bastard up.


    "Even if you''re not hurt, we can''t just let it go! He still tried! Let''s go catch that idiot and teach him a lesson!"


    Amara sighed as she patted the little girl on the head. "No remember, this matter didn''t happen. You can''t mention it to anyone else"


    "But"


    The redhead sighed. "Look, Evelyn, you''re so smart, so tell me If youined about little Tristan hitting me, what would happen? Nothing!"


    Evelyn was still a bit unconvinced. "He''ll probably at least get scolded, right? And we don''t have toin, we can go catch him and beat him up ourselves!"


    Amara rolled her eyes. The headache from the hit was already gone, but the one from trying to convince this stubborn girl was just beginning. "Firstly, he doesn''t care about getting scolded at all, does he? He wouldn''t have done this if he did. And if you beat him up, it''s not your responsibility, but mine."


    Evelyn finally looked a little cowed as she calmed down and thought it through. She wasn''t willing to let him go, but it seems like she would have to figure out some other way to punish him.


    "And to even get him a scolding, your father and the first lord would have to get into an argument first. Do we really want to do that when they seem so overworked already?"


    "Fine, fine! I get it"


    She still felt angry when she thought about it. Evelyn had a hundred and ten points in physique, but a normal child did not. Even if she was born from a blessed spirit egg, she was supposed to have at most only twenty or so physique at this age. If that stone had hit her head instead of Amara, with just twenty points of physique, it would have been a serious injury.


    Letting him go scot free when he did something like that did not sit right with Evelyn. If he learned that he could get away with such a thing right now, who knows what he might try a few years down the road?


    ''Ugh, that little shit is so annoying! I''ll definitely get back to him, if not today, then tomorrow, or the day after! I don''t believe I won''t get the chance. Hmme to think of it, I might as well ask that now.''


    Her thought process was simple. At her age, children had very short attention spans. As long as she changed the topic abruptly, Amara should think she had already forgotten about it, and won''t pay as much attention to keeping her in ler. That should give her more opportunities to teach that little shit a lesson.


    "All the other people here eat regrly and go to the bathroom, right? Am-"


    Tears sprang to her eyes from the pain in her tongue, she really shouldn''t have spoken in a panic. ''Oh no I have done it again''


    She could see the corners of Amara''s mouth twitching from trying not to smirk.


    "I-I did nhat bit-"


    She took a deep breath waited for her injury to regenerate, thanking herself for picking this ability. "I did not bite my tongue! I just stumbled on my words."


    Amara smiled as she picked her up, ignoring her protests. "Of course, little miss."


    It seems that the redhead didn''t want to stay in the hall anymore, and decided to take a walk in the gardens outside, carrying the little girl along.


    ''She really does whatever she wants, huh?!''


    "H-hey?! Who told you to pick me up?! Put me down! Down!"


    The insolent redhead ignored her whining and squeezed her cheeks instead. "Weren''t you asking me something? Don''t mind the little things, Evey."


    Evelyn paused. Oh yeah, she almost forgot. The topic she was using to distract Amara, what was it again? Food?


    "Amara why does everyone else eat so much?"


    Her ''maid'' smiled, kissing her little chin andughing at her angry response. Her littledy was a ball of curiosity. Very easy to distract, but very focused on the strangest things at the same time. The little girl didn''t even notice when she discarded the stone she had been carrying in her pocked into one of the bushes.


    "Of course they eat so much they''re not special like my cute little Evey, after all!"


    Normally, this is all she would have said, but she knew Evelyn''s curiosity won''t be sated so easily, so she continued.


    "As someone born from a spirit egg, a very special one at that, your body is able to directly absorb energy from the world. Consuming regr food not only does not help, it can actually be a bad thing for you. So, you must be very careful what you put into your mouth."


    Evelyn nodded when she saw Amara look serious. She wasn''t too worried, since she was sure that having ''disease immunity'' had her covered from getting sick, but others didn''t know that.


    ''I guess this body is a bit abnormal even in this world Hm,e to think of it, her status said Amara is also a blessed spirit I wonder if she''ll tell me if I ask?''


    "Are you also the same, Amara?"


    The redhead looked slightly surprised. "The same?"


    Amara sighed before smiling gently at the child in her arms, sometimes she was too smart for her own good. The redhead was a bit concerned if this adorable little fluffball would be overconfident and conceitedter. Wouldn''t that be a huge loss? But could she really lie to such a cutie-pie?


    "You''re a little more special, but we''re more or less the same You''ll understand when you''re older."


    There it was, the phrase Evelyn came to hate the most since her rebirth  ''You''ll understand when you''re older''.


    "Don''t treat me like a ba-bweh?!"


    And she bit her tongue again.


    ----------


    Amara had never been fond of taking afternoon naps. However, every day Evelyn would take a nap in the afternoon for about two hours. Moreover, she insisted that the redheady down with her.


    After a while, it became a bad habit for her to sleep along, and it was this bad habit that Evelyn took advantage of today to crawl away slowly, down the bed and out the door and right out of the mansion.


    If someone saw her, they would just think that she was sneaking away to cause some mischief. Her real goal, however, was quite different.


    The system that Evelyn had didn''t have any proper intelligence or soul, and could not really serve as an instructor. It was only a tool, and to use that tool to its fullest extent depended on the user.


    Evelyn was quite sure that people in this world didn''t think about strength in terms of levels, because she had never heard that word even in passing. Nevertheless, the easiest way for her to grow stronger using her system was to level up.


    Leveling up increased her base stats, and the higher the base stats, the stronger the skills she could use would be. By defeating opponents or maxing out affection, she could of course acquire many enhancements, but these enhancements would be quite useless if her base stats were pathetic.


    And to level up, she needed experience. Her body absorbed some of the world''s natural energy by itself, giving her one experience point every two to three days. But this was just a drop in the bucket, barely worth mentioning. That''s not to say it was useless - it did help her level up to 9 in these three years!


    At this point, however, the most efficient way to get experience was toplete missions.


    Almost every challenging task she could possibly do in her life - impossible or not, was issued to her in the form of a mission. She could ''ept'' the ones she wanted to keep looking at, and they would be saved to her ongoing missions window.


    The rejected missions were hidden, but if shepleted themter somehow they would give her the rewards anyway.


    Missions were also of different types, and gave different amounts of experience. Green missions, the easiest of the bunch, only gave her 20 experience when she was level 2, and 90 experience at level 9. Yellow missions could give anywhere from 1,000 experience to 100,000 experience in terms of reward, depending on the difficulty.


    Currently, she had three missions. The first two were both yellow missions giving out 1,000 experience each - maxing out the affection of both her parents. Oncepleted, they would surely give her a huge boost in level!


    And the third mission was the reason she was sneaking out today. Even if it was a green mission that gave only 90 experience points, she had to do it.


    After looking around for a while in the garden outside the mansion, she finally found the stone that Amara had thrown away.


    She could use anything else, but in her opinion, even if justice wasn''t poetic, vengeance had to be. For maximum satisfaction!


    [Vengeance: Level 1] : epted


    Hint: Beat up Tristan Knox.


    Reward: 90 experience.

 Chapter 8: The First Milestone

    Chapter 8: The First Milestone


    -Status-


    [Evelyn Knox: Level 9]


    Exp: 30/50


    This wasn''t the first time that her cousin Tristan had done this kind of thing.


    "Even when I was a little baby, he clearly hated me.... I don''t know what kind of weird things his parents are teaching him, but I don''t think I''ve ever done anything bad to him before!"


    Evelyn clenched the stone that Tristan had used and slowly made her way towards the first lord''s mansion.


    The Knox estate wasn''t small, and there were eight individual mansions inside the high walls, each with their own garden space. One of these was dedicated to serving guests, and one was for housing any hired help of the Knox family.


    Out of these eight mansions, Evelyn had only seen her own home from the inside. Amara was probably more familiar with the situation, but this was clearly not a matter she would help with.


    "Well, this should be the right direction, at least. Tristan always runs this way after his shenanigans."


    The chances of being able toplete her mission today were quite low, and she initially intended to look around nap time every day till she found him. It seemed luck was on her side today, however, because she spotted Tristan crushing bugs near the mansion closest to her own.


    "Lucky!"


    Finding him was just the beginning of the solution, however. The real problem Evelyn was facing was how to punish him without overdoing it.


    Although the stone clenched in her hand reminded her of the survival test before her rebirth, she wasn''t so cruel that she would kill a child for being moron. People grow and change, and she certainly hoped Tristan could do so as well.


    Getting a little revenge was sweet, but one of the main reasons she wanted to punish him was to make him learn not to go around hurting others willy-nilly. He must know that if he does that, it won''t be without consequences!


    "I definitely can''t just return tit for tat. If I really smack him on the head with a stone, it''s gonna be aplete disaster."


    As she thought about it over and over, Evelyn actually found her resolve wavering. She initially had made up her mind to teach him a harsh lesson by hitting his leg with the same stone. If it hurts, it should help him remember it for a while.


    "Look at this kid... he''s so young, but doing so many bad things already! Ugh!"


    In the end, Evelyn gritted her teeth and opened her inventory. She stared nkly at the huge pile of candy she had hoarded unconsciously, and tossed the stone into a separate corner with some embarrassment. And then she stomped over to Tristan directly.


    The boy stood up in shock as he spotted her.


    "Y-you!"


    A resounding smack echoed as Evelyn''s tiny little palm mmed into his face with a force he couldn''t believe came from someone younger than him.


    The boy seemed to be unable toprehend the situation anymore as he fell to the ground and started bawling.


    "Shut up!"


    Evelyn kicked him, not hard enough to really hurt him but enough to let him know she didn''t care about his whining. It did make him stop sobbing and quiet down, and he seemed slightly more aware of what was going on now.


    There were many things she wanted to say, but as the words came to her lips she discarded them one by one. Giving him a lecture at this point would be pointless. He''ll just forget itter, or hate her even more, no matter what she said. In that case, she might as well make it clear.


    "Tristan, if you have something to say, you should just use your mouth. If there is ever a next time when you try to hurt me or anyone I care about for whatever reason, I will hurt you ten times more!"


    Looking at his slightly scared appearance, Evelyn decided that instead of going soft halfway through, might as well drive the point home in one go.


    "And that''s if you fail! If you actually manage to hurt someone, I''ll make sure it hurts hundreds of times more! Remember, don''t do to others what you don''t want done to yourself!"


    Tristan didn''t speak a single word in response, and just looked at her nkly after she finished speaking. Holding his cheek in slight confusion, his thoughts were probably still on that p.


    "Ugh, this kid..."


    In the end, Evelyn could only leave helplessly. There wasn''t much time left before Amara would wake up and discover she was gone. If her pink hair was nowhere in sight by then, she might be transformed into an elf girl with very long ears. If there was one thing Amara loved more than pulling her cheeks, it was pulling her ears.


    As for the consequences of pping Tristan, Evelyn did not care at all. If someone tries to hit her and she hits back, is it her fault for ''starting the fight''? Would it have been okay to just get beat up passively?


    Even if he reallyined about it, Evelyn wasn''t stupid enough to just admit her mistakes and not expose the faults of the other person. She would fully expose what Tristan had done. Who was afraid of adding oil to the fire? Definitely not her.


    At that point, the one getting scolded would not necessarily be herself. If Tristan wasn''t dumb, even he should know who is the one at fault if the adults really looked into it.


    She just hoped that he learned his lesson, and there won''t be any future trouble.


    A notification from her system attracted her attention, bringing a smile to her face.


    "Oh well, I guess it really was quite worth it in the end."


    -Mission Completed-


    [Vengeance: Level 1]


    Hint: Beat up Tristan Knox.


    Reward: 90 experience.


    Level up!


    Level 9 [30/50] -> Level 10 [70/100]


    Level 10 - Milestone level reached! +10 All Stats!


    Level up bonus increased from +1 to +2 all stats per level!


    The continuous ding ding ding sound from the system made her eyes shine. Previously, it really took too long to level up! Each experience point took two to three days.


    She even felt slightly regretful. "If only I could repeat the same mission, pping that little shit once is as good as nine months worth of wait!"


    Putting aside the matter of experience, previously each level up only brought her a single point in each stat, and now she will get two per level. Although it seemed like her spirit power and soul value both increased at a higher efficiencypared to other stats. But this was a just a huge boost to everything!


    The system didn''t make it clear what these ''milestones'' were, but if she could hit a couple more, it would be like a dream.


    The stats weren''t just for show. The easiest one to test was, of course, her physique. And if she was right, then each point of physique directly increased both strength and speed. If she really hit Tristan with even a tenth of her actual strength - his skull would have cracked open at the very least.


    Even with her previous 110 point physique, Evelyn was confident she could actually lift Amara up with one hand.


    With a final ''ding'', the system disyed her updated stats before her shining eyes.


    Evelyn Knox: Level 9 -> 10 [70/100]


    Hybrid Physique: Blessed Spirit, Lotus Throne


    Physique: 110 -> 122


    Spirit Power: 35 -> 53


    Soul Value: 1215 -> 1233


    Vitality: 107 -> 116


    [ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    Basic Spatial Maniption


    Basic Probe


    Minor Shield


    Disease Immunity


    Advanced Regeneration


    Cmity


    As Evelyn was happily making her way back to her father''s mansion, she caught an absolutely absurd situation happening not far away.


    A little girl with blood red hair was running around crying in circles around a tree, being chased around by a loudly quacking duck. It seemed like the duck had a bloody vendetta against her, because even with tears running down her cheeks, scratched up face and limbs, and her blue frock in tatters, the duck had no intention to stop.


    "What in the world? Has that animal gone mad?!"


    Evelyn didn''t hesitate for even a second and dashed towards them, taking Tristan''s stone out of her inventory. Once she was close enough and confident of making a hit, she threw it with all her might towards the duck.


    Despite her confidence, however, the stone ended up barely missing the duck.


    A boom resounded throughout the area as the bark of the tree exploded, making both the girl and the duck stop in shock. The duck ran away in terror shortly after, and Evelyn made her way to the little girl who was now sobbing on the ground.


    She looked a little younger than even herself, which made it absurd that she was out here alone. She felt a little angry at whoever was responsible for taking care of her.


    Wiping her tears with her hands, Evelyn felt distressed at the scratches all over her body. "Hey... what''s your name? Where''s your mom?"


    The girl made an ''um um'' sound but didn''t respond, instead scrambling up and looking around the surroundings in a hurry.


    Feeling a little confused, Evelyn followed her to see that she was picking up little colored stones that she had probably gathered up before they got lost in the duck fiasco.


    After a while, the girl finally had her hands full and walked over to Evelyn happily. She seems to havepletely forgotten about the duck.


    "T-Thanku!"


    ''Oh, well, it''s good that she can speak, although her words are a little broken!''


    Just as Evelyn was going tofort her and find out where she lives, a shiver of terror ran up her spine as she felt a ''sinister'' gaze from her back.

 Chapter 9: Little Devil and Big Devil

    Chapter 9: Little Devil and Big Devil


    "Evelyn!"


    There was no mistaking that voice! The thing Evelyn had feared the most when she sneaked out to ''educate'' Tristan was Amara waking up before she could return. It was definitely ''educating'', by the way, and not just beating him up! The phrasing is very important, okay?


    ''Calling my full name, huh? What happened to little Evey and little miss? Humph, make one mistake and you show your true colors! No wonder you call your sister ''little devil'', it''s because you''re the big devil!''


    Evelyn turned around cheerfully, quite contrary to her inner feelings. "Amara! It''s great that you''re here so quick! Look, look this little girl needed my help, and I''m such nice pers bweh?!"


    The redhead didn''t react to her words at all, and started squeezing and stretching her chubby cheeks.


    Her big, teary eyes looked at the redhead pitifully. "Ow ow ow ow I-I''m shorry, stahp"


    "Trying to distract me? How old are you again? How old am I?"


    The younger redhead whom she had just saved seemed quite satisfied just watching Amara bully her ''savior''.


    ''Do people in this world not know what a life saving grace is?! At least cry to distract her!''


    A few minutester, Evelyn held her swollen face pitifully. The color of her cheeks and her shiny pink hair looked almost the same now, and they felt slightly chubbier in her hands. But her pouting look didn''t seem to faze Amara at all.


    The older redhead seemed quite satisfied, having done her part as an ''adult'' by punishing the naughty child.


    She pped her hands, as if tomend herself for a job well done. "Well, I see you''ve met the little devil already. Vivi, c''mere!"


    And the tiny devil that Evelyn had saved glomped into the big devil''s arms cheerfully. "''Mara!"


    The redhead squeezed one of the child''s cheeks, although much more gently than she had done with Evelyn. "Alright, I know you like to run around on your own, but this time is really too much."


    The child seemed to feel a little ashamed and lowered her head with ''Uuw'' sound that Evelyn found absolutely adorable. It didn''t excuse the big devil from bullying her though!


    ''Aaw, even if it''s not as much as what she does to me, how can the big devil bully such a cute little sister?''


    After nagging for a while, Amara sighed helplessly and picked the two children up. Despite both of them being only around three years old and tiny, the older redhead wasn''t too big herself, so Evelyn found it a little awkward to settle in her arms.


    ''Ohe on, not this again! It''s so weird getting carried around! Big sister, can you not act like this?''


    Evelyn could only whine in her heart and keep quiet. There''s no need to provoke the big devil into bullying her again when she''s finally moved on!


    She was half tempted to lift her up with one hand just to show her that she''s not a child anymore, but that would really be incredibly childish. It would just establish her image as an absurdly strong, gifted child with mental deficiency! Amara would make fun of her for at least a few weeks just for that! That big meanie!


    "Well, let''s get the two of you cleaned up first!"


    Amara seemed to head for some ce other than the third lord''s mansion, but Evelyn didn''t really pay attention. She didn''t even care about what kind of scolding little Vivi was getting in her ears. Her attention was fully focused on the status window of Amara''s sister.


    [ Vivian Gilmore (Age 3)]


    Level 8 [Exp: 41/45]]


    Special Physique: Blessed Spirit


    Physique: 30


    Spirit Power: 55


    Soul Value: 33


    Vitality: 505


    [ Enhancement (avable): Pyromaniac ]


    [ Affection: Stable ]


    ''I knew it! So she does have an enhancement just like her sister! But to think both of them have this ''Blessed Spirit'' physique must mean that this Gilmore family was really quite something. No wait, more importantly, just what the heck is up with these stats?!''


    When she saw Amara''s vitality being over four hundred, Evelyn had just treated it as an exceptional case. But when both Amara and her sister had vitality that was several times that of herself, it gave her a bad feeling.


    ''I think no, it''s very likely at this point, I can''t deny it. Probably among people born from these ''spirit eggs'', I''m the one with an abnormally low vitality!''


    Evelyn was lost in thought even by the time Amara had already arrived in a room that the pink haired girl had never seen before.


    Only when she was plonked down on the soft carpet did she break out of her daze. Looking around the ce, she was slightly startled. With arge bed, walk in wardrobe, and a modest amount of furniture, it looked slightly better than even her own room.


    After putting the two of them down, the redhead started rummaging through the wardrobe. While Evelyn was looking around curiously, Vivian had already shot off like a bullet towards the vanity table and opened up a huge box full of colorful stones. Happily adding her new loot to the collection, the little redhead gave her a proud look, as if asking for praise.


    ''Oh wait a minute wasn''t she giving me some of those stones earlier? Howe they''re not mine anymore? Well it''s not like they''re useful to me, and looks like she already forgot about the entire thing.''


    As the gears in her mind turned a little more, she btedly realized another thing. ''Didn''t her status say her affection for me is already ''stable''? Hmm strange. For mom and dad it started from ''stable'', and now it should be quite close to ''strong''. And for Amara, it''s ''budding'' so I guess it should be like this''


    ''Alright I got it So, if someone has good thoughts about you, the affection should start from budding, then go to stable, and then strong. But for a child, like Vivian, it''s very easy to form a very strong ''good feeling'' if she gets a powerful impression. No wonder her affection for me directly went from budding to stable in one go! Great!''


    Amara walked out of the closet and stared nkly at the mud all over the carpetno thanks to Vivian running around. Evelyn gave her a ''Don''t look at me, I didn''t do it!'' look, and the redhead almost popped a vein.


    Heaving a deep sigh, she pulled out a red and green frock that looked like they would fit either of the two girls, and put them on the bed.


    The ten-year-old Amara wondered if she would be getting wrinkles before reaching adulthood, being responsible for taking care of these two little troublemakers. "Alright, I''m going to wash this little devil up. You take that time to change into new clothes, okay?"


    The pink haired girl innocently waved goodbye. "Okay!"


    Evelyn didn''t think her clothes were dirty at all, but she didn''t care if she had to change. No point in arguing over pointless things. After changing, she tried to use her probe skill on various objects in the room. Anyway, if Amara left her alone in the room knowing her habits, she already acknowledged that anything can be turned upside down and anything can be broken.


    It was all normal as expected, so she was slightly disappointed. She was especially disappointed with the big box of stones, as all of them only showed ''Shiny Stone'' when probed. Although probing objects usually didn''t provide much detail in the first ce, whether it was a regr object or not could still be determined.


    For example, the status window when she had probed that recording orb clearly stated that it was a ''Imagery Crystal: Grade 3'', while a normal ss ball would just have been shown as ''ss Orb'' or something simr.


    It didn''t take long for Amara to walk back out of the bathroom with a little steamed bun looking thing rolled up in a towel in her arms. After dressing her up, the redhead put her little sister on the bed.


    Grabbing Evelyn by the waist, she plonked her on the bed beside her sister too.


    "Alright, now that both of you are done cleaning up, care to give me an exnation?"


    Evelyn opened her mouth and closed it again.


    ''Wait a minute, even if she caught me, she doesn''t know what I did! Ohhh, I can still get away with it!''


    Thankfully she hadn''t bbered too early!


    "Actually, I''m not sure what''s going on I just heard a lot of noises and was curious so I checked it out. Then I found a duck was trying to hurt her, so I chased it away"


    Amara shifted her imploring gaze to Vivian next, and the little redhead gave her older sister an aggrieved look. "I-I not bad girl, I wash jushth cowwecthing gemsh, and I shaw a wittle burd, and I y wid burd, but ith be fire t-then, then big burd bithe me, and I run. Big shishter save me, wove"


    She started bawling while clinging to the girl next to her, and Evelyn could only pat her on the back awkwardly. She felt that the little girl was more embarrassed than distressed from the ordeal.


    ''No wonder she didn''t speak! Looks like she''s smart enough to realize her speech is broken, but she can''t speak clearly yet. Must be very embarrassing. I don''t really get all the babbling, but I suppose she was just collecting stones and had an ident''


    Amara was rubbing her head as if she was getting a massive headache.


    "Well, you two y together here. I''ll be right back"


    After walking out of the room and making some distance, Amara stomped her feet several times and pulled at her hair in frustration.


    "I told her to not leave this building! I told her! Aaargh! And show she''s gone and cooked the goddamn babies of the first elder''s pet duck. How in the hell do I deal with this?!"

 Chapter 10: The Duck Murderers Threat

    Chapter 10: The Duck Murderer''s Threat


    "I''m sorry, what did you just say?"


    "I said someone infiltrated the Knox mansion, and cooked my little ducklings."


    The second elder, Stane Knox,ughed hysterically even as the look on the face of the first elder kept getting darker. If not for a kick to the shin, he probably would have keptughing.


    He whined in his mind about how sinister the first elder and patriarch were, sitting on his either side when the round table had enough space for thirty people.


    "Do you think it''s funny? With the situation as it is now, isn''t it bad enough that someone can sneak in and out of this ce as they please? And they''re so fearless that they dare to make a dinner from our pets!"


    Stane felt wronged. Is he the only one in the room who doesn''t take things too seriously? Why can''t there be coincidences in this world? Not everything has to be a conspiracy!


    "No no no, elder Floris, don''t misunderstand it''s just, isn''t it crazy to think that someone would sneak in just to cook your little ducklings? Would they even be enough for dinner?"


    "Bastard!"


    The kick this time was much harsher, sending the male elder howling.


    Osmond felt less like a patriarch and more like a kindergarten teacher as he rubbed his temples. "Alright, you guys you''re not teenagers anymore, okay? Can you not be like this?"


    "Humph!"


    The male elder waved his hands in surrender. "Eh, I''m sorry forughing, Floris. It''s just so absurd that it sounds like a joke. I didn''t mean it! You know I''m a clown and an idiot. I don''t get things fast. Sorry."


    The patriarch sighed before patting him on the shoulder. "Alright, I think Floris is in the right on this matter. Regardless of why or how it happened, we should at least remain vignt and increase the security measures around the mansions of the three lords. None of our three youngest descendants are strong enough yet. We can''t be careless. Especially with little Eve."


    "I understand, milord."


    Although the two of them nodded in eptance, Floris still looked hesitant about something.


    Having worked with them for over four decades, how could the patriarch miss such a thing?


    "Good it looks like you still have something to say, Floris?"


    The female elder sighed. She almost hoped they wouldn''t notice her thoughts, because she knew what their family was like right now. With their own survival at stake, how can she be so selfish?


    "Forgive me, I know we''re struggling right now, but isn''t there another child we have to worry about?"


    Sometimes she saw a tiny little redhead running around in the gardens, bringing life to her otherwise cheerless ce. With her personality, it was too much for elder Floris to go out and coddle the girl, but it was definitely impossible to put her in harm''s way. If the family couldn''t, she would have to figure something out on her own.


    Whoever it was that could burn her ducklings to charcoal in her own yard, could very well do the same with that adorable little ball of sunshine. Just thinking about it made her stomach churn.


    Moreover, while she was looking around the ce, she found a tree with a giant hole inside. It looked like someone with at least ranger level strength had punched through it. How fearless do you have to be to do that? What if one of them noticed the sound and came over, were they confident to escape? The whole situation made her feel uneasy.


    The patriarch frowned in thought. "Ah, you must mean the daughter of the Gilmore family. I suppose you''re right But we have no manpower to spare."


    Even if they assigned just two people to each mansion, they would only have a single shadow guard left over. The three elder mansions were already without security, and someone definitely had to be avable to carry out emergency tasks.


    Floris seemed to have already thought it through. After all, all three of them knew exactly how thinly stretched their forces were already.


    "Then how about I tell them to move in with little Eve? They can be safe with her, and it won''t require arranging anything extra. What do you think?"


    The patriarch also felt more relieved now that there was a good workaround. Although the Gilmore sisters sought shelter directly with Desmond and Isabe and not with the family head, they were still under the Knox family protection. It felt like he was neglecting his duties as the patriarch if he allowed them to be put in harm''s way.


    "That''s actually good. Alright, then let''s do it your way. You go talk to those children and tell them to move to Desmond''s ce."


    Despite being over seventy, elder Stane seemed to be dissatisfied at theck of attention he was getting in this meeting. So he came up with an idea without much thought. What''s safer thanbining the safety of two mansions? Combining the safety of all mansions!


    Feeling proud, he puffed out his chest and tapped the table as if he were a mastermind at work. "Actually, I don''t understand one thing."


    The other two looked at each other with an eyeroll before the patriarch gave him a dull nod to continue.


    "It''s sad to say, but with our numbers in this generation... won''t we all fit prettyfortably in a single mansion? What d''ya think?"


    Their faces seemed to say ''as expected, it was a dumb idea''.


    "I think it''s absurd to suggest Nadina and Isabe can stay under the same roof without exploding. And if everyone but George''s family are to move in together you tell me, how does that make us look?"


    "Eh? Eh?! They hate each other? Why? No wait, why are you looking at me like I''m an idiot?!"


    ----------


    Some people believe that whatever is bound to happen in this world will happen regardless of whether you want it to happen or not. But Amara firmly believed that the likelihood of something happening increased exponentially with how much she didn''t want it to happen.


    For example, the person she would really hate toe across today would be the first elder Floris Knox. And guess who she can see walking towards their ce from the window? She hurriedly stuffed the two children into the closet with ''shush!'' before rushing out to greet the elder.


    "E-Elder Floris, good day!"


    Floris smiled gently, making the redhead feel guilty. "Good day to you too, Amara."


    Amara waited anxiously for Floris to question her, a thousand different excuses running through her mind. Her thoughts kept swinging between confessing directly and begging forgiveness for her little sister''s ident, and denying everything vehemently unless presented with proof.


    "Well, where''s your baby sister?"


    The redhead screamed inside, wondering if the elder already knew. "A-ah, little Vivi? She must be out somewhere running around. You know children, they do whatever they want whenever they want, haha. Ha. Why don''t youe sit down, Elder?"


    Floris smiled, and the more she looked like a kind middle-aged woman from the outside, the more Amara dreaded the interrogation toe. All adults wore masks! They think something else and speak something else!


    Patting her on the head, the elder walked with her all the way to the room Vivian and Amara shared. Although the mansion was huge and had many, with theck of staff, it was better to just use what was needed. This was the only ce that Amara had properly cleaned and maintained.


    Floris chuckled as she picked up the ss of water that the redhead had brought over. "Look at you, what a dutiful child. No need to be so nervous."


    She tucked some of her long gray hair behind her ear with a sigh. Feeling much more rxed in this room she had just arrived in than she did in the meeting hall she frequented for decades. It was as if there was a soothing presence nearby that helped calm her soul.


    "So, how do you like it here so far? Has there been anything troubling recently?"


    There was an audible gulp.


    "N-No? Nothing I can think of?"


    The elder didn''t seem to notice her suspicious behavior.


    "Oh, good In that case, although it''s a bit abrupt, we have decided that you two sisters shall move into the third lord''s mansion."


    For a moment, Amara wondered if she heard right. Her mind was filled with confusion. Did the elder know about the duck murderer''s origins or not? Was this another weirdly sophisticated adult scheme?


    Meanwhile, Evelyn was trying her hardest to keep Vivian quiet. She even had to cover her mouth with her hand, and the little idiot actually covered it with drool! Ew! Next time Amara better exin what''s going on before throwing her around!


    As if fearing that the child would misunderstand her, the elder started exining a little nervously. "It''s not that we don''t want you to have privacy or your own ce it''s just there''s been some security concernstely"


    Halfway through her words, the elder paused as she realized that everything that she had said could be misunderstood to make everything worse. Isn''t this the same as saying the Knox family doesn''t trust them and wants to keep an eye on them? Won''t they misunderstand that the so-called security concern is just caution against them?


    Gritting her teeth, she decided to juste clean. It was shameful to behave like that in front of a child. "Yesterday, there was an incident near my mansion."


    Amara''s heart jumped with a guilty conscience.


    "After discussing with the patriarch and elder Stane, we decided that we''ll tighten the protection around three mansions in particr. And I want you to move in with the one you''re closest to, for the sake of your little sister''s safety."


    Amara felt moved in her heart, and the guilt was palpable. Here she was thinking of how to shift me on killing her ducklings, while elder Floris was worried about their well-being.


    "Well, you children move out at your own pace, but don''t take too long. I shall go. If there is anything in this ce that troubles you and you have nowhere to go, you cane to me."


    "Thank you thank you, elder!"


    "Fufu"


    Floris left, feeling that her depressed mood waspletely gone after talking with a cute and shy child like Amara. It almost made her wish she had descendants of her own, but shook her head shortly after. If she had to get together with someone obnoxious like elder Stane, she would have seizures every day from sheer rage and disgust.


    "Also, children are very cute only for a while. Then they''re very, very annoying! Ah, the peace of living alone is the best after all!"


    After hearing the dull thud from the door, two little heads finally peeked out of the closet.


    Amara rolled her eyes as she looked at the pink haired girl''s hands and dress covered in Vivian''s drool.


    Evelyn futilely wiped her hands against her clothes again. She kept trying to separate from the giggling Vivian, but the tiny redhead was still stubbornly clinging to her. Thankfully, she didn''t have to handle her all day or she would go crazy.


    "What''s going on, Amara? What did the olddy talk to you about?"


    Amara wondered if it''s indeed true that one''s own feeling of misfortune bes less unbearable just by watching others suffer. "Well, looks like what you said that day came true after all. We''re going to be moving into your mansion and the two of you can have fun ying together all day, and I can save time watching the two of you at the same time!"


    Evelyn''s confused ''Huuuuuuuuuuh?!'' was drowned out by Vivian''s excited squeal.

 Chapter 11: A Precious Gift

    Chapter 11: A Precious Gift


    There were many strange things about Evelyn that would make normal people feel that something was not right.


    It was strange how she could learn how to walk and speak proficiently so very quickly after her birth. And stranger still was the fact that she was able to learn how to read and write not long after. She couldn''t do it all perfectly, but what she could do was already shocking enough.


    Her mother waved the notebook in her hand towards her husband. "Monmon~ look at these cute little squiggles our daughter has made! Are they supposed to mean something?"


    Evelyn clung to her mother''s leg with tears glittering in the corner of her eyes. Thenguage in this world was different, and although she could somehow understand it from birth, she had to learn how to write it herself. It was a slow process, to put it gently.


    As someone who almost finished her schooling in the past life, she was ashamed to be caught not even being able to write!


    Today was a day of celebration, and both of her parents were at home along with some temporary hired help that was working on decorating the mansion. Evelyn thought today would be really fun, getting to spend more time with her parents than usual. If only her mother wasn''t a brat.


    "Moooooooom, give it back!"


    Desmond''s expression was hidden behind the newspaper like thing. The backside was all ck with no words, so she couldn''t really tell what exactly it was or what he was doing with it.


    "Stop bullying her and give it back, Be."


    Despite his words, he didn''t lift a finger to actually stop his wife from teasing the little girl.


    Her mother often made fun of her squiggly handwriting, causing the little girl to pout, but on the inside, she was quite proud. Even if it looks like a mess, her daughter was trying to learn how to write on her own initiative.


    She didn''t just want to learn how to write, but everything else that caught her interest. It was certainly a headache to face her multitude of requests, but Evelyn was a surprisingly independent learner. She required little to no supervision while learning things, and thus her requests became far more manageable.


    And so, keeping an eye on this little troublemaker remained Amara''s job. Whether it be learning to paint from her mother or archery from her father, the only person who felt that her workload increased was the poor redhead ''maid''.


    Perhaps in another, more normal family, Evelyn would have hidden herself and been more cautious. But among these people whom affection she could already judge as in her favor, she wanted to see how far she could go.


    It did not take her long to discover that she did not actually have to hide anything at all. No matter what she did, it wasn''t her job to exin how she could do it. In fact, it became the headache of Amara and her parents to exin to her how she was able to do what others can''t.


    To them, the biggest challenge wasn''t exining how someone people are just born with higher innate abilities. Nor was it a great challenge to exin the advantage of being born from a blessed spirit egg. The thing they worried about the most was how to do all that while not making the cute little baby a conceited and arrogant fool.


    Raising a child was much harder than it appeared on the surface, because a small mistake in upbringing could prove very costlyter down the road. Tristan was a ring example that was quite close by, and thus, the young Knox parents tried to be more careful.


    Isabe kept waving the notebook around, making little Evelyn jump to grab it in futility, whining in distress.


    Evelyn hated showing imperfection in front of people she liked. Perhaps deep down in her heart, she felt that they wouldn''t like her if they thought she wasn''t as good as they imagined.


    "Moom! Mom! Please give it back! Give it!"


    And Isabe was thinking, her daughter really was the cutest when she was crying! Look at those glistening eyes, those shiny cheeks, that long bouncy pink hair! Isn''t that the most adorable little thing in the world? How lucky she was to be the mother of such a cute little baby, with exclusive rights to bully her.


    Normally Evelyn was quite a proud and cold little girl, and showed affection very rarely. When distressed and crying, however, it was very easy to hug her close andfort her as sheined about her grievances. It was when the mother felt closest to her daughter.


    "Fufu"


    Isabe''s chuckles came to an abrupt halt as she spotted a red-haired hamster looking thing in a blue frock crawl into their room with her big sister in tow.


    In Isabe''s mind, this was Evelyn''s pet hamster, called Vivian. A very vicious little thing that bit anyone who tried to bully little Eve. It would be very cute, if it didn''t hurt so much!


    With a light cough, Isabe pretended to be suddenly busy as she handed over the notebook to the confused pink haired girl and shooed her away. "You guys go y outside while we get the hall finished. Remember toe back when you see your aunt Bree is here!"


    Amara took the two little girls away with a roll of her eyes, wondering why it felt like Evelyn''s parents were more childlike than herself. No, it was almost as if she was the only adult here, and she wasn''t even an adult!


    As for Evelyn''s aunting, Amara had never seen thedy in all her time taking care of the little girl. All she knew was that the woman had always promised toe to the little girl''s birthdays, but had never visited her once in her entire life.


    ----------


    Shortly after Evelyn left the main hall with the Gilmore siblings, Vivian started making a strange whining noise as Amara handed the pink-haired girl a stone bracelet. The little redhead looked so distressed that Evelyn wondered if Amara had snatched it from her.


    "She kept taking it apart and changing it over and over, and I felt like I was about to go crazy one of these days. Just look at her hands Well, she doesn''t think it''s good enough still, so she wanted me to buy something to give you as a gift. But I think you''ll like it, so, this is her birthday gift to you."


    ''Ahhh, even if the intentions are good, how can you just snatch it?!''


    Just one look at the carefully selected stones in the bracelet told her these were all the most precious ones that the little girl had collected in her life.


    The bracelet actually looked quite good. If it was sold in the market as an inexpensive pearl bracelet, it wouldn''t look too out of ce. But of course, even if the little girl had chosen the stones very carefully, there was a slight difference in their sizes, and the colors werepletely different.


    Evelyn unconsciously used her probe skill on the bracelet, feeling a little silly after doing so. But the results were quite surprising.


    [ Shiny Bracelet: Grade 1 ]


    - Infused over a long period of time with a blessed spirit''s energy, this item has acquired the following properties:


    - Spirit Power + 3 when worn.


    - Each stone consumed infuses user with +30 spirit power for one day but permanently reduces vitality by 2 due to the rich fire energy.


    - Vitality reduction can be avoided if the user has fire energy resistance.


    Evelyn carefully slid the bracelet to her right wrist, and then pulled Vivian in a tight hug. To think the first item that can boost her stats in some way was actually made by these tiny hands.


    Looking at the tiny tears glittering at the corners of Evelyn''s eyes, Amara couldn''t help but pet her head. "Don''t cry, just think of it aspensation for all the trouble she''s caused you so far."


    Evelyn tried tough, but it was slightly muffled due to her emotions. "Is it for drooling over me? Or when we fell into that mud pond? Or for all those times you bit me? Haha"


    The two of them chuckled at Vivian''s squeak of protest.


    When was thest time she felt so moved? It''s not such a big deal, she tried to tell herself, but the happiness she felt from the bottom of her heart did not lie.


    It''s true that Vivian hasn''t always been a joy to be around in the past few months they had been together. She was an actual child, after all. Her words and actions did not always make sense, and she did not think through things before doing them.


    Amara was mature beyond her age due to the responsibilities she carried, and she was almost eight years older than the two of them. Evelyn was an exception, as she was not a true child to begin with.


    However, after all is said and done, Evelyn still loved her very much. She was like a precious daughter that she felt a duty to protect at all costs.


    Feeling the weight of a heavy object on her head, Evelyn let Vivian go from her hug and grabbed the box that was about to fall off from her head.


    She gave Amara an eye roll, but her breath hitched as she looked at the box.


    "T-This is!"

 Chapter 12: Grade 5 Item

    Chapter 12: Grade 5 Item


    "T-This is!"


    Just from looking at the box itself it was obvious how precious this thing was, but Evelyn wouldn''t be so shocked if it was just an expensive gift.


    She was shocked because she had seen this box before already, and what she learned made her have mixed feelings on receiving it.


    A few weeks ago, Vivian had misced her box of ''treasures'' and the two of them were looking for it together. More than helping Vivian, she was only having fun because she was tired from practicing archery all day then.


    After not finding it anywhere else, they decided to search the closet, and found thisrge shiny pink box. There was a symbol of a stylized lily with three petals bound together near their base beautifully engraved on its lid in gold.


    Evelyn was ready to stop Vivian from jumping on the box and opening it up, because it would be a disaster if they ended up destroying something that looked so precious. Surprisingly, however, the little girl looked nonchnt and continued looking for her ''treasures''.


    After finding the big box stuffed roughly along with the frock she had torn while running into a tree yesterday, the little redhead pped twice with a happy squeal, and bolted out of the walk-in closet before Evelyn could say a word.


    The status of the box just showed ''Gilmore Safe Box (High Quality)'', which meant the box itself might be precious but definitely did not have any special properties. She was unwilling to open it herself, given it belonged to Amara, and thus reluctantly left despite her curiosity.


    When she finally caught the redhead in the hall, Evelyn first scolded her for keeping dirty clothes in the closet  a quick and easy way to earn a lecture for the both of them, and then she finally asked her if she knew what was in the box.


    Her response at that time was, ''Mom gave the box to ''Mara. Big sis never let me touch it. I get scolded when I touch'', and then she looked around cautiously before whispering in her ear, ''I think she also likes treasure but she won''t show us. I bet she hides her treasures in that box!''


    Evelyn thought with some regret that although this little girl''s speech became a lot better in the past few months, she didn''t get any smarter after all. In Vivian''s mind, treasures could only be shiny stones.


    Of course, it was impossible for Amara to treasure a box containing stones like that, much less use herte mother''s gift box as a stone storage.


    And her mother wouldn''t have given her an empty box anyway, right?


    So that could only mean that whatever it was that the box contained was a gift from Amara''s mother that she had treasured for years. And today, that gift was being given to her.


    For a moment, she didn''t know what to say. "Amara you"


    "Just open it."


    Evelyn wondered for a moment if it would be better to return the gift, but Amara wouldn''t give away something so precious on a whim. She must have thought it through clearly before making such a decision.


    Not epting it at this point would just be hurtful, so putting aside her mixed feelings, she just pursed her lips and opened the lid of the beautiful pink box.


    Inside the box was a long silver chain with twenty small pink teardrop gemstones and a singlerge one in the shape of a heart. It looked like it was meant to be wrapped around a girl''s waist as an essory, but the feeling it gave off was far too extraordinary to be simple jewelery. Her breath hitched slightly as she ran her fingers over the gems, subconsciously using her probe skill.


    [ The Untainted: Grade 5 ]


    Able to store 20 small and 1rge items in stasis in each respective morganite crystal separately.


    The owner can create a spirit power shield for protection once, then requiring restoration of this function with spirit power before it can be used again.


    Items stored [ 0 / 20 ], [ 0 / 1 ]


    Shield [ Ready ] [ 1000 / 1000 SP ]


    It was a grade five item! The highest grade she had seen before this was the grade three orb that already seemed quite precious to her parents. Although they certainly treasured it more because of the memories it contained of their wedding and of her childhood, if it was cheap, then they would surely have gotten a separate one for her.


    Moreover, it wasn''t just a precious grade five item, but one that was of great use to her! Evelyn could store a lot of things in her inventory, and every point in spirit power expanded her inventory space by a square meter. However, making things vanish into thin air just by touching them would appear a lot less strange if she had this item.


    Not to mention that the spirit shield looked like it would be considerably strong and should prove useful in dangerous situations. Even if such a lifesaving measure was a one time use item, it would still be very precious, not to mention that this shield could be used again once recharged with spirit power.


    If someone told Evelyn to part with such an item, it would be like asking her to rip her heart out and give it away.


    Vivian''s gift already had tears glistening in her eyes, and Amara finally made them fall no matter how she tried to control it.


    The big watery pearls rolling down her cheeks seemed to satisfy the two Gilmore sisters. The two of them shared the same thought, feeling that it was worth it after all. If this prideful little missy can cry for them, that''s proof enough that they have already dug deep and grasped her heart.


    Evelyn grasped the now closed pink box with one hand and wiped her tears with the other. It was as if its weight was heavier on her heart than it was on her body. "You two you really want to make me cry today huh Why would you give me something like this?"


    Vivian''s and Amara''s responses were of course vastly different.


    The smaller redhead grinned widely, and her smile was brighter than the sun. "Because, we want you happy."


    The older redhead looked nonchnt in contrast. "You always dip your hands in too many things. Practicing targeting with stones, archery, painting it should be very helpful in carrying everything you need on your person."


    Evelyn ruffled Vivian''s hair fondly, giving Amara a meaningful smile. Although she was very deeply touched in her heart, it''s not like she waspletely clueless how their minds worked.


    "Look Vivi, your big sister is so shy! She just doesn''t want to admit that she thinks I''m adorable and it matches me so well, right? It would be a shame not to make me wear it, right?"


    Amara''s face went red with embarrassment. "What nonsense! D-Don''t misunderstand! I-I mean, yeah the shade of morganite goes so well with your hair and eyes, b-but, uh"


    After stammering for a while in shame, the older redheadposed herself before putting her hands on Evelyn''s shoulders with a serious expression.


    "I know Vivian''s already told you what it means to us, but I don''t want you to think about it like that, okay? No matter who it came from and what it costs, an equipment is only worth anything if it is put to good use."


    She was relieved when the pink-haired girl did not tease her any further and listened to her seriously.


    "Whenever I think about how much effort my mother must have gone through to get this thing, only for me to waste it away in a box out of sentimentality, it really hurts. But I still can''t take it out and use it. It means too much to me. I''ve made the decision to pass it on to you with great care, and my only request is you put it to good use for yourself."


    Evelyn nodded somberly. "Oh, but I can''t just take it for free."


    "Evey, this is our gift to you, you can''t just"


    The pink-haired girl grasped her hand with both of her tiny palms and gave her a solemn vow. "In exchange, I promise to always keep you in my heart, and protect you forever."


    The redhead was silenced, a smattering of red was prominent in both her eyes and face.


    It was undeniable that there was some selfishness in some deep corner of her heart when she decided to give such a heavy gift, knowing full well that both of them knew its weight.


    The first time she arrived in the Knox mansion to talk to them about giving the two of them shelter, the Knox parents weren''t too cautious of her and allowed her to catch a glimpse of Evelyn''s spirit egg.


    Before their Gilmore family went extinct, most of their resources were invested in nurturing these two sisters. The highest starting point that money and influence can buy in this world for a child is a blessed spirit egg to transfer their soul into, and both of the sisters had this privilege given to them.


    The Knox parents had never seen it before, so how could they know the difference? But having personally been in contact with Vivian''s blessed spirit egg, Amara was clearly aware of just how different this one was to what it was supposed to be.


    Although she never had the same feeling after Evelyn had been born, at that time she clearly felt the breath of a higher gradation from the egg. Not to mention that the pink veined spirit egg was a thing of beauty in itself, looking like a treasure even if it were to be ced beside other spirit eggs.


    It was not wrong to say her existence had awed Amara even before Evelyn had ever met her. To the redhead, it was fate''s calling, and she rushed right in.


    And the more she stayed with Evelyn, the stronger this resolve be. The child was mature far beyond her age, doted on her little sister, and had incredible talent. Even if Amara made fun of her for missing her targets and her crooked drawing, even an idiot could see the rapid progress she was making.


    And she truly adored her. She wished to see this girl rise, go as far as she could go, and it was alright even if when she reached that peak, she was no longer holding her hand. It was alright if her contribution was just a little push at the start of her journey.


    A soft giggle interrupted their touching moment. And when they looked up, they saw a tall beauty smiling at them with a gentle look in her blue doe eyes. It was unknown how long she had been standing there without them noticing.


    With her white dress, long curly light golden hair like a waterfall going down her waist, and that upturn of her plush lips, the three of them almost mistook her for a fairy.


    "Well, looks like I finally made it to my adorable niece''s birthday."

 Chapter 13: Little Puppy?!

    Chapter 13: Little Puppy?!


    Evelyn''s first impression of Bree was that she was a more mysterious and prettier version of her mother, with blonde hair instead of brown.


    However, as the three of them led her to the already decorated hall and watched herugh side by side with Isabe, they realized that actually their facial features were almostpletely identical, with the only difference being their hair.


    The pink-haired girl tapped her chin in deep thought as she once againpared their features and expressions. ''Hey, doesn''t that mean my mom is really pretty too? It''s such a shame she acts like a child most of the time or I would have such a mature beauty for a mother! Hah. I feel sorry for my poor dad, but he''s also lucky for bagging such a beauty! Everythinges at a price, I guess.''


    She already had ''The Untainted'' wrapped around her waist, with the gift box safely contained within one of its storage slots. Combined with the bracelet that her little red hamster had made with so much love and care, Evelyn already felt satisfied with her birthday.


    Even if nothing else happened today and they all just talked and had dinner now, she would go be able to sleep with a smile on her face the entire night.


    It seemed like Bree had different ns, however.


    "I''m sorry I couldn''t inform you before, Be, but I really can''t stay for long. Before I go, though, I have something I must get your little baby. And I need to take her with me. It might take us a while to return."


    Evelyn''s mother did not look amused at all. "The little puppy has be so busy these days? And you dare even call big sister by name? Almost four years since yourst visit, and you still dare to leave in a hurry, huh? Do you want big sister to spank you?"


    Bree''s entire face was red from shame, unable to believe her sister could still be so uncouth after four years. She had deluded herself into thinking that Isabe must have matured after being a mother for four years, but some people really don''t grow up!


    "Sister, you no nevermind that, I''ll exin it to youter, but please, I have my reasons! Just leave little Eve to me for a while, and I''ll return her before nightfall, okay?"


    Little did she know, Isabe couldn''t just not control her mouth, she couldn''t even control her hands. By the time she realized what was happening, Isabe was sittingfortably on the sofa and trying to bend her over for a good spanking!


    Thankfully, she recovered in time and moved away faster than lightening, or this would really be the greatest shame of her life! Just how pathetic would it be, to get spanked as a fully growndy in front of her four-year-old niece?! Bree almost fainted just from the thought.


    The blonde stomped her foot, shaking her finger towards Isabe in anger. From a safe distance, of course.


    "Big sister has grown more and more like a wild animal while I''m not here! What kind of stuff will you end up teaching the children?!"


    "Little puppy has learned to bark a lot more while it''s out! Wuff wuff!"


    Evelyn was slightly worried that her wild mom will really make her poor aunt cry. Look, there are already tears at the corners of her eyes!


    "Y-You! Can''t you drop that name already?"


    Isabe looked even more smug as Bree got angrier, infuriating the blonde further.


    "Hohoho, little puppy always followed big sister so happily before, but she has be a stray puppy now by staying out for too long. Don''t worry, big sister will get you treated and you will be obedient again!"


    "Aaarrrghhh!"


    She really made her cry! Look at those big shiny pearls flowing down her cheeks!


    The children and Evelyn''s father looked at each other nkly for a while before Desmond dragged the three of them out of the hall and into the garden outside the mansion.


    The young father looked at the children with some embarrassment.


    "Ahem, you know how she is. That''s just how the two of them get along, but don''t learn from her example, okay?"


    Although the three of them nodded obediently, in her mind Evelyn was thinking that it was no wonder her aunt didn''t return for four years! She must be terrified of her mother!


    After waiting in the garden for almost half an hour, even Desmond grew a little impatient. "W-Well, let''s go take a look to see if they''re done. But don''t make a noise! I-It''s not like I''m scared or anything, just wouldn''t want to disturb them."


    He ignored the skeptical looks from the three children before leading the way back to the hall.


    When they got there, the three of children and one adult tried to peek through the almost closed double door to see if the fight was over.


    They could see that Bree had already wiped her tears away and was smiling happily as Isabe ruffled her hair.


    If she had a tail, it would definitely be wagging!


    "Big sister doesn''t need to worry! I will bring her back very soon! I won''t ruin her birthday!"


    Isabe grinned. "Good, my little puppy is very cute!"


    The four of them thought at the same time, ''uh oh'', and expected Bree to explode once more. But she just blushed happily and gave her sister a hug before heading for the door.


    The four of them almost fell over each other in a hurry to pretend they were just walking back, but thankfully managed to look passably normal when Bree came out.


    "Oh! You guys sorry you had to see that. Big sister was angry at me for noting for so long, please don''t mind her behavior."


    The four of them gave various ''Oh of course!'' and ''It''s okay!''s, but they were actually thinking ''It''s you who should mind, okay?!'', but none of them dared to say it because Isabe was standing right behind Bree.


    Her aunt smiled, but no matter how she looked like a big beauty at the moment, all Evelyn could see was a big puppy.


    "Well, little Evey, let''s go!"


    Bree picked her up in her arms while she was preupied, but she really didn''t mind. For one, it was veryfortable because Bree was actually an adult woman instead of a ''fake adult'' like Amara.


    More importantly, she was trying her best to not start subconsciously thinking of Bree as more of a family pet than a rtive. Even if Isabe could get away with it, Evelyn definitely can''t!


    ''Mom really trained her little sister to be an obedient puppy huh what a beast! Thankfully I had memories from my past life, or what would be of me?!''


    Taking another look at the stunning beauty holding her close and ovepping the image with a puppy, Evelyn felt great regret. ''Ahhh! What a waste! My mom is such a beast!''


    Thankfully, Bree couldn''t read her thoughts, or today the birthday girl would get a spanking for the first time in her life. Instead, she nodded towards the two Gilmore sisters. "Well, do you guys want toe along?"


    Normally she wouldn''t really bother with the two of them, but after watching them care for her niece, she felt obligated to repay them in some way.


    Vivian jumped happily. "Can we?!"


    But Amara looked a little more cautious. "Uh, may I know where we''re going?"


    The blonde beauty smiled gently. "Well, I''ll protect you guys, so don''t worry. We''re just going shopping."


    "Um, okay."


    Shortly after, the children felt a strange film of energy wrap around them. It didn''t affect Evelyn much since she was in Bree''s arms, but Vivian and Amara hugged each other with a little fear as they started floating off the ground.


    Bree giggled. "Don''t worry, it''s to protect you from eating insects on the way. No need to be scared."


    And then they shot off like an arrow from a bow, straight into the sky!


    After the four of them vanished, Desmond looked up at the sky with some confusion before nudging his wife.


    "So, where exactly are they going?"


    But Isabe looked lost in thought. Her palm seemed to be grasping something in the air, as if recalling something she felt before. "Hm"


    Desmond felt aggrieved. It''s okay to ignore him if it''s for their daughter or her long separated little sister, but everyone has already left. How can his wife continue ignoring him?


    "Hey hey! Listen to me!"


    Isabe finally shook herself out of her stupor. "Ah sorry, I was just thinking that my little puppy was getting cuter with time. How do I resist bullying her too much in the future? I don''t want her to run away all the time! Ah, how hard it is to be me!"


    There was a vein throbbing on Desmond''s forehead. Of course, anger management has been ingrained into his bone marrow by now, so he didn''t really get angry. "Isabe for fuck''s sake no wait, let''s ignore that. First, are you listening to me now?"


    "Uh, yeah?"


    "So where exactly are they going?"


    Her expression was nonchnt, but her words were like a bomb in the young father''s ears. "The Exile''s Market?"


    Desmond looked gob smacked. "The WHAT?!"


    After a few seconds of silence, he startedughing. "Hahaha good one! I almost fell for it. Oh Be, can''t you stop being a kid for once? They''re just going to good old Moreen city''s market, right?"


    His wife didn''t seem to understand why he kept speaking nonsense, and looked at him as if facing an idiot. "Um, nope. They''re going to ''The Exile''s Market''. The one in the middle of the Mystical Sea of Nemer. You know, the one in the Aquavahn kingdom? Gosh Desmond, don''t tell me you don''t even remember that much?!"


    The young father felt his eyes rolling back as his vision went dark.

 Chapter 14: Port of Nemer

    Chapter 14: Port of Nemer


    When Desmond opened his eyes, he found his wife nudging him with her toes while his bodyy sprawled on the grass in their garden.


    "Huh what? What?"


    And as his groggy mind recalled the words he had previously heard, the handsome young father''s face quickly went pale and mmy with nervous sweat as he shot up in shock.


    "We have to inform the patriarch that our daughter might be in danger, quickly!"


    Isabe smacked his head gently. "Calm the hell down, Desmond! You''re reacting as if Evelyn was kidnapped or something! Didn''t you see Bree take her yourself? Even if I don''t know exactly how strong she is, I can guarantee that she will never put my baby girl in danger!"


    Desmond''s tone was filled with disbelief. "Are you crazy?! I don''t care if your sister is with her or not, or how fucking strong you think she is! Have you forgotten what kind of ce the exile''s market is?! Can anyone just walk in and walk out alive from there? Even if your sister wants to take the risk, I can''t let our daughter go there!"


    Isabe''s tone contained some genuine anger now. "How can you even say that? You mean to say that I don''t care about her? I''ll have you know, my little puppy is very, very strong! There''s no way anything bad"


    "Screw your little puppy! Get serious for once in your life, Be!"


    And without giving her a chance to get another word in, Desmond bolted towards the patriarch''s mansion, his bellow still echoing in Isabe''s ears as her face flushed with anger and shame.


    With some luck, Osmond just happened to be leaving the ce, and ran into him on the way. The old man was shocked to see Evelyn''s father panting like he had just escaped some primordial beast on foot, with hair stered to his face with sweat and eyes red in terror. "What''s got into you Desmond? Everything alright?"


    He barely managed to get a few words out betweenrge gulps of air. "T-The exile''s market!"


    The Knox patriarch tilted his head, not understanding what he meant. Is something happening so far away not just from them, but even the empire, be worth panicking about?


    "What? What happened there?"


    "Evelyn went there!"


    A powerful aura burst forth from the Knox patriarch as soon as he heard these words, instantly knocking rity into Desmond''s previously panicked brain.


    "WHAT?! Who took her?! What audacity!"


    "S-She''s with Isabe''s sister, and the two Gilmore girls"


    Osmond stared at him nkly for a moment, and then smacked his head in anger.


    "Idiot! Speak the important things first! You almost gave me a heart attack! Do you want this old man to die already?!"


    Confusion was written clearly on Desmond''s face now. "Eh eh?"


    The old man sighed. Sometimes he really wondered who among his two remaining sons was more of an idiot. It was a toughpetition, after all.


    "Well, looking at your stupid face, I guess it''s not your fault But just know that Bree is strong enough to keep them safe in a ce like that, you don''t need to worry."


    "S-She is?"


    The image she had established in front of him today really didn''t paint her as reliable, so his doubts weren''t unfounded.


    "Of course, have you already forgotten how we even got little Evelyn her egg?"


    Desmond''s face still looked like a fish out of water. "B-But isn''t that just because she used up most of her inheritance from the Devaughn family?"


    "Tsk tsk, don''t be so nave, you brat. Suppose all three of us elders died today, can any of you actually hold on to the Knox family inheritance? There are too many vultures ready to tear us apart the moment we show weakness, could the Devaughn family have had less?"


    "That makes sense"


    The Knox patriarch snorted. "Humph. Besides, just amassing enough wealth is far from enough to get your hands on a blessed spirit egg. The primary requirement is strength!"


    "You mean"


    The old man gave a curt nod. He never liked mentioning things like this, but he wouldn''t avoid it if needed to be said. "That''s right To put it simply, the reason she could do what I couldn''t, is because she simply grew stronger than me. I dare say that when she''s with Bree, your daughter is even safer than she is within the Knox mansions!"


    "Oh I understand, father. I-I''m sorry for making you worried."


    The old man smiled. Well, unlike his first son''s family, his third son at least had it slightly better. Thepetition for stupidity was still ongoing, but he clearly won thepetition for luck by marrying Isabe.


    "Hoh, anyway, looks like your wife is here, I shall leave you two youngsters alone."


    And as Osmond continued on his way, Desmond turned around in terror to face Isabe''s condescending face.


    "Hoho, I could have sworn some ignorant fool was just scolding me earlier, but I don''t see anyone apologizing?"


    Desmond''s face looked awkward and embarrassed. "B-Be, you"


    She gave him an expression of ''what is this piece of dirt in my path?''.


    "Save it, I don''t wanna hear it."


    Desmond felt aggrieved, can''t he even apologize if he made a mistake out of worry and panic?


    "I-I just wanna say I''m sor"


    His wife had other ns, however, and waved her hand as if shooing away a fly. "Don''t wanna hear it! All I wanna hear from you for the next seven days is ''oink''! And I shall call you little piggy during that time!"


    Desmond wondered if his hearing had gone bad. "You WHAT?!"


    Isabe made a face of fake distress. "Hoh Did I just hear my little piggy speak? Ah, even if I can stay married to a little pig, I can''t stay married to a disobedient little pig! Ah, whatever shall I do?"


    " O-oink?"


    ------------


    At the same time, Bree and the three children had alreadynded on the entry checkpoint leading to the trading port of Nemer. On the way, Evelyn had seen many ships both flying and sailing towards this port, and it was really a sight worth seeing, especially the flying ships!


    She felt that the trip alone would be a good enough gift, like a ticket to an amusement park!


    The happiest of them was Vivian, who kept pping with joy as she floated freely in the air behind them. Her disappointment from stepping back onnd was too obvious, but looking at Amara''s almost green face, it was a good thing that the trip went by so fast.


    Hoards of people could be seen heading towards the same gate as them, and there was already a long line waiting for inspection. Fortunately, it seemed like Bree had no intention to follow the line, or they would be here till tomorrow just waiting for entry!


    The people seeking to get in seemed to not care about someone cutting the line. Evelyn didn''t hear even a single grumble of dissatisfaction, which felt strange to her. If it was her waiting for hours in a line and someone cut in from the front haughtily for no reason, she would be quite pissed!


    Evelyn saw Bree show the guards at the gate a silver badge with the symbol of a deer, and they allowed their group to pass by directly without checking anything while continuing to perform the regr procedures for the next in line.


    "Eh? We got in just like that?"


    Bree looked a little embarrassed as she put her down on the ground and allowed Evelyn to stand on her own while she tried to fix the two redheads with hair that seemed to increase their height by almost two feet each. Having never carried anyone with her like this, she felt it was definitely her oversight. Hopefully the children wouldn''t feel too embarrassed.


    She forgot that without her direct support, even if they were supported by her energy it would be like floating in a bubble. There''s no way they would stay upright for the entire journey. If not for their special constitution that did not require consuming food, they definitely would have thrown up multiple times on the way!


    Well, they don''t look too bad afterbing their hair with her fingers a few times. Evelyn pulled her skirt a few times once she was done.


    "Aunty, what is this ce?"


    "Ahem, well, this is the trading port of Nemer. It''s quite far from your Knox family''s Moreen city. And we''re here to get you a gift from the exile''s market!"


    Amara looked at Bree with both curiosity and confusion. "What kind of thing do we want to get for us to have toe all the way here? Isn''t Moreen city''s market the biggest one in the Lavinian empire?"


    Bree nodded, not surprised that they didn''t know much. Even if their age wasn''t an issue, it required a certain degree of influence just to have heard of this ce.


    She decided that now that they were here, she might as well teach these children a little. "Of course, as the capital of the empire, the market in Moreen is quite grand. You can get most things there easily, but you cannotpare the two at all. Aquavahn is apletely neutral country, and the port closest to its capital can be called the greatest trading hub of the old world! And the exile''s market here is famous for holding everything that it should and everything that it shouldn''t!"


    "Ooooh!"


    Looking at the children''s glittering eyes, Bree giggled. "Alright, let''s just go see if you''ll find something you like. Today, your aunt Bree shall fulfill all your wishes!"


    Their excited giggling didn''tst for long, however, because as they moved deeper into the city, the atmosphere seemed to keep getting darker. The malevolent gazes that they could never catch actually looking at them deeply unsettled the three children.


    Bree had already told the two redheads to firmly hold her skirt with their hands, and Evelyn was held securely in her embrace.


    Thankfully, they reached the ce Bree was looking for soon enough.


    The suspicious shops and gloomy crowds have long since been left behind, and they stood in front of what looked like a cave closed off with an iron door. Bree''s dainty fist made a heavy knock on the unmarked door.


    "Open the door!"


    Surprisingly, the door opened enough to let them in almost immediately, and was mmed close once they were inside.


    Instead of the gloomy darkness they were expecting, it was actually quite brightly lit inside. The luxurious hall they had ended up entering was filled with ss shelves full of items, and dozens of customers and attendants seemed to be busy in discussion over them. Not far from them, an old man with a long white beard looked bored sitting behind what appeared to be a checkout counter.


    The attendant that greeted them was a middle-aged man with greasy hair and an even greasier smile. Curiously, the door actually had two armored guards from the inside, even though there was no one outside.


    The middle-aged man gave Bree a courteous bow. "Wee, customer may I have the privilege of knowing your purpose?"


    Evelyn did not know what exactly happened, but the guards dutifully standing by the door suddenly copsed on their knees, and the attendant looked as if he was having some trouble breathing. The customers and attendants further away had to use the shelves close to them for support to keep standing. The bearded old man lookedpletely unconcerned, however.


    He gazed lightly at Bree''s face once before nodding towards the attendants. After his nod, everyone seemed to return to normalcy, and continued as if nothing happened.


    "Lead them to the dungeons. Our distinguished guests wish to gaze upon our prized offerings."


    The middle-aged man nodded, as if not bothered at all by what Bree had done. "Certainly, milord."


    He nodded towards their group and started leading them with a smile, going through a door at the back of the hall and into a long corridor filled with dozens of doors.


    The so called shop seemed far too big, because as the attendant led them through door after door, they seemed to keep descending deeper into the ground. After almost fifteen minutes, they finally arrived in front of a pair of ornate doors guarded by four men in scaly armor.


    They opened the door without a word, and mmed it close it after they entered. Bree seemed unconcerned, making the children let go of some of their anxiety as well.


    And excitement reced the rest of the anxiety as they gazed upon rows upon rows of cages filled with small beasts and eggs.

 Chapter 15: The Three Spirit Beasts

    Chapter 15: The Three Spirit Beasts


    Bree smiled as she looked at the three children excitedly swing their little heads around, their wide eyes gazing upon the strange animals with curiosity.


    "Fufu Seeing as how my little niece is so surprised, don''t tell me you thought I would give you somethingme after taking you all the way here?"


    Evelyn blushed slightly under her gaze, feeling a little guilty. She never thought that Bree would give her somethingme, but she did believe she wouldn''t be too surprised.


    After all, what else could it be but a good piece of equipment? She was definitely looking forward to it excitedly, but didn''t feel any sense of suspense.


    She thought she had it all figured out from the clues. Because when Bree had first taken her out to buy her a gift saying she ''couldn''t get it without her'', Evelyn became sure that it was something needed to be made to fit her.


    Which meant that it was either some sort of clothing or jewelry. In either scenario, the case was already solved by detective Evelyn.


    Or so she thought.


    Getting two pieces of jewelry in a row could also have influenced her guess.


    Since she was feeling bad, she decided to just confess and apologize.


    "Sorry aunty, I didn''t think it would beme at all! But I thought I could guess it. I''m so surprised now, aunty is amazing!"


    Bree felt the urge to roll her eyes, thinking that this little girl was already so sly at this age, no wonder she was her big sister''s daughter! Of course, she couldn''t bear to upset her little niece on her birthday, so she could only forgive her and move on.


    "Well, since you''re so cute, aunty won''t mind this time. But next time, you will have to give me a kiss to make up for it!"


    Evelyn did not dy a good deed for next time at all, and nted a kiss on her cheek right away, making Breeugh.


    "You really are sister Be''s child! Don''t go breaking too many hearts in the future, alright?"


    Evelyn pretended to be shy, turning her head away with a blush. "Aunty''s teasing me again."


    Then she tilted her head curiously. "Did mom have a lot of admirers?"


    The blonde looked a little awkward, as if wondering how much could be told to her at her age. Although Isabe had never actually dated anyone before Desmond, the number of pursuers she had could probably stuff the Knox mansion full.


    "Ahh let''s just say a lot of people found her really likeable?"


    "Did aunty have many, too?"


    ''This kid! What''s with all these questions?!''


    "I-I did not! Ahem, let''s just, let''s just not talk about this. Hey you, what are you doing just standing there?!"


    The attendant looked wronged, as if he wanted to say ''you guys were the ones ignoring me!'', but in the end he just gloomily started introducing the contents of the cages one by one.


    The ones closest to the door were mostly unborn beasts, followed by smaller and then finallyrger beasts deeper down the line.


    "Distinguished guests, this right here is the egg of an Aquavahn Giant Snapper turtle, expected to hatch within the next eight years. We ssify it as a grade three beast, and it costs twenty seven spirit crystals."


    Evelyn gasped, looking at Bree worriedly. Isn''t the price too much? From what she knew, a single spirit crystal was worth a hundred spirit stones! And each spirit stone was worth a hundred gold coins!


    Looking at Bree''s nonchnt face as if the price did not bother her one bit, Evelyn quickly settled down. Perhaps she thought too much. Maybe gold in this world wasn''t as valuable, and the cost wasn''t really that high?


    "This one, is an unknown creature''s egg, and has been evaluated by experts to be either of the third or the fourth grade. Estimated to hatch within the next eighteen years, it costs forty one spirit crystals."


    Bree kept looking at Evelyn to see her reaction, but although the little girl seemed to be excited and curious, it didn''t look like any of the presented beasts captured her heart.


    The blonde felt a little depressed. It''s not wrong to say that most ancient beasts raised as pets became lifelongpanions and partners with their master. And if there was nothing here that captured the little girl''s heart, it was better not to rush it and just pick something else.


    Bree kept praying in her heart that Evelyn would find something that attracted her. Because if she really had to just give her some jewelry after the talk they had previously, Bree would probably die of embarrassment.


    The attendant''s constant exnations stopped abruptly as his face became mmy with nervousness.


    "M-Milord."


    The three children looked startled as they saw the old man standing behind them with a smile. Vivian even let out a cute ''Kyaa!'', but Bree did not even turn around to take a look.


    "As you were."


    "Y-Yes, milord. T-This one here, is"


    "I wonder for you to be so pompous today, just how much are you willing to spend?"


    The attendant almost cried when the old man started talking. ''If you don''t want me to speak, why did you tell me to continue?!''


    Bree pursed her lips before holding Evelyn a little tighter. Although there was no limit on how much she was willing to spend on her little niece, that didn''t mean she would splurge without sense.


    "That depends on how much your products are worth."


    The old man''s wrinkles seemed to get deeper as he smiled, making his face look like old tree bark. "Hoh alright. Come, follow me."


    He walked to the end of the hall before stopping in front of an empty wall. The two little redheads were grasping Bree''s skirt tightly, while the attendant hadn''t moved from his original position at all.


    Suddenly, a tremendous amount of spirit power seemed to gather in the old man''s walking cane, and before Evelyn could feel rmed, it all dissipated into the floor with a gentle tap of wood on stone.


    A grating noise echoed through the hall as the tiles in front of the old man separated to reveal a staircase going down.


    As they followed him in, there were no guards in sight, but the hallway was brightly lit with torches on either side. This time there were no multiple doors or winding paths, and they arrived in a small room shortly after.


    There was nothing in the room but two long sofas and a mahogany table. The old man took a seat on one side, and Bree calmly sat on the other with Evelyn on herp and the two Gilmore sisters by the side.


    The old man pulled out three sheets of paper from the shelf under the table and slid them forward casually.


    "Currently, we happen to have three spirit beasts you can buy directly. Take a look. Although, if you''re buying for that little girl as I think, there are only two you can actually choose from. I''m sure you understand?"


    "Hmm"


    Bree didn''t know if Evelyn could read properly, but there were also pictures on the paper, so it should be possible for even her to get some idea.


    Evelyn stared at the three sheets on the table in front of her and bounced off of Bree''sp to take a closer look.


    The old man chuckled. "What an adorable girl you have reminds me of my great granddaughter."


    Bree''s face remained neutral, pretending not to pay him any mind. She already knew about this story, so she didn''t dare to respond at all. Lest she give this old bastard the chance to recount clearly how his great granddaughter was eaten by the spirit beast she herself had chosen to raise while ignoring his warnings.


    If there is a barrier of fear between the master and the beast, then no real bonding can happen no matter how much time they spend together. So, she did not dare let Evelyn hear his tale right before she chose her ownpanion.


    The old man looked amused at the curious faces of the two Gilmore sisters, not minding that Bree was ignoring him at all. Of course, Evelyn was still absorbed in looking at the spirit beasts.


    "She was"


    "If you speak further, we''re leaving."


    The old man sighed but didn''t continue his story. Business was more important than entertainment, after all. In an ideal case, he would have fun while making money. But from time to time a stick in the mud like Bree came along to make his day worse.


    Meanwhile, Evelyn was feeling a bit frustrated after looking through the information on the sheets.


    To put it simply, there was only a picture of the young beasts, and the information was mostly about where they were found and how they were captured. No detail of what they could do or even what they even were was mentioned anywhere.


    The first picture was of a little snake like beast with a mix of green and white scales. The second picture was of a bird beast that looked like a fat finch, but with a strange crown like plume on the head. And thest picture was of a pink fox with a small purple gem on its forehead.


    She tugged on Bree''s sleeve helplessly. "Aunty can''t I see them first?"


    If she could see their status, it would be much easier to make up her mind. She had even resisted using her probe skill all day, just so she can make full use of it while making a decision without the fear of running out of spirit power.


    Currently, she had her full 62 points of spirit power ready for use. And each time the probe skill was used, it would consume only one point.


    Bree didn''t answer her directly but just patted her little hand, nodding towards the old man.


    The old man seemed to understand what she wanted without the need for words, and pped twice. A female attendant entered the room shortly after, followed by three men. Each of the men was coveredpletely from head to toe in a red garb, and pushed forward a wheeled ss container.


    There was now a constant smile on the old man''s face, because he already made a decent sum just by convincing them to view spirit beasts in person. After all, it was not for free. Most people wouldn''t see one in their entire lifetime.


    Evelyn''s breath hitched as soon as her eyes fell on the small beast in the center.

 Chapter 16: Mysterious Connection

    Chapter 16: Mysterious Connection


    Even though her probe skill failed on all three spirit beasts, Evelyn instinctively felt an attraction to the pink fox in the center.


    She tried to grasp the strange feeling, and after thinking about it for a while, she realized that it was quite simr to what she had felt when she probed her parents with spirit power.


    ''Does that mean this thing shares ancestry with my body, or some sort ofmon origin? It''s a bit strange for it to sharemon ancestry with humans, could it be somehow rted to the spirit egg I am born from? But I heard that the spirit eggs were just cores of spirit wells, they''re not really living things what could it be?''


    No matter how hard she wracked her brain, Evelyn couldn''t figure it out at all.


    ''No wait I''m thinking about it all wrong! Since I can''t think of any reason for this fox to be rted to me, why didn''t I think of that first?''


    Of course, Evelyn was thinking about the ''Lotus Throne'' part in her status. It was the only thing she didn''t understand about herself.


    ''Well, looking at its color, it might just fit''


    So she pointed in the direction of the fox boldly. "Aunty, I want this one!"


    Bree looked at her with some worry, because this was the only one of the three that she hoped her niece wouldn''t choose.


    It was very difficult to judge a spirit beast''s abilities without witnessing them in person, and most experts judged their ability''s level of threat by the aura of their spirit power. Of these three, the fox looked the most harmless, but possessed the most mysterious aura.


    It was impossible for the children to feel it through the istion of the stasis chamber, but for someone with her level of strength, it was too obvious.


    This was also what the old man meant when he said there were only two real choices to pick from. One of these beasts had no worth being a lifelongpanion due to its innate threat to children who could bond with it, and it was precisely this fox.


    But Bree stubbornly chose to let Evelyn meet all three, despite his warnings. In her heart, she believed that her niece must get to pick the gift she liked the most, and she didn''t want to take any choice away at all. In the worst case, she would just stay over a little longer to protect her.


    "Are you sure this is the one you want? It''s a very important choice. Your spirit beast will probably apany you throughout your life, so think about it carefully, okay?"


    Evelyn nodded and pretended to think hard, inwardly wondering why the two adults were giving her such weird looks.


    Of course, both Bree and the old man were thinking the same thing.


    ''She picked it because it looks cute It''s pink like her hair, and it matches her jewelry theme too. Does she think she''s buying a purse?!''


    "Aunty! I''ve thought about it really hard!"


    The blondedy smiled. "Oh?"


    "I still want that one!"


    As expected, she thought. "Ah"


    The pink haired girl gave her aunt a strange look. "Why is there something wrong with it?"


    Bree had no intention of making things difficult during the bonding process by creating mistrust between the two, however, so she shook her head. "Nothing''s wrong. I was just worried because it looked a little weaker than the others, but since you like it, it''s probably the best one for you."


    Evelyn felt a little frustrated. If they wanted to say something, couldn''t they just say it? What''s with acting all mysterious and making faces while not saying anything?


    Anyway, even if the fox looked weaker, why does that matter? When it grows up, don''te crying when it munches on that fat bird like a dumpling and slurps up that little snake like a noodle!


    Meanwhile Vivian had already stuck her face into the ss container of the fox, squealing delightedly once she was sure they were taking it home. This was the one she liked the most as well! The bird was also cute. Only the snake was icky.


    The other three smiled at her nose looking like a pig''s after being stuck t to the ss.


    "I-It''s sooo cute! I wanna fluff it up!"


    Evelyn was also quite happy, inplete agreement with the little redhead. "That''s right, just look at its dark pink tail and legs, and that light pink body. It really is adorable! Ohhh, and just look at those paws pads!"


    "Cute!"


    Looking at the giggle and gaggle of the little girls over the cute pink fox, Bree put aside her gloomy thoughts with a sigh. She would just have to keep an eye on it in the future.


    In the end, the blonde silently handed over a pouch containing little over a hundred strange beads to the old man. Evelyn did not know their value, but felt that they must be quite precious to be able to buy a spirit beast.


    The ss box seemed to be quite a curious thing in itself, as it could not only shield Evelyn''s probe, it also couldn''t be manipted with spirit power. As for storing it inside ''The Untainted'', that was also impossible.


    Evelyn was quite curious to see if the same restriction applied to her own inventory, but sadly she couldn''t really try it out here and now in front of everyone.


    The attendants put the ''box with the fox'' in a blue fabric bag and handed it over to Bree. It''s a good thing that the fox had quite a small container due to its own tiny size.


    Vivian looked the most disappointed as she saw the fox remain in the box. "A why can''t we take it out yet?"


    Even if it was sleeping, she wanted to hold the little puffball in her hands.


    Bree smiled, ruffling the little redhead''s hair. "If we wake it up now, it will be very anxious during our trip back. We don''t want that, do we?"


    Of course, the most important reason was that a bonding ceremony had to be carried out between the fox and Evelyn before it could be trusted to be let out of the box. If it was allowed out of stasis before that, it will just try to escape.


    And so, Bree left the ''store'' with a huge blue bag in one hand and a pink haired child in the other. Being followed by another pair of red haired children well, the image was very colorful.


    Most people who saw them would think she was a young mother with multiple husbands. After all, not many families could afford multiple spirit eggs. But if Bree felt embarrassed, she did not let it show.


    As the group of girls left, the old man sighed with some regret swimming in his muddy eyes.


    "Too bad if her aunt hardened her heart a little, she would not be doomed... Poor child..."


    ----------


    The notoriety of the exile''s market did note from the illegal activities and unscrupulous transactions inside. After all, every capital city in the old world had a ck market, and none of them werecking when it came to purchasing suspicious goods.


    What made the exile''s market more dangerous than the others, was that most of the things sold here were highly valuable and sought after. There were many things in the port of Nemer that could not be acquired with just money alone. Status, strength and skills all yed a role.


    Compared to robbing people going in, it was better to rob people who were leaving. Therefore, it was not difficult to get inside, but leaving safely was another matter.


    Moreover, the entry point had very heavy security outside the gates, while the exit point only had security on the inside. If someone was attacked in front of the guards, they would be duty bound to protect them. But once you left, no one woulde forward to protect you. What they didn''t see, ''didn''t happen''.


    With her strength, Bree didn''t need to fear any greedy thugs eyeing her under normal circumstances. But when apanied by three children and carrying a spirit beast along, even she could not guarantee protecting all three of them and preventing the spirit beast from being taken away at the same time. Not against the stronger opponents in this ce.


    Even if she made them pay the priceter, it was hardly worth the risk.


    Of course, all of this was already clear to her before she came to the port of Nemer. And she already knew how to leave safely.


    Although the port of Nemer forbade construction of portals leading into the city, few people knew that inside themercial center of the city there was an exit only teleportation node that could be used to travel to any of the capital cities in the continent.


    Of course, the cost was hundreds of times higher than they should be. But it was not the cost of letting you travel fast, but that of saving your life in a pinch. After all, if someone was scared of leaving the port of Nemer, it was probably because they could smell death approaching.


    And so, most of their return journey was over in an instant. As Moreen city was also the capital of the Lavinian empire, Bree only had to fly them over a few kilometers before reaching the Knox mansion.


    The door of the mansion was opened by Isabe as soon as they stepped down on the ground. Perhaps she had been looking out of the window and spotted theming.


    "Little puppy is back already?!"


    Bree nodded with a smile, letting Evelyn down on the ground. "Mm, I splurged a little and took the emergency portal to the capital on the way back."


    Isabe looked relieved. "Oh, thank you, the little piggy was starting to get anxious again, so it''s good that you came back earlier."


    There was a me of envy in Bree''s eyes, as if she sensedpetition. "Little piggy?!"

 Chapter 17: A Happy Day

    Chapter 17: A Happy Day


    There was a me of envy in Bree''s eyes, as if she sensedpetition. "Little piggy?!"


    Desmond felt a chill run up his spine as his sister-inw''s malicious gaze settled on him.


    Who could have thought that after four years of marriage, he would finally manage to ignite his sister-inw''s jealousy through a series of unfortunate events?


    He really regretted not believing his wife blindly when she assured him of Evelyn''s safety. He regretted till his intestines turned green! But unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret.


    Evelyn looked quite amused at the strange interaction. ''First little puppy and now little piggy, does mom want to turn our house into a zoo?''


    But most of her attention was still on her newly acquired ''treasure'', the pink fox.


    Vivian was already bouncing around the pink fox with excitement. "What should we call it, ''Mara?"


    The older redhead rolled her eyes, thinking that it''s a good thing her young age allows her behavior to pass, or her little sister would really look incredibly stupid and dense to others.


    "Don''t be so rude, Vivi, Evelyn should decide on the name herself."


    The little girl didn''t seem to get her hint at all. In her mind, there wasn''t much differentiation between Evelyn''s pet and her own.


    "Ohh, I was just asking it''s so cute, so it should have a cute name! Eve wille up with a super cute name, right?"


    The pink haired girl didn''t mind her antics at all, instead smiling with some indulgence. "Should I just call it Vivi too, since it''s so cute just like you?"


    Vivian, who knew no such thing as shame or embarrassment, squealed in delight. But then she seemed to think of something suddenly and shook her head in disappointment.


    "If we''re both Vivi how will I know when you call for me or her? No no, there can only be one Vivi!"


    Evelyn chuckled. "Alright, alright, don''t worry. How about we call her Ruru then?"


    The redhead pped her hands happily. "Ruru! Ruru is cute!"


    Amara wondered if it was alright to name her lifelong spirit pet so casually, especially when she vaguely recalled ''Ru Ru'' meaning sloth somewhere, or was it something else?


    The redhead hoped that Evelyn''s little fox didn''t have a very big ego, or it would surely shatter very quickly amongst these two little troublemakers.


    Meanwhile, Bree was still growling at her brother-inw, determined to establish herself as superior among her sister''s ''pets''.


    ----------


    There was no one who would celebrate her birthday in herst life, but in this life, she had gotten used to getting a small party every year from her parents.


    Evelyn had discovered that although some people did celebrate birthdays, they were not that big of a deal in this world. And when someone did celebrate, it was more of a surprise than an expected thing.


    The important celebrations in this world were the ''ceremonies'' held at particr points in a child''s life. Her first ceremonytheing of agehas yet to arrive.


    So it was no surprise that on her previous birthdays, not even her grandfather had shown up. It was just her parents and herself.


    And Isabe was still learning how to make the right food for her. Since apparently a spirit body absorbed everything from the food impartially, she could not just eat anything like normal people. Normal people generally only absorbed the nutrients they needed from their food, and the rest was allowed to pass through.


    Of course, with the survival skills she had chosen before her rebirth, such a thing was unnecessary for her. But that was not the case for the rest of the people.


    This year, there were not one or two, but four people with the ''same requirements'' as herself attending her birthday. Needless to say, Isabe had been very busy for quite some time.


    In the end, her efforts seemed to be worth it as all of them were stuffed with the delicious cake till their appetite for cake was gone for the next half a year at least. And there was still a third of the cake left!


    Even if Evelyn''s belly could never be stuffed, she still felt her mind was stuffed full of sweet strawberry cake already.


    "Sister Be really learned how to cook so well, I still can''t believe this was made by you! I still remember when mom kept searching for her favorite pot''s lid but couldn''t find it. And you finally confessed you lodged it on the roof during cooking? Fufu."


    Isabe looked a little indignant at her sister''s ''usation'', thinking that she was losing face in front of her precious daughter.


    "Hey! That was a long time ago! I''ll have you know, not to mention pots and kettles, even pressure cookers don''t explode that often on me now!"


    And her husband seemed to think this was a good opportunity to earn back some of his lost favor.


    "Oh yeah, thest time I heard an explosion from the kitchen was after we were married for two years!"


    Though since he wasn''t so smart with his words, his efforts might just backfire.


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. Howe everyone kept judging her mother''s cooking? At the very least, today''s cake really was delicious.


    Plus, taking a look at the critic''s qualifications, it really was quite funny.


    Amara and Vivian didn''t know anything about cooking at all, but they at least knew how to keep quiet on things they know nothing about. Looking at Bree''s stupidly beautiful face, she could already tell this blonde bombshell had never even stepped foot in the kitchen.


    No wonder she got bullied by Isabe all the time! It looks like every time they had a talk, she just wanted to invite trouble!


    As for her father, well, let''s just say he only used his spoon for eating.


    ''I get that it can happen with a pressure cooker, but how does she even cause a pot to explode??? Aunty is surely making this up, right? Well, anyway, with my disease immunity, I should be rtively safe, right?''


    Isabe turned her head left and right, as if confused. "My goodness, I keep hearing pigs talk in my house! Whatever shall I do?"


    Her husband gave her a pitiful look. "Ohe on! Can you not do that on our daughter''s birthday at least?!"


    The young mother rolled her eyes. "Fine! But in exchange, you will be sleeping on the living room sofa for a month!"


    ''Howe every word out of her mouth is more misfortune for me'', Desmond thought, aggrieved. Just because he made one mistake, the punishments were too unreasonable, right? And by the way, he was still not convinced that worrying too much for his daughter''s safety was a mistake. He just didn''t dare to bring it up anymore.


    Anyway, with so many beds in the mansion, there''s no way he''s sleeping in the living room.


    "B-But we have guest rooms! Can''t I take one of those?"


    Isabe squinted her eyes, as if wondering if he''ll keep taking a mile after getting an inch. "You can also go out and sleep in the garden if you like?"


    " I''ll take the sofa, please."


    She gave him a nod of satisfaction. "Good piggy."


    Bree looked delighted as she saw the piggy ''falling out of favor''. Even if her sister praised the piggyter, she already knew how dissatisfied she got when her pets were disobedient! As her sister''s only pet for so many years, how could that pitiful newbie even hope topete with her?


    Although Bree didn''t say any of it out loud, her thoughts were written clearly on her face. It was really regretful that her increasingly useless looking probe skill didn''t work on Bree either. But Evelyn still wondered, if it worked, would it judge her mental age as three or five?


    The pink haired girl felt that she was the only sane person in the room.


    Well, although they did stupid things, she still somehow ended up loving them.


    Looking at the colorful confetti, balloons and ribbons all around, the dining table full ofughter, and her mouth still vaguely tasting the sweetness of the homemade cake, Evelyn felt contented.


    Even if everything changed with time, she hoped that she could still continue enjoying thepany of these people for the rest of her life.


    Vivian''s little body was too tired from travelling and bouncing around, so she fell asleep early. Amara apologized and carried her to their room, wishing her a happy birthday once more before leaving.


    Although Bree had said that she can''t stay for long when she arrived, it didn''t look like she had any intention of leaving at all. In fact, she had already nodded off on Isabe''s shoulder, and it looked like someone would have to carry her to bed.


    And the little fox was still safely snoozing in its box on the table. So it looks like her parents and herself were the only ones awake.


    Isabe patted her on the head kindly, her previous immature looks nowhere to be found. "Well I hope my precious daughter had fun today. Since it looked like Bree was finally going to be able toe, and you had two new friends this year, we decided to make it a little bigger. Did you like it?"


    Evelyn gave them her most genuine smile. "I loved it! Thank you, mom, dad."


    Isabe stretched out her hands towards her cheeks, making the vignt little girl jump back in fright. She knew this little devil of a mother couldn''t remain serious for more than one minute!


    "Fufu, you''re so adorable, ah I just want tooh nevermind well, as long as you''re happy. Anyway, it''s not muchpared to what the others gave, I''m sure, but we still prepared some presents for your birthday. Here''s mine, and here''s your dad''s."


    Evelyn already expected it, because her parents gave her the softest and plushest of teddy''s every year, and she already had six of them on her bed. At this point, forget about feeling lonely on the bed, it was already starting to feel crowded.


    To her surprise, however, this year she didn''t receive plushies as her presents. Instead, her father gave her a bow and a box of arrows, and her mother gave her a pen?


    "Well we know you''re still young so there''s no rush, but since you kept insisting on learning from us, we decided to give these to you as both acknowledgement and encouragement. Our little baby has really grown a lot in terms of both hitting things and painting them, so we''re proud!"


    She couldn''t help but feel a little touched. Her parents really indulged her too much. If she was a real baby, she would have been a really spoiled princess!


    "M-Mom thank you"


    Her father looked a little lonely as he tried to butt in to get attention. "U-Uh, me too!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help butugh. Why is he so silly?


    She gave him a smile and hugged his thigh with her little body. "Thank you, dad."


    ''A, a cute daughter is the best it''s like all of my torture today was worth it with just a smile from her!'' Desmond thought with a sigh.


    Isabe rolled her eyes. Isn''t it good enough that she''s letting him off so lightly? He didn''t know how many hoops her little puppy had to jump through when trying to seek forgiveness!


    "Well, it''s reallyte now. So go to bed. Goodnight, sweet baby."


    "Goodnight!"


    She gave them both a kiss on the cheek and left the hall happily while hugging her presents close to her chest.


    Closing the door to her room, the first thing she did was ce the new presents on the bed. After that, she carefully put her precious new bracelet and belt in the vanity''s first drawer. Once done, she jumped face down on the bed with a sigh of happiness.


    "Aahhh, itsh sho good the happiest day of my life!"


    Rolling around a few more times, she finally settled down and probed the new items with her skill.


    "Ohh?"

 Chapter 18: Brees Promise

    Chapter 18: Bree''s Promise


    Rolling around a few more times, she finally settled down and probed the new items with her skill.


    At least it didn''t fail this time, she thought with an eyeroll.


    Her father''s gift was quite straightforward. A good bow that also helped boost her strength so she had a better chance to draw it fully. Of course, with her stats, she really didn''t need such a boost. But it didn''t hurt either.


    [ Compact Iron Bow: Grade 2 ]


    Physique +12 while aiming.


    The box of arrows that came along with the bow only showed ''Arrows'', which she didn''t really mind. It actually made her d because she would feel bad about missing or breaking them if even the arrows were precious. She was still learning, after all.


    It''s good enough if she doesn''t miss the target entirely, let alone hit the bulls-eye.


    [ Magic Pencil: Grade 3 ]


    Can use spirit power as ink.


    Can change to any desired color.


    A bright smile lit up Evelyn''s face as she carefully put her gifts on the table before copsing back on the bed with a happy sigh. Just thinking about trying them out tomorrow filled her with excitement. Right now, however, even she felt exhausted from the long day.


    Within moments, she entered a deep sleep.


    Not longter, Bree peeked into her room and saw the girl sleeping blissfully, her long pink hair spread all over the bed, and her four limbs spread in four different directions.


    Smiling gently, she closed the door before nodding to her sister. Although Isabe was quite tired as well and would normally have fallen asleep by now, there were some things she felt the need to hear from Bree.


    Of course, there was no need for her to actually ask, because her little puppy couldn''t help but yap everything she knew to her anyway. All she had to do was be there to listen.


    And as expected, Bree really started talking not long after the two of them entered the master bedroom.


    But her sister''s tone contained a level of worry that unsettled the young mother. "Sister Be, your daughter is really special I''m worried."


    Still, Isabe pretended to be calm. "What''s there to be worried about? Didn''t you already know it was going to be like this when you came home with a blessed spirit egg for her?"


    Bree''s eyes flitted from side to side, as if unsure how to exin things clearly.


    "No, no that''s not it. I''ve seen plenty of children with the same physique, but I''ve never felt so calm around them.


    At first, I thought it was just because she was so closely rted to me, and because I loved her, but after spending the whole day holding her close, I can guarantee that... that''s not just it. There''s something else."


    Isabe bit her lip, having a bad feeling. "Well, what is it then, what do you want to say?"


    Bree ran a hand through her long golden hair fretfully, feeling some frustration in her heart. She really wished there was some device that could confirm her guesses, but there was no such thing.


    "I don''t even know what I''m saying It''s like, there''s something just different about her. Maybe she''s just gifted. Maybe there''s nothing to be worried about. But I know for sure that if I can feel that something about her is special, others can as well."


    Her sister gave the blonde a weird look. "You''re basing this all off of just a feeling?"


    Bree felt her frustration well up, and almost started pulling her hair if not for a p on the hand from her sister. She held her reddened hands tearfully, giving Isabe a pitiful look. "N-No, sister, you just please trust me. I know there''s no way to know for sure, but I''m sure that she was definitely born with a very strong soul!"


    The confusion was clearly visible in Isabe''s eyes. "A strong soul?"


    Now that the words had been spoken, there was no taking them back. Bree just didn''t want to have to say these things ever again, because the fewer times they talked about it, the less there was a chance of someone finding out.


    Even if someone found out from some other method, Bree at least did not want it to be her fault that it was discovered. But there''s no way should could keep it from her sister.


    "That''s right! In my inheritance, there was a mention of this kind of unexinable calming feeling being a sign of a very potent soul being nearby. And it cautioned me to stay away from them, because a direct soul attack from such a being is almost impossible to defend against, and almost certainly lethal!"


    Isabe''s previous calmness waspletely evaporated, reced by a rarely seen panic. "Y-You mean?!"


    Her sister''s face was solemn. "That''s right. If I can figure it out, I''m sure that once she goes out into the world there will be others who can as well. And if the wrong person bes aware, how can they just allow her to move around freely?"


    The young mother was biting her lip hard enough to almost bleed. Her little child hadn''t even had her first ceremony yet, and she already had to worry about threats to her life?


    "T-Then, what do you think we should do, little puppy? Should we just cancel the academy thing? Keep her home forever? No no, that won''t work at all. Those ''Justice Envoys'' are all over the ce now, and the royal family is happy to see us ancient families lose power. How long can the Knox family even hold? The academy is the safest ce!"


    Bree shook her head. The academy was undoubtedly safer than the Knox mansion, but it had its own set of threats, and she wasn''t sure which of the two was worse for her little niece.


    "Not for long, but we don''t have to hold for long, anyway. The primary target of the Terrazhyme alliance in helping these thugs who call themselves ''Justice Envoys'' is to weaken the overall power of the Lavinian Empire. The royal family is foolish to allow it to happen so happily, and they will regret it once the alliance actually starts bearing down on them."


    Isabe wanted to curse at those bigshots, call them idiots and tell them to do their job properly, but she felt powerless. She could only hope against hope that her own household could hold on.


    "B-But, even if we can hold on till then, won''t we be doomed anyway once the empire loses?"


    Bree held her sister''s hands gently. She hated seeing her sister panic. Isabe had been her unshaking anchor growing up, and her greatest wish was to be her invincible protector in return.


    She wished she could just say, ''leave everything to me, don''t worry''. But unfortunately, it looks like she was still too weak.


    "Don''t worry, sister Be, the empire may be bing weaker and weaker due to the royal family''s foolishness, but it still used to be the strongest force on the continent. There''s no way it will go down in a day. As long they can resist the alliance fiercely at that time, I will take the entire Knox family away."


    Isabe was still notpletely assured, feeling that there were too many things that could go wrong.


    "But it''s so dangerous, leaving while there''s an ongoing war at the borders Do we have to wait that long can''t we go sooner?"


    Bree shook her head. Since the royal family was happy to see them die, would they let them just leave like that? Not unless something much more important was keeping their attention.


    Truthfully speaking, as long as she could save her sister and her immediate family, she would be happy.


    "I can take you and little Evelyn away right now, sister. Maybe even your husband, although it may be risky but even I have limits. I''m not the strongest being on the continent. If I was, we wouldn''t need to run, right?"


    Isabe finally couldn''t help it anymore, and embraced her sister with a cry. "Little puppy! Little puppy... I''m scared that something will happen!"


    The dampness on her shoulder from her sister''s tears caused Bree''s heart to constrict with pain.


    "Don''t worry, sister Be. This little puppy of yours has grown up, and be a good dog that can protect you. Don''t you believe me?"


    Isabe couldn''t help but choke withughter. Her mood lightening up a little. "Ahhh you''re bing more witty, at least. But, little puppy, promise me one thing"


    Her sister nodded. "Anything."


    "If ites down to it, and things get bad take my little baby and run away."


    The blonde''s eyes were sharp, although Isabe couldn''t see it in their embrace, but she could feel the sharp inhtion of her sister. There was a feeling of both disappointment and relief, knowing that she would never give her up.


    "I won''t let that happen. You know it."


    But she still couldn''t help but plead. It''s alright if the two of them, husband and wife, really couldn''t make it. Maybe it was just fated to be so. But their little baby hadn''t seen enough. How could she be brought in harm''s way?


    "Just promise me."


    "No. This is one promise I cannot make to you. Because I cannot keep it. I I know I won''t be able to run away from you."


    Bree''s voice was shaking, but Isabe could still feel the firm determination within.


    "Bree please"


    The blonde''s eyes were red now, and she looked ready to cry. "No matter how scared you are, sister I''ve always loved you so much. Always done everything you asked. I''ve lived my entire life just for you. You''re my whole world. Can''t you allow me this little bit of selfishness? Just this once?"


    Isabe felt a little regretful, feeling that she had really pushed her little sister too far. She was already trying her best, and as her older sister, how could she make things worse?


    "I-I''m sorry, I must have gone out of my mind. What am I thinking, we''re going to all be alright, what''s with this gloomy attitude?!"


    Bree smiled, although there were already tears rolling down her smooth cheeks.


    "Right? It''s not like you, so cheer up. Won''t you ruin your daughter''s beautiful dreams if she sees you like this?"


    Isabe wiped her sister''s tears with her sleeves, feeling distressed. Look, she made her little puppy cry again. And this time she wasn''t even cute, just pitiful. Pitiful enough to make her heart hurt. Just how could she make it up to her?


    Well, Isabe had her own way of doing things. Even her apologies were a form of bullying.


    "No way ahem, anyway, little puppy, I''m very angry that you have rejected my request! How are you going to make up?"


    Bree''s tearful eyes were wide in disbelief. "You''re still stuck on that?!"


    Her older sister rubbed her nose, embarrassed. "Well, I''ll let you off this time, if you make me another promise?"


    The blonde girl gulped nervously.


    "W-What is it?"

 Chapter 19: Spirit Beast’s Bond

    Chapter 19: Spirit Beast¡¯s Bond


    Her older sister rubbed her nose, embarrassed. "Well, I''ll let you off this time, if you make me another promise?"


    The blonde girl gulped nervously. "W-What is it?"


    Isabe smiled. "Stay with us longer?"


    Bree finally let out a breath of relief. Finally, a wish she could easily fulfill.


    "Oh I had to do that anyway, because of that pink fox."


    Now it was Isabe''s turn to be confused. What did that cute little thing do to make Bree want to stay? Did she just want to y with it?


    "That pet you guys bought back?"


    Bree nodded. "Yeah. It''s a spirit beast. A very strong one, probably."


    A strong pet that was a good thing in Isabe''s book, so why did her little puppy look so worried?


    ''Is she jealous of the pink fox just like she was jealous of little piggy earlier? Does she really believe she''s a pet?! Have I gone too far with her training?''


    But Isabe had no idea how to undo what had already been done. So she could only pretend to be oblivious. "Uh a strong pet that''s a good thing, right? Don''t be jealous, little puppy, sister will always love you the most!"


    Bree''s face was red. "J-Jealous?! Why would I be jealous?! No, nevermind that, anyway get serious!"


    "Ehehe"


    Bree rolled her eyes. Well, it''s good that her sister wasn''t depressed now. But she still needed to know certain things.


    "Ahem, it can be a good thing that it''s so strong but it can also be a disaster! Spirit beasts are not pets, at their core. Their level of intelligence is not much different from humans. It''s alright when it''s this young, but once it grows up, there''s no telling if the loyalty will stick. Moreover, just like children, they can be unreasonable. But unlike children, their tantrums can be lethal. It''s not easy to make even a newborn spirit beast submit!"


    Isabe nodded, looking quite calm. "Hm I suppose I will have to teach my daughter how to train pets, right?"


    No matter how much she loved her, Bree had to admit that Isabe could be incredibly annoying at times.


    "Can''t you be serious, sister?"


    The older sister chuckled. "Fufu, alright, alright little puppy, don''t puff up. Just tell me what I have to do."


    The blonde waved her hand with a sigh. "Nothing just take those two children and your husband away first, and leave the mansion to me and little Evelyn for tomorrow."


    Isabe nodded. "Alright. I trust my little puppy, take care of my daughter."


    The blonde smiled. "Of course. Even if you don''t tell me, I would protect her with my life."


    ----------


    When Evelyn groggily opened her eyes the next morning, she felt that something wasn''t quite right.


    Perhaps the first hint was that she woke up so peacefully on her own, and there was no Vivian barging in and bouncing on her bed to give her a rude wake up call instead.


    Even if she were to believe that Vivian was just tired from yesterday, at least Amara should have been here to help her tie her hair up or take a bath, right?


    The pink haired girl felt a little disappointed, as she was actually looking forward to getting pampered for once.


    "It can''t be that they felt ignored yesterday when we went out? I didn''t pay them much attention after all but no, it can''t be"


    But the more she thought about it, the more anxious she felt.


    "No I have to exin it to them. They can''t leave me alone!"


    She, who did not have a single person who truly cared about herself in herst life, could not bear to lose this warmth.


    And so the little girl jumped off her bed and bolted from her room, only to crash into something soft with a ''oomph''.


    Bree held her groggy little niece in her arms carefully, chuckling at her confused appearance. "Well well well, where''s my little niece running off to so early in the morning?"


    "A-Aunt Bree Good morning."


    The blonde ruffled the little girl''s soft pink hair, messing up her already messy head. "Good morning. Now mind telling me where you were going in your pajamas?"


    Evelyn didn''t realize how puffed up her hair looked, because she was still thinking about the situation with Amara''s absence. "I-I was looking for my friends. Did you see them wake up? Are they still asleep?"


    It was only then that Bree realized that maybe her little niece was used to a routine, and disturbing it without informing her was perhaps not so thoughtful on her part. "Oh they already left, and so did your parents."


    Looking at her little niece''s increasingly confused face, the blonde couldn''t help but giggle. "Alright, why is my little Evelyn such a worrywart? I asked them to leave because I need to be alone with you for a while today. Or did you already forget about the little fox you picked up yesterday?"


    "Ooh"


    In hindsight, Evelyn felt a little silly. There were many reasons why she hadn''t been woken up like usual. For example, maybe they thought she was tired and decided to let her sleep in. Or it may even be that they were tired themselves and slept in.


    Perhaps her happiness yesterday was too much, and it brought forth a fear of loss.


    While she was still a little absentminded, Bree had already picked her up and walked into her room.


    "Let''s get you ready first, alright?"


    It took a few seconds for her words to register in the pink haired girl''s mind, and Bree had already started filling the tub in her bathroom with hot water.


    "I-I can do it myself!"


    "Fufu why are you so shy?"


    ----------


    In the end, Evelyn left the bathroom looking like a steamed bun. She didn''t even protest when her aunt helped her pick a purple frock and dressed her up.


    She had to admit that Bree was actually quite good at taking care of her. Her shampoo technique was good, and the pressure she applied whilethering her was just right.


    Moreover, she was in and out of the bath much faster than she would have been by herself, or even with Amara''s help. If she had toin about something, it would be that her aunt spent the entire time teasing her for being shy.


    After tightening the frock''s ribbon, Bree nodded in satisfaction. Her little niece looks so adorable today, how can that stupid beast not want such a cute master? She even used some of her most precious shampoo and bath salts to increase her appeal!


    ''Ah, did I overdo it? Will the stupid beast think it''s too good of a deal and be suspicious instead? Like, oh, how can such an adorable master pick little old me, how could I deserve it? Fufufu.''


    Bree shook her head, feeling silly. Thankfully, it was not herself going through the bonding today, or her mind was really not in a state to continue. "Well, little Eve, now that you''re fully awake and all dolled up how do you feel? Energetic? Nervous?"


    "Oh I think I feel ready?"


    Evelyn fondly strapped the pink jeweled belt around her waist with a nod, having already stored all of her precious items inside it. Whateveres wille. As long as her loved ones did not abandon her, she felt like she was ready to take on the world.


    Bree smiled, looking satisfied with her attitude. "Good. Let''s go downstairs then. The sooner we get this done, the less there is a chance of something going wrong."


    As the two of them walked downstairs, Evelyn noticed that the hall had already been cleared out. There was no furniture anywhere in sight, and even the carpeting was removed.


    And in the center of the dark marbled floor was the ss box containing her tiny pink fox. There were also some very thin and faint red lines on the floor in a strange runic pattern.


    "There are only two things you must keep in mind while we go through the bonding process. Listen carefully, okay?"


    After getting a nod of confirmation from Evelyn, Bree continued. "The first thing you must make absolutely sure of is to keep your mind empty of distracting thoughts. The only thing in your mind must be your good intentions towards your futurepanion, got it?"


    Evelyn nodded a little nervously. Although she knew what to do, there''s no way to know if she''ll be good at it. "I-I think so?"


    Bree gave her a nod. The first part was not hard to understand, nor execute. Most people can do it if they put their mind to it. The hard thing was the next part.


    Her voice became more solemn. "Alright. The next thing you must ensure is that if a foreign energy attempts to encroach upon you, don''t resist. Don''t wee it either. You must act as if you arepletely indifferent to such invasion, as if you could care less."


    Evelyn looked at her aunt in confusion. "Oh? I-I''ll try?"


    Of course, how could the blonde feel assured without letting her experience it first, so she knows what to expect?


    "Don''t worry. Let me do it for you a few times, just so you have some idea."


    Bree picked her up and held her close to her chest. The little girl in her arms was tense at first, but slowly settled down once nothing strange happened.


    Soon after, just when she was starting to almost doze off in the soft embrace, a strange invasive sensation came from all over her body.


    It felt as if she was enclosed in a bubble of strange energy, and for a moment, it felt as if something really wrong was going to happen if she didn''t stop it.


    She instinctually wanted to resist, but remembered her aunt''s warning just in time. There was still a deep unwilling resistanceing from her heart, but Evelyn tried her best to not let her spirit power move without her permission.


    Warning! Deploy spirit power for defense, defeat imminent!


    For the first time since her rebirth, the system gave her an ''alert''! Although Evelyn felt a little more anxious, she trusted her aunt.


    Warning! Deploy spirit power for defense, defeat imminent!


    Decisively ignoring the warning, Evelyn focused her thoughts instead on neither resisting nor weing the encroachment of the spirit energy.


    Although it lingered against her skin, it did not attempt to enter her body. It was as if a guest was knocking at her door, waiting for her to either open it and wee them inside, or yell at them to go away.


    It was quite difficult to ignore the continuous ''knocks''. If she hadn''t been warned in advance, she would have definitely either thrown the guest out or weed them inside, depending on whether she believed them to be beneficial or harmful to herself.


    A few momentster, Bree withdrew her aura, and stared at her niece in surprise.


    "How strange that you got it so quickly. My little niece is really a genius!"


    Evelyn felt a little embarrassed. While she was happy to seed, she didn''t know if just barely making it through was worth such a highpliment. "Um, thank you."


    Bree''s smile was brighter than it had been almost the entire morning, as if some invisible weight had been lifted off her shoulders.


    "Fufu, don''t be so shy. To think I was so worried before If you can do so well just like you did now, then there''s nothing to be worried about. Remember, good thoughts about your pet, and no resistance!"


    The pink haired girl nodded obediently in her arms. "Good."


    Bree gave her niece a few more minutes to gather her focus before setting her down in the middle of the runic pattern along with the fox. She walked back until she was standing a few feet behind Evelyn in a position where she was no longer in the girl''s line of sight.


    "Ready?"


    "Mhm."


    "I''ll break the ss. Don''t be shocked."


    Evelyn just gave her a faint nod. She was already fully focused, and her thoughts kept revolving around the pink fox.


    The ss shattered and seemed to vanish into the void, but Evelyn didn''t even notice.


    The little fox slowly opened its eyes, still looking slightly sleepy. The glow from the runic lines was dull and almost unnoticeable, and the pink haired girl in front of it seemed to glow with an almost divine light.


    Her thoughts seemed to ring in its mind.


    ''Little Ruru is so cute, so adorable!''


    ''I''ll always take care of little Ruru!''


    ''Even if everyone else goes their own way and leaves me alone, little Ruru won''t leave me, right?''


    ''Little Ruru will be mine, forever and ever.''


    ''I''ll protect you, always.''


    However, her thoughts didn''t matter to the little fox.


    Because she already felt it. The energy within her body was the same as the one in the stone that allowed her to evolve into a spirit beast.


    They were fated.


    And so, the fox slowly crawled off the floor and into Evelyn''sp, docilely snuggling into the little girl who still looked lost in her own world.


    Bree''s jaw almost dropped to the floor in bewilderment.


    Where''s the spirit encroachment? Where''s the resistance? What''s going on?!

 Chapter 20: Rurus Ability

    Chapter 20: Ruru''s Ability


    After fussing over her for a while and making sure that nothing had gone wrong, Bree finally allowed Evelyn to be alone with her newly acquiredpanion.


    The moment that the fox had climbed onto herp, the pink haired girl became aware of the bond being formed between them. No, it was not ''being formed'', it''s as if it was something that was already there.


    Her little pink fox was barely half the size of a newborn puppy,bined with its soft pink fur and small fluffy tail, it looked fragile and weak in the palm of her hand. And Evelyn noticed that the purple gem on its forehead seemed to be a little lighter in colour after their bonding.


    As for the reason her probe skill worked, she wasn''t sure if it was because the skill was previously being obstructed by the container, or if the bond had something to do with it bing usable now. In either case, she was happy to be able to know more about her little fox.


    -Lotus Moon Spirit Fox (Ruru): Level 1 [Exp: 1/10]


    Special Physique: Spirit Beast


    Physique: 11


    Spirit Power: 231


    Soul Value: 507


    Vitality: 14


    -[ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    Lotus Throne''s Nirvana


    Lotus Throne''s Shackles


    When she tried to focus on the skill further to see if she would be able to get any further hints, a short description came to her mind.


    -[Lotus Throne''s Nirvana]


    Combines the soul value of the host and the beast, carrying out a direct attack through a spirit power channel.


    If thebined spirit power is lower than thebined soul power by more than half, vitality of the spirit fox will be reduced, scaling with the attack duration.


    Depending on the enemy''s strength and damage suffered, the channeler may be able to permanently enhance their spirit power to an extent.


    Evelyn frowned deeply, looking at her little fox with only fourteen points of vitality, she decided that it was top priority to level up her little fox quickly to boost both its spirit power as well as vitality.


    After all, she couldn''t possibly allow her little Ruru to die in just fourteen years even if she never used that skill, right? Since the fox''s status was so simr to herself, she assumed it would be able to level up quite simrly.


    "But how do I level it up quickly? I know I''m quite close to a huge boost in levels once the two yellow missions arepleted, but if little Ruru is only able to level up with time then it would be quite pointless. No wait first let me check the second skill, maybe it might help."


    And after focusing on ''Lotus Throne Shackles'' for a few moments, a description appeared in her mind as expected.


    -[Lotus Throne''s Shackles]


    The gentle shackles of the throne bind the beast to its master. If the distance between the beast and the master is too great, the beast shall enter a deep slumber.


    While in physical contact, the energy absorbed by the master resonates with the beast, allowing it to grow along with the master. The master does not lose any energy in the process.


    The efficiency of this resonance can vary between a fifth to half of the energy absorbed by the master. The greater the amount of energy, the lesser the gains through the resonance.


    "Ohh I suppose that does solve some of the problem. If I understand correctly, little Ruru should be able to gain a part of the experience points I get from the missions too, and I won''t be losing any either! Of course, I have to make sure to hold it close whilepleting the missions, or it may not work."


    Looking at the pink fox still sleeping in her embrace, Evelyn smiled gently.


    "Don''t worry, little Ruru, the two of us will live together for a long time toe. I won''t let anything happen to you! Of course, I need to get stronger too."


    Evelyn sighed as she looked at her own status.


    -Evelyn Knox: Level 12 [Exp: 10/120]


    Hybrid Physique: Blessed Spirit, Lotus Throne


    Physique: 126


    Spirit Power: 59 [+3]


    Soul Value: 1239


    Vitality: 122


    -[ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    Basic Spatial Maniption


    Basic Probe


    Minor Shield


    Disease Immunity


    Advanced Regeneration


    Cmity


    -Equipped: The Untainted [Grade 5], Shiny Bracelet [Grade 1]


    Although she had grown a little in the past year, it looked like it was crucial toplete the two yellow missions if she wanted to really make a huge leap forward!


    Each of the two yellow missions would give her a thousand points of experience, and she felt giddy just thinking about the tremendous boost to strength and levels that would bring.


    Moreover, she could feel that she was extremely close topleting them, as both archery and painting were bing increasingly easier for her to practice.


    "I suppose I might as well test out the new bow and pen soon too, but seeing this little fox sleep so peacefully in my palm is making me want to take a nap Little Ruru, you won''t be a bad influence, right?"


    Of course, her sleeping little fox did not answer the question, and continued to doze peacefully.


    Evelyn sighed. "Well, there''s no harm in rxing for a few minutes, I guess. The garden looks so beautiful today, the sunlight is gentle, and the air is just right It would be a shame if I don''t lie down on the soft grass for even a minute Just a minute"


    Convincing herself so, she cleared the fallen leaves off the grass in her garden beforeying down on her back. She carefully ced the little fox on her soft belly, and the smell of fresh grass along with her little pet''s gentle breathing quickly lulled her to sleep.


    "Eve! Eve! We''re back!"


    Her peaceful bonding time with her pet was rudely interrupted by the cheerful voice of a little girl. Evelyn woke up with a start, and the jolt was enough to even rouse her little fox with a small ''Yip!''.


    The slight irritation she felt upon being woken up when she''d just fallen asleep vanished and was reced by amusement. Even the voice of her little pet was so cute!


    Vivian''s eyes were shining as she caught her breath aftering close to them. Her parents and Amara were still dozens of meters away.


    "Ohhh~ It''s so cute! Cute!"


    "Isn''t she? Do you want to hold her? Little Ruru just woke up."


    Vivian''s smiling face went stiff with terror. "Uuh."


    Remembering thest time she held a cute fluffy thing in her hand, she didn''t dare touch Evelyn''s little fox at all. What if she ended up cooking it alive?


    "Fufu why do you look so scared? It won''t bite."


    "Ah ah I think I''m fine I just want to look."


    "Okay I suppose you''re not used to her yet, but don''t worry. Little Ruru maybe a baby but she''s very smart! I think"


    The little fox made a ''Yip!'' as if agreeing with her.


    She rubbed its chin in amusement, and the expression on little Ruru''s face looked almost proud. Evelyn ced the little fox on her shoulder to see if it would work, and she was ready to catch it in the air when it jumped off almost instantly, only to discover it nestlingfortably on top of her head.


    "That I guess it works?"


    Her parents and Vivian''s older sister had already arrived in the garden by now, and her father left for the mansion with only a brief nod in her direction.


    Isabe rolled her eyes at her husband''s back. "Don''t mind him. He''s busy. Anyway, I see you''re with your little fox, but where''s my little puppy?"


    Evelyn was still trying to make sure her little Ruru won''t just fall off her head. "Uh, aunty said she was going to rest for a while. She suddenly looked very tired after the ritual."


    Her mother gave her a confused look. "Oh? I guess it might be taxing, though I don''t really know much about it myself. I''ll go check in on her just in case, you kids can y in the garden."


    Evelyn nodded, making sure not to move too quickly. Um, nope, the head won''t work. She had to find another home for her little foxter!


    "Okay mom! Oh, and she told me that no one is allowed to enter the hall today!"


    Now Isabe was even more confused, because even if she didn''t know much about it, Bree had clearly told her she only needed the hall until the ritual was over. "Eh? Aren''t you already done with the ritual?"


    Of course, Evelyn had no idea herself, so she just shrugged. "Yeah, but, that''s just what she said."


    "Hm alright I guess, you don''t worry about it, I''ll go see what''s up."


    ----------


    As the capital of the most powerful empire in the continent, Moreen city was absurdly grand. It was said that no single person existed who had knew the entire city''s passages and locations perfectly by heart.


    What many didn''t realize, however, was that deep under the ground below the Moreen city, someone had already built a fortress.


    Such a thing was unimaginable for the people of the Lavinian empire. It was not because it was forbidden to build deeper than ten levels under the ground, although many people did believe that, but because the soil grew harder the deeper you tried to dig.


    To make an eleventh underground floor, it would cost about as much as the previous ten floorsbined. And with the present strength of the construction forces in the empire, it was impossible to dig deeper than fifty meters anyway. It didn''t matter how much someone was willing to spend.


    So it was no wonder that no one suspected the presence of an underground fortress a hundred meters below their feet.


    As for who could aplish what the best of the best in the Lavinian empire could not? That answer would have to be asked to the leader of the ''Justice Envoys''.


    A few years ago, this ragtag group was nothing but a bunch of thugs, but now they had an enormous backing due to the uing war. And it was this backing that made it possible for them to have such a stronghold in the Moreen city.


    A well built stout man with a mix of white and grey hair sat on a wide backed chair in front in the hearing hall of the castle underground. In his hands was a white cane with a small human skull at its handle.


    "Report!"


    A cloaked figure knelt down in front of him, and began his report. It was clear from his tone of voice that something wasn''t right.


    "Leader! The Ventura''s heir went out today. We managed to kill four of the protectors of the Ventura family, but couldn''t get to the heir. The Knox family also led a group to the market, and we managed to kill one of their guards."


    The ''boss'' rubbed the skull on his walking stick. "Hmm doesn''t matter. Any losses?"


    The man kneeling on the ground gulped, his knees shaking in fright. "None from the first fight. But we weren''t in top form when facing the Knox guardster, and both of them were strong."


    The voice of the leader was calm. "Answer the question."


    The kneeling man felt as if his soul was leaving his body from fright, but he still forcefully squeezed the words form his throat. "W-We lost two, leader."


    The leader''s voice was still calm, and it would have made the subordinate rx if he didn''t know that the person who died was the leader''s younger brother.


    "Which ones?"


    "W-We lost number fourteen, a-and n-number two"


    BANG!


    The floor cracked at the point where the white cane had struck, and the man making the report jumped back in terror.


    "I see You go get that annoying brat in the gutters and drag him out for me. I want him to personally go and deal with this mole rat Knox family!"

 Chapter 21: A Vicious Opponent

    Chapter 21: A Vicious Opponent


    The sound of footsteps from the staircase alerted Bree of Isabe''s arrival, and she hurriedly rubbed her face to make sure at least some of her fatigue wasn''t so obvious.


    Of course, how could Isabe not notice her obvious dark circles?


    "What''s going on? Didn''t Evelyn say the ritual went well?!"


    Bree sighed. It was indeed futile to hope her sister wouldn''t notice it.


    "It did In fact, it went so well that I almost feel uneasy. But no matter how I look, I can''t find anything wrong."


    The young mother sighed in relief. "Hah my little puppy always worries too much about things. I say, if you can''t find nothing wrong, then everything is okay!"


    She then dragged her little sister by the hand towards the window, and nodded in the direction of the children ying outside the mansion.


    "Look how that little fox is perched so peacefully on my little baby''s head? The two of them look perfectly fine. And they seem to get along well with each other too. It doesn''t worry me at all!"


    Bree gazed at them for a few moments along with her sister, then nodded. Perhaps she really was overthinking things. It''s not necessary for a ritual to go exactly as described in her inheritance. There could be many factors that could cause a change, and not all of them were harmful.


    Isabe then clutched her shoulders, worry apparent on her face. "They don''t worry me, but what does, is how mmy my little puppy''s youthful and glowing skin has be."


    Rubbing Bree''s pale cheeks that seemed almost devoid of blood, the young mother smiled. "If you don''t exin to your sister really well what''s going on, I might have to ''make sure'' my little puppy isn''t hiding anything!"


    Bree looked depressed. It was no use hiding anything from her when her sister was dead set on finding out. So she could only honestly confess.


    "I knew you will find out eventually. Well, the runes for the ritual had to be made from something filled with spirit power, and the only thing I could think of was blood.


    Of course, I couldn''t just use little Evelyn''s blood, since she doesn''t have much anyway, and blood loss takes too long to recover from with our physique."


    Isabe squeezed her cheeks, feeling distressed for her little puppy. She was really too stupid!


    "Why are you so silly?! Ugh if you''d just told me earlier, I gave my little baby a pen that can draw using spirit power, won''t that be perfect for this?!"


    Bree blinked, a little surprised, but then shook her head. "No no, of course that won''t work. A grade three, or even a grade four spirit power based tool won''t be able to leave lines that still contained spirit power. The tool is only able to channel the power for specific effects."


    Isabe''s eyes went wide. "Oh the auctioneer scammed me?! He said it will draw whatever color you want without any ink, as long as you pour spirit power!"


    Bree''s exhausted expression eased a little as she smiled at her older sister''s angry face. "Uh, I didn''t say you got scammed or that it didn''t work. I''m just saying it doesn''t work like you think. The tool uses the spirit power to make ink. Once the ink is created, it doesn''t contain spirit power anymore. That''s it."


    "Ohh say that first, then! I spent almost three hundred thousand gold on that, you know. If I really got scammed I would cry."


    "Fufu you really love your little baby. Spending so much on a gift. But to be honest, I think seeing big sister cry would be worth that much. I''d pay happily."


    Isabe rolled her eyes. Normally this would already be enough to earn Bree some punishment, but looking at her pale face, she couldn''t bring herself do it now.


    She squeezed her little sister''s cheeks. "Since you''re tired enough to dare think of making fun of me, take a rest."


    As she turned to leave, however, she felt Bree grab her by the hand.


    "Won''t you tell me what had you so anxious before you came in? I don''t think it was for me, not before you saw my face."


    Isabe frowned. ''Ugh, busted.''


    "What is going on, sister, why do you look so anxious? Even if I look like this now, with my strength it''s not difficult to recoverpletely within a few weeks. This is totally not a big deal."


    The young mother sighed as she finally gave up. Sometimes her little puppy was so stubborn she even considered renaming her to little mule instead.


    "Little puppy I really don''t know if I should tell you with your body in this state. I guess you won''t let me go without knowing though, so I''ll just say it."


    Isabe looked uneasily at the children downstairs as she remembered how close some of the attacks had gotten to them without their knowledge.


    "While we were out in the city today, a bunch of ''thugs'' attacked us."


    Bree squeezed her sister''s palm, trying to calm the sudden surge of anger in her heart. She allowed Isabe to continue without interruption.


    "They were all pretty strong, and only made sneak attacks. It didn''t cause amotion while attacking at all. Poor little Vivian didn''t even know anything went wrong the entire time. Hah but one of our protectors died."


    Bree finally let go of her sister''s hand, feeling exhausted. Why do these big powers want to harass small fries like them? Why can''t they leave them alone?


    Although it was fortunate that they were only using small fries to do their job, or they might have already died. But even these small fries were impossible for Bree to deal with at the moment.


    "Looks like those bastards are really bing more unscrupulous now Don''t worry, sister, with me here, if they actually dare to attack, they''ll regret it."


    Isabe still looked a little worried. She knew her sister very well, and if there was a threat to her life she could deal with, she would have dealt with it already.


    "Are you sure, little puppy?"


    The fact that the so called ''Justice Envoys'' still existed meant that Bree had no way of dealing with them.


    Bree seemed to know what she was thinking. "Of course. In fact, if not for the fact that I have no idea where they all hide, I would have uprooted their base entirely beforeing here."


    The young mother looked a little more relieved now, and Bree continued to assure her.


    "I may not dare to take on the main forces of the big powers, but these bunch of thugs don''t possess a direct threat in a frontal fight. Their threat lies in the fact that they can attack at any time, from anywhere."


    Her gaze moved once again to Evelyn and the two Gilmore sisters outside the mansion. The pink haired girl had taken out her bow and was shooting at a tree not far away, while the smaller redhead fetched back the shot arrows from time to time.


    It was sad to think that such young children who didn''t possess a threat to anyone were also considered eyesores to the big powers.


    "It''s good if there''s nothing to worry about."


    Bree shook her head, not wanting to delude her sister. "It''s not that there''s nothing to worry about. They always target the weaker and younger members of our ancient families first. And they do possess enough strength to be able to threaten anyone but the leaders of the ancient families, and in a polished ambush, even that is questionable."


    Isabe looked worried again, feeling that the constant ups and downs in her mood were really bad for her heart. "T-Then, in your state"


    Bree smiled. "Don''t forget that I''m not alone here. Your father-inw is also there. Trust me, they dare not attack us right now, not in the mansion. But do try not to go out too much. Especially now that another one of your elite protectors is gone. Our situation is not desperate, but you can''t be careless."


    The young mother sighed.


    "I understand"


    ----------


    Meanwhile, in the outer reaches of Moreen city, the same cloaked figure who had been reporting to the leader of the Justice Envoys was now facing a handsome looking pale green haired young man.


    "What did you just say?"


    "The leader has ordered you to deal with the Knox family in our stead. You may take your time, but you must report the results to the leader within five years."


    There was a sarcastic smile on the man''s face. "Hold on is your stupid leader aware that I''m not one of his thugs?"


    "The leader has ordered your gang and all your establishments to be uprooted from the Moreen city if you do not agree."


    His smile disappeared. The thing he hated the most in his life, was being threatened.


    "Bastard! Do you think I''ll just be yourpdog if you threaten me?!"


    The cloaked figure gulped nervously. Today really was his unlucky day. Perhaps this was a form of punishment set by the leader, but it was also good not to be killed on the spot for bringing news of his brother''s death.


    "Calm down, master ise. The leader is not unreasonable. As long as you deal with the Knox family in a satisfactory manner, the Justice Envoys will acknowledge your ruling over the underground of the southern part of the Moreen city. Of course, whatever spoils you gain will also be yours to keep."


    ise was silent for almost a minute before he spat on the ground.


    "Fuck off! Tell your leader that if he wants something done, he can do it himself! I''m not one of his thugs, and neither are my men."


    The cloaked figure shook his head before turning around.


    "The leader said, if you don''t agree, then maybe some things you don''t want anyone to know might be known."


    Once the words had been spoken, the cloaked figure''s heart chilled as he felt a feeling of doom approach from behind. He regretted saying it, but there''s no way he could leave without conveying the leader''s words either.


    "Who told you that you can leave after spouting bullshit like that? Was it that moronic leader of yours?"


    Although his hands were mmy from nervous sweat, the cloaked figure pretended to be calm. "Haha I''m just a messenger. Even if you kill me, it won''t change the end result. Just know that the leader knows about the incident in that orphanage. He knows how you got where you are, and most importantly he also knows what you don''t want your number one toolman to know."


    He had barely finished his words before the cloaked man''s head was mmed into the ground. His hood was torn off, and a chunk of his scalp was ripped clean off along with his hair.


    ise ignored the man''s anguished screams as he flung the torn off part in disgust.


    "Tell your leader it will be done. But if a single word gets out, I will be his biggest nightmare in Moreen city."

 Chapter 22: Invitation

    Chapter 22: Invitation


    The sound of a bowstring being released was followed by a small whoosh, and a loud thwack of wood being prated echoed shortly after.


    A tiny redhead dashed towards the tree that was struck by the metal arrow. Despite only being half as tall, she easily reached the arrow lodged almost six feet up the trunk.


    After a few short grunts, she managed to dislodge the arrow from the tree using her leg strength, but was sent bouncing back to the ground once the arrow was no longer holding her to the tree.


    Vivian only made a small ''Bweh!'' sound before bouncing back up and running back to the garden, where Evelyn took back the arrow with a smile.


    Patting the young girl on the head fondly, she once again nocked the arrow on her bow. Using almost the entirety of her strength, she barely made a full draw before letting it loose with another ''twang!''. Unfortunately, the slight shakiness at the end made her shot go off-target.


    Despite the small size of the bow, it required a shockingly high amount of strength to use. With her stats, Evelyn could already be considered multiple times stronger than even the strongest men in her previous life. But even she felt that making a full draw with this bow took too much effort.


    The arrows were equally absurd. Of the thirty arrows in the box, half of them had arrowheads, while the other half only had their ends pointed. All of them were heavy arrows made purely from metal, except for the fletching part, which was made of some sort of strange bird feather.


    Without a ridiculous amount of force propelling them, these arrows would never be able to fly far or with any amount of uracy. So it was no wonder that the bow that shot them required so much strength.


    Since they didn''t look cheap, at first Evelyn decided to just use a few for practice. But with Vivian''s overly enthusiastic help, she ended up using just one.


    "Ugh, my hands hurt from just ten shots."


    Of course, with her advanced regeneration skill, she would be perfectly fine within moments of making the shot no matter how much it hurt.


    The stalwart tree, on the other hand, suffered considerable damage by being her practice target.


    Amara smiled as her little sister once more ran back with the arrow. The tiny redhead probably didn''t realize she wasn''t helping much by bolting off after every shot. After all, it made each shot take longer as she ran back and forth.


    At first Evelyn was thinking that using fewer arrows for practice would keep more of them in a pristine condition for when she really needed it. With only one of them bing a practice arrow, it was even better.


    Of course, after shooting a few times, it looks like the arrows were quite a bit sturdier than she thought. It didn''t seem to have sustained any damage so far.


    But Evelyn still didn''t think Vivian''s help was unwee, as it gave her time to restore herself after every shot, and she could also evaluate herself before making the next shot if needed.


    Her goal wasn''t just to be a master archer. What she wanted was to be better at judging the distance of the target, as well as the trajectory and force required to hit it depending on what it was that she was aiming with, whether it be a stone in her hand or an arrow in her bow.


    Amara looked much more rxed after watching Evelyn shoot for some time than when she had arrived from the market.


    "It''s good that you''re so enthusiastic. Your first ceremony will definitely be worth watching."


    Evelyn had already heard of the fight in the market from her while the tinier redhead was off fetching one of her arrows. Of course, even Amara only knew there was a fight, and not much else.


    There was no pointing in asking the adults, as since they didn''t even exin it to Amara, who was older and was there in person, there was no way they were going to exin anything to her.


    And since there was nothing she could do about it, Evelyn could only shrug and move on. With her aunt Bree being here, there should be absolutely nothing to worry about for now.


    What she was curious about, however, were these ''ceremonies'' that she had been hearing about more and more recently as she got older. Her mother didn''t exin much even when asked, only telling her it was like her birthday party, but with a lot more people. But Evelyn was certain there must be more to it than that.


    Well, she knew at least one person who knew a lot more than her, and was also willing to treat her as an equal.


    "What do you know about these ceremonies, Amara? What happened during yours?"


    The redhead frowned. "Ugh don''t remind me. Our family had already shrunk in both size and influence at that time. So few people showed up that mine was just cancelled."


    Evelyn bit her lip, feeling a little bad for reminding her of such a thing. "Oh"


    Of course, Amara didn''t really mind it so much, after all this time.


    Instead, she analyzed the situation quite objectively. "But the situation now is a little different from then. At that time, the other families were all rtively unscathed and looked down on the ones suffering, but now everyone is suffering more or less. Their arrogance has been ground to dust. In your ceremony, I guess most of those who remain will show up."


    The pink haired girl tilted her head as she watched her ''arrow''ing back. "Hmm so it''s really like a birthday party?"


    Their conversation paused as Vivian hopped back to them, and Evelyn once more shot into the woods.


    Amara shook her head once her little sister went off again. "Not at all if anything, it''s like an exhibition."


    There was a glint of interest in the pink haired girl''s eyes now. She didn''t really care if a bunch of strangers showed up to celebrate her birthday or something, but she definitely had to care if something else was going on that involved her.


    "And what is being shown off?"


    The redhead looked a little ufortable. "I guess you? Well, what part of you is being exhibited depends on the ceremony. From what I know, there are three. The first one is when a child that a family thinks shows great promise reaches five years of age. At that time, if they manage to invite five or more family heads, then the ''test'' can be carried out."


    "The ''test''?"


    There was a gleam in Evelyn''s eyes, because a test must also have a reward, right?


    Amara nodded. "Mhm I don''t know what exactly it entails. I was only told that if I passed, I would get the title of a ''princess''."


    Evelyn looked confused. "Oh as in, you be a part of the royal family?"


    The older girl shook her head. "No. It''s just an empty title. A privilege that the ancient families have held onto before the royal family, or even the empire ever existed."


    It would be wrong to say she wasn''t disappointed. If it was only an ego boost, she didn''t really care about it. "So what exactly is the point of being this so-called ''princess''?"


    Amara was already familiar with her mindset by now, and knew that she was disappointed. It was possible she wouldn''t perform as well in her tests because of her, but she certainly hoped that wasn''t the case.


    "I suppose glory for the family? And if you go to the academy, you may get preferential treatment, but that''s about it I guess. Passing the first ceremony is also needed to go through the next two. Don''t intentionally do poorly on the testter, okay?"


    Evelyn nodded. Even if she didn''t care for the title, there was no reason she should be disappointing her family''s expectation either. Especially not after they have done so much for her. Besides, who is to say there wouldn''t be another reward for passing the test?


    "Don''t worry, I''ll do my best as always. Speaking of which, have you thought about going to the academy?"


    Vivian once more ran back with an arrow in hand at this time, and Amara watched her run off again with a smile.


    "No If I went back then, who would have taken care of little Vivian? I''ll be happy just knowing she can go with youter."


    Evelyn had already given this much thought before speaking up. She could tell that Amara was quite talented, though her growth in many areas had been stunted due to having to take care of many things after her parent''s passing.


    Since she already held Amara dear to her, she wished to realize some of her talents if possible. Moreover, it was always a good thing if people she could rely on became stronger or attained a higher standing. It could never be a bad thing, at least.


    "And what will you do here alone when we''re gone?"


    Amara''s expression was nk for a while before she shook her head. "I don''t know."


    The pink haired girl smiled. She had already asked her parents about it, although it wasn''t easy. They had been worried that she wanted to dy going to the academy herself at first. But once she assured them that she wasn''t thinking of goingte herself, they did let her know some details.


    The academy had a minimum age of entry, but there was no ''maximum''. That being the case, how could she leave one of her only friends to wallow in misery while she and Vivian grow by leaps and bounds?


    "How about youe with us?"

 Chapter 23: Golden Wheel?

    Chapter 23: Golden Wheel?


    Evelyn had known that both her parents loved her very much from the beginning, and their adoration for her had only grown since then. It was only natural since she was a good, adorable and obedient daughter.


    She knew it was only a matter of time before their affections naturally reached the level required to obtain their enhancements. And aside from their natural interactions, all Evelyn did to raise their affection was learning archery and painting from Desmond and Isabe respectively.


    It did increase their time together a little, and allowed them to interact with each other a lot more. But Evelyn believed that even without doing so their affections would have been maxed out eventually. It would just take a lot longer.


    But two thousand points of experience was too great a boost for her to not want to have as soon as she could! After all, it was more than four times the experience she had managed to acquire in her entire life so far.


    At first, she only had the intention of repaying their gratitude fairly once she grew up. She didn''t think she would develop any genuine affection for them herself.


    However, time had proven her wrong, and it seems like even her negative view of her first mother didn''t prevent her from loving this pair of parents at all.


    Evelyn learned at it was hard not to like someone if they loved you genuinely. At least, she couldn''t bring herself to keep them out of her heart after all this time.


    She had learned from this experience, however, and decided that whenever she had to use the ''raising affection'' method in the future, she must be careful not to end up giving her own heart out in return!


    It''s okay to like people and treat them well, but Evelyn wasn''t willing to just hand out herplete trust and love to anyone but herself.


    As time passed and the bonds between the parent and child solidified, it was no surprise that both of her missions were finallypleted almost a yearter. At the same time, no less! It was probably quite close to the maximum level for a while already, and finally hit the threshold naturally.


    Evelyn was d for it to happen now rather thanter. Because if a few more days had passed, then she would get even more anxious about the ''test'' on her ceremony. She didn''t feel she was quite ready as she was.


    Although she had been a littlex after talking with Amara about it on her fourth birthday, the atmosphere in the Knox estate didn''t feel right as her ceremony came closer.


    It wasn''t just the glimpses of preparation and security being increased. It was an overall feeling as if something of great importance wasing, and it made her anxious not even knowing what it was.


    Since she could only prepare herself as best as she could, and with only a few days left for her fifth birthday, this ''gift'' came just in time.


    Surprisingly enough, the mission rewards did not get automatically credited, but were waiting to be imed by her manually instead. Although she could im them both at once right away, she decided to take it step by step just to be safe.


    She opened her father''s mission tab first.


    [ Yellow Mission, Target: Desmond Knox ]


    -Source: Cmity


    -Clear Condition: Fulfill any one of the following:


    Kill (or) Completely defeat Desmond


    Raise Desmond''s affection to the maximum level [Fulfilled!]


    -Rewards:


    Experience: 1,000 points


    Acquire the [Hunter] passive ability: Enhances the rate at which long ranged targeting skills are honed. Also gives the hunter''s vision a keener sense of detecting prey.


    Physique permanently raised by +10 points


    Her mother''s tab was quite simr, although the rewards were obviously different.


    [ Yellow Mission, Target: Isabe Knox ]


    -Source: Cmity


    -Clear Condition: Fulfill any one of the following:


    Kill (or) Completely defeat Isabe


    Raise Isabe''s affection to the maximum level [Fulfilled!]


    -Rewards:


    Experience: 1,000 points


    Acquire the [Artist] passive ability: Enhances the growth and learning rate of skills rted to drawing and painting. General hand eye coordination is also enhanced.


    Spirit Power permanently raised by +5 points


    Vitality permanently raised by +5 points


    There was a big yellow ''im!'' button next to each of the mission names, and Evelyn felt slightly regretful for always carrying little Ruru around with her every day making sure she stayed in skin contact.


    If she knew earlier that it was possible to im the bigger missions manually at her own convenience, she wouldn''t have let little Ruru get such a bad habit!


    Now even if she tried to keep her off the sly little fox would jump around and either nestle on her head or shoulders if she was standing, and her chest or belly if she wasying down.


    "Ugh whatever, I guess she will grow out of it once she gets bigger. Hopefully."


    Well, she won''t deny that the fluffy little thing was adorable, so it wasn''t such a big deal anyway.


    Since it was already nighttime and she was alone in her room, there was no need to worry about being disturbed in the middle of the leveling process.


    Although all her previous level ups were almost instantaneous and without any strange feeling except for a subtle feeling bing stronger, she felt that there must be a reason for the bigger missions to require being imed manually.


    Evelyn climbed onto her bed and took off her light overdress. She contemted taking the rest of her clothes off but shook her head. Even if Ruru was just a pet, it would feel a little weird after all.


    The pink haired girl took a deep breath, held it in, and then released it slowly. She didn''t know what it would be like to level up so much at once, and it would be wrong to say she wasn''t a little excited and apprehensive.


    She once again checked the description of little Ruru''s skill [Lotus Throne''s Shackles] to see if she missed anything. After making sure that the condition was only direct skin contact, she pressed Ruru a little closer to her belly, much to the confusion of the little fox.


    Feeling that she had prepared as best as she could, she nodded to herself while ignoring the squirming of her little fox.


    "This should be fine alright. Hope nothing goes wrong!"


    As she imagined pressing on the ''im!'' button on her first yellow mission, a burst of energy seemed to flood into her body all at once from the world.


    -Reward imed!-


    Physique permanently raised by +10 points!


    Acquired the [Hunter] passive ability: Enhances the rate at which long ranged targeting skills are honed. Also gives the hunter''s vision a keener sense of detecting prey.


    Experience +1000 points!


    Current Experience: 1100 points.


    Level up!


    Level 12 [1100/120] -> Level 13 [980/130]


    All Stats increased by +2!


    At first, the feeling of her body being filled with energy was refreshing, as if taking a fresh bath after a long day out.


    Level up!


    Level 13 [980/130] -> Level 14 [850/140]


    All Stats increased by +2!


    Her second level up was followed by a feeling of contentment. It was her first time leveling up multiple times in a row, and the satisfactory feeling made Evelyn giddy with excitement, because she knew a lot more were to follow.


    Level up!


    Level 14 [850/140] -> Level 15 [710/150]


    All Stats increased by +2!


    "Aah!"


    There was a funny feeling in her tummy, and a gasp escaped her lips. But the pleasant feelings were mixed with something that felt distinctly wrong.


    Level up!


    Level 15 [710/150] -> Level 16 [560/160]


    All Stats increased by +2!


    There was a ''crack!'' from somewhere deep inside her. She didn''t if the sound came from her bones, or something else. She didn''t get the chance to ponder on it, however, because the energy was still flooding in without stop.


    Level up!


    Level 16 [560/160] -> Level 17 [400/170]


    All Stats increased by +2!


    "Oohhhh!!"


    Her gasps had already turned into painful groans, and even her little fox started yipping in distress.


    Level up!


    Level 17 [400/170] -> Level 18 [230/180]


    All Stats increased by +2!


    A whimper escaped her lips as tears kept flowing from her wide open eyes.


    Evelyn bit her lip so hard that blood started flowing down her chin. "Just one more just one more left I can do it!"


    Level up!


    Level 18 [230/180]] -> Level 19 [50/200]


    All Stats increased by +2!


    Over! It was finally over she thought with relief.


    She didn''t know how long shey there on the bed. Her tears staining her face till they dried by themselves. Even then, she could feel that a thin sheen of perspiration was covering her body, a sensation she had never before felt since her reincarnation.


    She shook herself out of her stupor and sat up on the bed.


    As she worriedly examined the little fox on her belly, she realized that little Ruru had already fainted. Evelyn quickly checked its status even before her own.


    -Lotus Moon Spirit Fox (Ruru): Level 17 [Exp: 0/170]


    Special Physique: Spirit Beast


    Physique: 11 -> 45


    Spirit Power: 231 -> 282


    Soul Value: 507 -> 558


    Vitality: 14 -> 48


    -[ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    Lotus Throne''s Nirvana


    Lotus Throne''s Shackles


    [New!] Lotus Throne''s Golden Wheel


    "Lotus Throne''s Golden Wheel?"


    As she tried to focus on the ability, the description finally came to her mind.


    -[ Lotus Throne''s Golden Wheel ]


    The two souls are bound together in a golden circle of life and death. One cannot fully perish while the other still lives, but the other cannot thrive while one is in peril.


    Evelyn frowned as she looked through the description multiple times.


    "I don''t get it does that mean that as long as one of us is alive, the other cannot die? But how exactly does that work, even? It says ''cannot fully perish'', does that mean if we''re killed we''ll still die, but not ''fully''? Ugh why can''t there be any more detail?!"

 Chapter 24: Second Milestone

    Chapter 24: Second Milestone


    The description of the ''Golden Wheel'' didn''t give her enough hints, and even after wracking her brains over and over Evelyn couldn''t make a concrete conclusion.


    "Ugh, whatever, it''s definitely not a bad thing. I''m guessing this ability unlocked once Ruru crossed level ten, so maybe there will be another one once she gets to level twenty, right? Maybe the next ability will make things a little more clear. I hope."


    After setting Ruru down on the bed, Evelyn decided to take a bath first before anything else. She felt all kinds of wrong right now, with dried blood on her chin and a strange sticky feeling she hadn''t felt in years, she definitely needed a bath.


    "I wish I got an ability every ten levels too"


    After tossing all of her garments in theundry bucket, she quickly turned on the faucet of the tub and climbed in.


    "Yikes, it''s too hot!"


    Her skin sizzled as she stepped in, and tears started flowing from her eyes almost immediately from the unexpected pain. The water heated by spirit stones was generally too hot, and this was the reason why she was always apanied by someone while taking a bath. The cold and hot water needed to be mixed properly.


    She would have been happy if someone just told her though.


    Of course, Evelyn didn''t really care about it too much because she would only lose a few points of spirit power even if her skin took some damage. This is why the advanced regeneration ability was so useful.


    But it still hurt.


    "Uh, I guess I learned something, at least."


    She tried to think positively.


    "If I didn''t take an impromptu bath today, I wouldn''t know this. Amara would always mix the water for me before I went in, and I would never notice."


    She nodded, having convinced herself.


    "But now I know that whatever method they use to heat water using spirit stones can''t regte the temperature perfectly Hm, this shouldn''t be too hard to fix, right? Hopefully no one else came up with it already, maybe I can make some money off of itter."


    Her finger glided across her perfectly restored skin, there wasn''t even a hint of redness left. "If I think about it this way, it was actually a good thing!"


    Evelyn had already convinced herself that she didn''t make a stupid mistake, but had a fortunate ident instead.


    With her mind relieved of all burdens, she continued soaking in the hot tub with her eyes closed, her long pink hair floating in the water carelessly. The tub was so big for her size that she looked like a tiny flower floating in the middle of a big puddle, although it was partially due to her small body.


    After a while she finally felt a little better and decided to check her own status.


    -Evelyn Knox: Level 19 [Exp: 50/200]


    Hybrid Physique: Blessed Spirit, Lotus Throne


    Physique: 126 -> 140


    Spirit Power: 59 -> 80


    Soul Value: 1239 -> 1260


    Vitality: 122 -> 136


    -[ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    [Hunter], [Basic Spatial Maniption], [Basic Probe], [Minor Shield], [Disease Immunity], [Advanced Regeneration], [Cmity]


    -Equipment: None


    She let out a sigh of disappointment as she looked at her level.


    "I was hoping I heard it wrong but it looks like I really didn''t cross over level twenty."


    Evelyn closed her eyes as she thought through it once more before crawling out of the tub, with her teeth gritting in determination.


    "Whatever, I''ll just bear with it once more and im the next mission. If I can get through it once, I can get through it again!"


    For her to feel like she did everything she could to prepare for the ceremony, crossing the threshold of level twenty was a must! Even if it didn''t give her as big of a boost at level ten, it couldn''t be too bad.


    Evelyn quickly rubbed herself dry with a towel and climbed back onto the bed. She couldn''t be bothered to dress herself up again, and just plonked the still knocked out little fox on her belly before iming the next mission before her determination could waver.


    - Reward imed! -


    Spirit Power permanently raised by +5 points!


    Vitality permanently raised by +5 points!


    Acquired the [Artist] passive ability: Enhances the growth and learning rate of skills rted to drawing and painting. General hand eye coordination is also enhanced.


    -Experience +1000 points!


    -Current Experience: 1050 points.


    -Current experience exceeds the requirements for next level!


    -Level up!


    -Level 19 [1050/200] -> Level 20 [850/500]


    -Level 20  Milestone level reached! +20 All Stats!


    -Level up bonus increased from +2 to +3 all stats per level!


    -All Stats increased by +3!


    -Current experience exceeds the requirements for next level!


    -Level up!


    -Level 20 [850/500] -> Level 21 [350/600]


    -All Stats increased by +3!


    The increased requirements of each level brought both relief and disappointment to Evelyn. Her previous trauma was still fresh in her mind, but she had already made up her mind to go through it again if it meant being better prepared for what was toe.


    She hadn''t yet forgotten that she wasn''t a normal girl, born as the beloved daughter of the Knox family, and growing up with a couple of close friends.


    No, she was someone who did not know what the future had in store for her, because the ones who allowed her to have this life now did not even let her know what they wanted.


    The only way she would have any right to decide her own future was if she was strong enough, strong enough to have a right to speak before it was toote.


    But it was only a thought she could bury deep in her heart and remind herself to never forget.


    Ruru did not even rouse from her sleep this time, and perhaps it was better for her that way. The poor little fox did not have a regeneration ability like her, and the experience was probably quite painful for her.


    Her regeneration ability had already restored her bodypletely while she was bathing, so the level up this time only managed to send a pleasant tingling sensation throughout her body.


    Evelyn''s mind hadn''t recovered, however, and there were dark spots dancing around in her vision as she struggled to not let herself fall asleep. Her status opened up in front of her with little effort.


    -Evelyn Knox: Level 21 [Exp: 350/600]


    Hybrid Physique: Blessed Spirit, Lotus Throne


    Physique: 140 -> 176


    Spirit Power: 80 -> 124


    Soul Value: 1260 -> 1299


    Vitality: 136 -> 167


    -[ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    [Artist], [Hunter], [Basic Spatial Maniption], [Basic Probe], [Minor Shield], [Disease Immunity], [Advanced Regeneration], [Cmity]


    -Equipment: None


    "This should be good enough for now, right?"


    And as she smiled in relief, her mind finally slipped into a deep slumber.


    ----------


    When she woke up the next morning, Evelyn could only pout as she received a scolding from her dutiful ''maid'' Amara.


    "Do you understand? Even if our physique is better than the others, that''s all the more reason to be more careful! Once you get sick, the treatment avable to us is very limited as well!"


    Even if she wanted to say she can''t get any diseases at all, there was no way anyone would believe her, right?


    "I''m sorry I get it, okay? I was just feeling weird and decided to take a bath, and then forgot to dress up and fell asleep."


    Amara sighed, thinking of all the bad thoughts that sprang into her mind when she first walked in and saw the poor girlpletely bare on the bed.


    One of the first things she checked was if the pink haired girl was still breathing, and then she checked for any trauma on her body. Only once she didn''t find anything wrong did she let out a breath that she didn''t even know she was holding.


    After wiping away her tears, she realized that maybe her reaction was a little oversensitive. But that didn''t mean the little girl shouldn''t be scolded for almost giving her a heart attack! So she resisted the urge to smack her awake, but an earful still had to be delivered!


    "Even if it was a mistake, you can''t do that again!"


    Evelyn gave her a pitiful look, hoping that her big shiny pink eyes would melt the redhead''s heart like always. "I won''t?"


    Of course, even if Amara''s anger had already faded away, she couldn''t let her go so easily, or the little girl won''t learn her lesson at all.


    "Humph. Even if you feel like you need to take a bath in the middle of the night, you should just call for me!"


    "Okay okay, I get it, geez."


    Even as she rolled her eyes, however, the pink haired girl felt content as she was given a warm bath and meticulously patted dry by the redhead.


    "Mhmm this feels so much morefy than doing it by myself."


    The redhead clicked her tongue. "Tsk tsk, if you like being pampered so much, then why are you so unreasonable? The next time I see you do something you shouldn''t while alone, I''ll have you sleep together with Vivian!"


    "Eh?"


    Amara nodded, as if suddenly realizing all the merits of this ''great idea''. "Yep. It''ll be hitting two birds with one stone. I won''t get kicked around at night, and she can clutch you in a death grip while sleeping so you won''t be able to do anything either. Hehe."


    The pink haired girl clutched the warm towel closer to her body. "Ugh that sounds like a bad idea?"


    Amara smiled, as if saying ''Not for me!'', and Evelyn gulped.


    "Alright alright, I''ll be a good girl, so let me off this time, pretty please?"


    The redhead couldn''t help but relent with a chuckle. "Alright. Just this time, since you''re so cute."


    Evelyn finally rxed. Thinking that finally she was done jumping through all the hoops.


    "Fufu."


    Looking at the little girl''s smug face as she finished drying her long pink hair, Amara realized why some adults preferred administering corporeal punishment instead.


    "Ugh, I still can''t believe you would almost mess up this bad right on the day of the ceremony I thought you were such a mature little girl!"


    Evelyn wanted to cry, thinking how she keepsing back to the same topic to give her a scolding over and over. But she knew that if she protested anymore it would just get worse.


    Amara shook her head, thinking it would only cause more headache to her if she kept dwelling on it, and the little girl didn''t seem to take her seriously at all. It was better to just move on. Besides, today was both Evelyn''s fifth birthday and her first ceremony!


    "Anyway, are you feeling ready? Have you decided on which of the dresses you wanna wear?"


    "I''m feeling better than ever! And the dress doesn''t matter to me you pick one for me."


    Evelyn regretted her words as soon as they left her lips, because the grin on Amara''s face was positively devious.

 Chapter 25: All Dolled Up

    Chapter 25: All Dolled Up


    Evelyn should have known something wasn''t right the moment Amara left to call her mother and the others for help, instead of just bringing some clothes out of her closet.


    By the time she realized, however, Vivian and Ruru were staring at her rapidly changing clothes with shining eyes as Isabe and Amara seemed intent on cycling through the entirety of her wardrobe.


    She never even realized she had so many clothes before today.


    At least her aunt wasn''t here to witness her humiliation, probably being busy with some preparations for the ceremony.


    Things started out pretty tame, with different types and colors of overalls, and Evelyn didn''t actually mind dressing up for them at first.


    Then the two of them cycled her through abination of dress pants and skirts, along with vests, to jumpers, and then to hoodies.


    By the time she went through what felt like the hundredthbo, Evelyn''s face was almost permanently set in a pout. The amount of clothing she had gone through on this day was already more than everything she had in herst life!


    Is clothing really so cheap in this world? Howe there''s so much?!


    "Mooommm can we not hurry up? Won''t we bete if you''re like this?"


    But even if she tried to reason with them, neither Isabe nor Amara listened to her at all.


    "Don''t worry, mama will make sure we''re done before the ceremony starts. The sun has barelye up, and the ceremony is in the evening, so we have plenty of time."


    A shudder ran through her body as she looked at the multiple piles of clothing Amara just heaved out of the closet. It looked like... sundresses, miniskirts and even ball gowns?!


    ----------


    Thankfully, they didn''t actually make her go through ALL of the clothes Amara had brought out.


    "It''s a shame that it has to be something that doesn''t restrict her movement."


    "I guess that means we''re left with just these ones, right?"


    "Mm, although you should definitely set the blue spruce empire waist dress aside, okay? We can have her change into it after the test."


    "Makes sense. So which one do you like from these two?"


    Evelyn, who just wanted it to be over with as soon as possible, pointed at the dark blue short halter dress that she knew her mother had taken a liking to.


    "Ohhhh, mine and my little baby''s choice match so well! Alright then, let''s get you all dolled up!"


    The pink haired girl could only numbly follow their instructions as they finally moved on from the dresses and onto essories and footwear.


    Thankfully, there wasn''t as much to go through this time, and Evelyn had to admit that while the process was tedious, she did look better than she thought she would.


    The halter dress seemed to be made from a material that was not only soft and silky, but also remarkably resistant to tearing. But it only came down to her thighs, and since she would probably be moving around a lot, her mother covered her legs with snow white stockings.


    Evelyn thought they would surely get very dirty very quickly, but her mother insisted that they matched her getup too well and it wouldn''t matter if they got dirty or torn up anyway. It was more important to not scratch up her legs while running around.


    Combined with white pearl earrings and dark blue sheepskin boots, Evelyn felt slightly shy as she looked at her reflection.


    "Fufu well, is my little baby happy? Looking good?"


    "Um, thank you, mom."


    Unfortunately, her happy mood dissipated like smoke as she watched her mother flip through a notebook she was all too familiar with. Something that had never left the privacy of her room, and had never been exposed to anyone''s eyes but herself... her drawing practice book!


    ----------


    "I''m sorry, baby. Mommy wasn''t making fun of you, okay?"


    Evelyn wasn''t actually crying, but her eyes were red and pooling with tears that she was barely holding on to.


    She had just gotten the ''Artist'' talent, and hadn''t even started improving drastically. She wanted to show it to them once she made something good, but now her good image is probably forever destroyed in their mind.


    "I-I told you not to look! You even showed Amara!"


    Isabe chuckled. Her petnt little daughter always kept trying to show them a perfect image, but it was when she saw her deepest ws that she felt that her child was most adorable.


    But of course, she has to at least pretend to be sorry. The baby can''t explode on the day of the ceremony, right?


    "Hah, I said I''m sorry, okay? How could I resist looking at the results of my tutoring? My baby must have worked so hard, you got so much better!"


    "Ugh"


    Evelyn could only sulk as she thought about it again. Okay, what''s done is done. Even if they saw it, it''s not like she can erase their memories, right? At least Vivian and her little fox were fawning over her while the two adults went through her doodles, so they didn''t see it.


    Isabe picked the dolled up little girl up and plopped her down on herp, holding her close as she stared at their reflection in the vanity mirror.


    "Let''s forget everything else now, okay? How is my little Eve feeling? Ready for the test?"


    The pink haired girl bit her lip as she looked up at her mom''s face. The Gilmore sisters had silently left the room, and her little fox also seemed to have fallen asleep on the bed.


    She normally wouldn''t let them see herself as anything but perfect, but it felt like her image in front of them had already cracked a bit today.


    "I-I don''t know, mom."


    "Fufu don''t be so nervous. Do you remember all the numbers daddy taught you?"


    Evelyn''s mind nked as she tried to remember. Wasn''t it just an hour of basic addition and subtraction her father had told her aboutst year? Did that even count as teaching?


    He even tried to make sure she could count correctly! How humiliating was that?!


    "Ohh? I guess he must have taught you pretty well if you look so haughty, huh."


    "I don''t look haughty! Stop making fun of me, mom!"


    "Ahh, don''t try to bite mommy, or I''ll have you wear lipstick, alright?"


    "Ugh."


    Isabe chuckled as she looked at her daughter''s disgusted face. In her opinion, the natural color and texture of her lips matched well enough with her getup already. But it didn''t cost money to make empty threats, right? And little Evelyn''s teeth were deceptively sharp!


    Evelyn didn''t know if it was just the way it was in this world, but the lipstick didn''t taste good at all!


    She didn''t know if it was so disgusting just in this world, or if it was the same even in herst one. But the way the models licked their lips in advertisements back then, Evelyn was sure it must have been delicious!


    So along with a better water heating system, a delicious brand of lipstick was added to her ''get rich quick items'' list.


    Her mother held her tighter as she buried her face in the girl''s fluffy pink hair. She didn''t seem to care if she''ll mess up the waterfall braid she had spent so much time meticulously preparing.


    "You must remember that no matter how dangerous things look during the test, you''re always safe. Don''t get scared no matter what, okay?"


    Evelyn nodded, even though she felt a little unsettled at her mother''s words. After she talked about numbers, she had started to wonder if it would just be a dumb test, which would make sense given her current age. But it looked like that was just a small part of it.


    ----------


    Evelyn was left on her own once her mother left the room, with only little Ruru to keep herpany.


    She didn''t dare to go out, because in the past few weeks she had felt that things seemed to be getting stranger and stranger in the Knox estate.


    As the time for her ceremony had drawn near, the mansion seemed to be almost under constant watch of the two elders. Even her grandfather, who was almost never around, showed up from time to time.


    She wasn''t nave enough to wander around at a time like this, so she could only stare out from her window and wait.


    Today, the Knox mansion was bustling with guests, and the numbers were honestly a big surprise for Evelyn. When Amara told her that her ceremony was cancelled due tocking numbers, she expected at most a few dozen guests at her own, given that the Knox family didn''t seem to be very influential either.


    However, although she couldn''t see everything through the window, the number of guests should be at least in the hundreds, and each of them seemed to look more ''prestigious'' than the other. It felt more like they were going for a huge royal ball than a five year old''s birthday.


    "Ugh just looking at so many people makes me want to puke"


    But even if she wanted to throw up, she couldn''t. She could only close her eyes and try to calm herself so she didn''t look like a fool when she actually went out.


    Some of the guests seemed to have noticed the little girl staring out from the window in the mansion, and pointed at her from time to time, but Evelyn pretended not to notice.


    If she reacted and tried to hide now it would just make her look more awkward. It was better to just ignore them. Besides, since her mom already dolled her up like this, might as well just let them look.


    If she thought about it this way, all these hours of suffering being a dress up doll weren''t in vain. Looking at all the overdressed people in their evening gowns and three-piece suits, she felt slightly grateful that she hadn''t picked out her clothing herself today.


    Her gaze was suddenly attracted by a little boy in a brown three-piece suit who had been staring at her without blinking for who knows how long.


    Even though his eyes didn''t seem to contain the same unconcealed hostility as thest time she saw him, who else could it be but that little bastard Tristan?!

 Chapter 26: Unwelcome Guests

    Chapter 26: Unwee Guests


    She knew just from a single look that the lesson she had taught himst time did not manage to curb his unreasonable hostility to herself. Instead, it looks like the boy had learned how to not make it so obvious instead.


    Evelyn didn''t have high hopes for him anyway, but it was still slightly disappointing. As far as she knew, there were only three children in her generation of the Knox family, and that was including herself.


    If Tristan''s attitude was anything to go by, she didn''t hold high hopes for the third child either.


    "I guess I''m lucky enough that my parents love me in this life, unlike thest one. Older cousins or whatever I just wish they wouldn''t get in my way."


    ----------


    Carriage after carriage seemed to rush through the ornate gates of the Knox mansion, and Elder Floris''s eyes struggled to keep up with the influx of guests.


    Even with the money spent on the mercenaries and teams from the hunter''s guild, the people in charge of important matters needed to be those who could be trusted.


    Elder Stane was responsible for greeting important guests and leading them to the tform where Osmond Knox and the other distinguished would be seated. This left only Elder Floris, who was responsible for making sure no ''unwanted'' guests ended up ruining the ceremony.


    The biggest problem with this task was that the ceremonies of the ancient families have always been open to public since ancient times. Anyone who wanted toe, could walk right in and watch.


    Who would dare do something they shouldn''t when faced with thebined might of the ancient families? After all, the top echelons would all be there during a ceremony.


    Unfortunately, times have changed, and this is no longer true. The ancient families are no longer so formidable, but their traditions remain unchanged.


    It was at times like these that Floris wished that the patriarch would just do away with these obsolete things.


    If they just allowed the invited guests to enter and barred everyone else, there would be no need for her to stare at each and every carriage entering and exiting with half of her heart in her throat.


    "Halt! Stop that carriage!"


    One of the two hunter teams hired to protect the entry point to the Knox mansion immediately barred the gates and surrounded the carriage that the elder pointed out.


    The horses barely managed to halt before being pierced by the pikes of the hunters, and a disheveled man with washed out green hair kicked open the door with a loud bang of dissatisfaction.


    "What the hell is going on?!"


    Elder Floris''s face remained cold and unmoved when faced with his anger.


    "You''re not wee here, ise. Turn around and leave."


    There was a mocking smile on the man''s face. "Hah? I thought the ceremonies of the ancient families were always open to public?"


    The olddy nodded. "Open to regr public, yes, but not gangsters."


    ise burst into loudughter, causing the dissatisfied guests who had to wait for the barred gate to open to re at the man.


    "I''m a honest gentleman, dear elder. You know I run businesses all over Moreen city that depend on my good reputation to function. How would the Knox familypensate me for the losses due to your baseless usations?"


    But elder Floris remained unmoved.


    "Who in Moreen city does not know that the so called clubs you run are just a barely legal front for trafficking and prostitution? Like I said, if you''re not here to make trouble, then leave. And if you are here to make trouble, you better be ready for the consequences."


    Of course, since ise hade here so openly, he was already prepared.


    "It seems like the elder has grown senile with age? Shall I help correct your memory?"


    Just as he was about to wave his hand and signal the dozens of carriages filled with his men toe out, however, all his ns came to a screeching halt.


    "Is there a problem?"


    Elder Floris breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the golden haired youngdye out of the mansion. "Miss Bree."


    "I noticed that no new carriages seemed to be entering anymore. What''s going on?"


    Of course, ise wouldn''t have survived so long in Moreen city if he couldn''t tell when death was approaching, so he decisively clenched his fist to signal his men to leave, and then bowed towards Floris.


    "My apologies, but since the Knox family does not wish to wee me, I shall take my leave. It is enough for a businessman of my caliber to have suffered such besmirching of his reputation, and I do not wish to be humiliated any further."


    The hunter team gave way. They were only paid to protect the Knox mansion from threats, and there was no profit in pursuing someone who already intended to leave.


    There were a few murmurs of dissatisfaction from the other guests as they were finally allowed entry, but no one seemed too bothered. After all, everyone knew who the green haired man was.


    To most of these prestigious guests, he was just a small time thug. A parasite of the city that had grown a bit bigger recently, but nothing worth noticing. The fact that the Knox family was scared of him only made them look weaker than they thought.


    But even as ise had his carriage rush away as fast as possible, he still felt that feeling of impending doom wasn''t going away at all.


    "Don''t!"


    A few momentster, the feeling finally seemed to vanish, and the green haired man breathed a sigh of relief.


    ''Just who was that woman? Howe I didn''t know there was such a person here today?''


    Bree halted the spirit power she was gathering in her hands as she gave the elder a confused look.


    "Isn''t he a troublemaker?"


    Elder Floris sighed. How good would it be if they could just get rid of everyone with the potential to cause trouble?


    "He''s not someone I want to be here during the ceremony, but you can''t kill him. He came as a guest, and it''s already against the norm that we turned him away. If we killed him while he was leaving without making any trouble, it would just cause more problems for us in the end."


    Even though the blonde girl looked dissatisfied, she left after giving the elder an understanding nod.


    Elder Floris went back to monitoring the entering guests with a sigh.


    "I just hope that there''s no more trouble."


    ----------


    Meanwhile, Evelyn had already been led out of her room by her mother, and was now waiting in the garden outside her mansion with no one but her little fox to keep herpany.


    There were also three cloaked figures that she knew to be the elite protectors of the Knox family not far from her, but they didn''t respond to her no matter how she tried to approach them.


    She would be even more surprised if she knew that these three were the only remaining protectors of the Knox family.


    If this was a normal day, she would have tried to use her probe skill simply out of curiosity. It was not every day that these people exposed themselves so openly in front of her, after all.


    However, today she was determined to preserve her spirit power, at least until the test was over.


    After a while, she got used to ignoring their presence just as they seemed to ignore her words. It really felt like she was truly alone with her little fox.


    She hugged her fluffy little fox closer to her chest.


    "Will be you be alright alone, Ruru?"


    The fox gave her a ''yip!'', which could mean either yes or no, she honestly had no idea.


    ''Little Ruru should be over level twenty now, right? Another skill should have unlocked, but since I can''t take her with me for the test, I''ll check it outter. It''s a bit strange that even my bracelet and belt can''t be taken, but whatever.''


    The only good thing was that the garden seemed to have beenpletely cleared out for her to rx before the test, and not even that eyesore Tristan came by to bother her.


    "The less I see of him, the better. But I guess I''ll have to meet some people after the ceremony."


    The pink haired girl sighed. After four consecutive birthdays with only her parents, wasn''t today a bit too much of a step up? If she was a normal girl, she would have been quaking in her boots right now.


    "Isn''t this too much pressure for a five year old? Even I feel nervous."


    Her pink fox snuggled into her arms with a purr, and Evelyn smiled at Ruru''s efforts tofort her.


    "Don''t worry, your master isn''t so weak. You''ll see, Ruru, I''ll make you proud."


    There was a rustle of leaves not far from her, but the protectors didn''t seem to react. She turned around to see her mothere to her while wiping sweat off her forehead.


    "Let''s go, baby. Everything''s ready."


    Evelyn obediently held her mother''s hand as she was led towards the area where the ceremony was being held. It looked like all the guests who should havee were already waiting there, because she didn''t notice anyone else on the way.


    Just as she was feeling rxed, however, thunderous ps of hooves suddenly echoed in her ears as an ornate golden carriage seemed to have appeared out of nowhere behind them.


    So great was its momentum that by the time she realized, she was already being held securely in the arms of one of the cloaked figures, while the other two had barely managed to move her mother out of the way.


    The purple haired girl in the carriage made a ''tsk'' sound when the driver told her no one had been injured.


    "It would have been so funny too if the ceremony girl had been stomped by our horses while everyone waited eagerly."


    The boy sitting on her opposite side chuckled. His hair was the same shade as the girl''s, and both of them had the same pattern of white streaks on their head. Like lightning in a purple sky, this was a symbol of the real Lavinian royalty.


    The strongest power in the continent.


    "Heh, you''re too simple, sister. At least let her have some spotlight before you stomp her down, you know? Wouldn''t our trip here be pointless otherwise?"

 Chapter 27: Bear Witness

    Chapter 27: Bear Witness


    "Sister! Evelyn! Are you alright?!"


    The pink haired girl didn''t know when her aunt had arrived, nor when she had snatched her over from the protector''s arms into her own.


    It was only after snuggling into her aunt''s warm embrace for a few moments that the rapid beating of her heart slowed down.


    Until this moment, she had never realized just how much she had changed.


    Evelyn had spent most of her first life wondering why she had been abandoned by her parents. And her mother back then had not simply abandoned her, but also ruined her face before throwing her away.


    To someone who could do so to a newborn child, Evelyn would never recognize them as her mother, regardless of their reasons.


    Even if she ended up discovering who she was, she would have not felt an ounce of love for that woman. Instead, perhaps her hatred could only bepounded.


    But in this life, she realized that the same rtionship of mother and daughter held a vastly different weight in her heart.


    As she had wondered for a mere few moments whether her mother was safe or not, it was as if her soul was being held tightly in a monster''s grip, ready to be ripped apart at any moment. Only when she realized that the danger had passed without anything going wrong did she breathe a sigh of relief.


    But along with that relief, came a burning fury. It rushed through her veins along with a desire to tear apart the insolent fools responsible for putting both herself and her mother in danger. If the cloaked protectors were just a little slower, who knows what could have happened?


    Her thoughts were interrupted by an unknown man''s arrogant and snarky voice.


    "My my, you ran off so suddenly, young people sure are whimsical these days!"


    It was only now that she realized that Bree hadn''te to them alone, but there was someone else with her.


    It was a white haired middle-aged looking man in a pure white three piece suit along with an equally white overcoat with silver borders. There was a prominent purple shield badge proudly pinned on his chest.


    Even Evelyn could tell that it was not an ordinary essory, and contained a remarkable amount of power from the aura alone.


    But from the tightening of her aunt''s arms around herself, she could tell that Bree was burning with a fury much simr to her own.


    "Bastard! I swear if a single hair on either of them is harmed!"


    The man adjusted his pristine white overcoat leisurely, as if to show how little he cared for the blondedy''s threats.


    "How amusing! To dare talk to one of the royal guardians like this, I must say you''re either very brave, or very stupid. The second prince simply wished to go sightseeing, but to think you actually tried to stop us from entering I wonder what the punishment should there be for your insolence?"


    "You!"


    Bree looked ready to explode, but it was Isabe who held her sister''s hand to calm her down. The two looked into each other''s eyes, and Bree finally seemed to give up and lowered her head.


    Isabe stepped forward and made a short bow towards the man.


    "It seems there was a misunderstanding. My sister does not often stay in the Lavinian Empire, so she''s unfamiliar with things here. I would like to request lord guardian to please overlook this matter."


    The man appeared as if he was taking her words into consideration, as if the decision of whether or not Bree deserved to be punished depended entirely on his mood.


    Seeing him remain silent, Isabe grit her teeth. "Since the second prince of the Lavinian empire has graced us with his presence, please continue on with your duty to protect him to make sure nothing goes wrong."


    The white haired man smiled. "Hoho we certainly hope nothing goes wrong, because all of you dogshit ancient familiesbined aren''t even worth a single hair on the head of his highness, got it?"


    Isabe clutched her sister''s hand, but maintained her smile as the guardian jumped into the air and flew in the direction of the ceremonial grounds.


    Bree burst into tears the moment he left.


    "S-Sister I-I''m sorry. I tried to stop him, but I felt something was wrong so I rushed here a-and"


    Isabe held her distraught little puppy in her arms, rubbing her back in constion. Her shoulder was soaked with tears within seconds.


    "Shh! Why is my little puppy crying? Look at you, if you look so pitiful, how will little Evelyn feel during her ceremony?"


    Evelyn''s fists were clenched tightly as she stared in the direction that the man had flown off in. To the adults, it appeared as if she didn''t fully understand what happened, and was simply confused.


    Bree sniffed as she tried to control herself. "S-Sorry"


    "It''s alright now. Bree Evelyn, both of you, look at me."


    Evelyn turned to her mother, looking quite calm on the surface.


    Isabe smiled, somewhat d that perhaps her daughter''s young age and duller perception allowed the event to pass without causing too much trauma. It would truly be a disaster if she ended up mentally scarred due to such a mishap.


    "None of us were hurt. We''re not in any immediate danger. Let''s put this behind for now, and focus on what we should be doing."


    The two of them nodded.


    "Bree can you make sure those people don''t interfere anymore?"


    The blonde nodded furiously, as if trying to convince herself. "I-I''m not weaker than him! I swear he won''t be able to do anything anymore."


    Although it was truly impossible for her to chase after a treasure on the level of that carriage and hold off that royal guardian at the same time, she didn''t believe they could harm Evelyn right under her nose.


    "Good girl."


    ----------


    The rest of Evelyn''s journey to the ceremonial grounds was safely and quickly carried out in Bree''s arms.


    With the presence of the Lavinian royalty, Evelyn knew that Bree hadpletely abandoned the thoughts of protecting the Knox mansion and maybe even the ceremony, and was focusingpletely on her niece''s personal safety.


    But she did not have any thoughts of abandoning the ceremony.


    The more those people wanted to ruin it, the more she wanted to shine today.


    As for whichever bastard it was who had the idea of hurting her mother like that, even if they didn''t even know who she was, Evelyn swore topletely and utterly destroy them one day.


    She may not be able to do it now, but she knew her chance wille one day. As long as she continued to grow stronger, she would be able to dole out the punishment that they deserved.


    And that was exactly why she must take every opportunity that she had at growing stronger.


    Her aunt knelt down on the ground and allowed Evelyn toe out of her embrace once they reached a colosseum like building.


    As she followed after her aunt towards the internal gate, Evelyn knew from the noise alone that there must be thousands of people sitting inside. But once she came out into the inner open arena, she was still shocked by the sheer scale of the event.


    It was definitely not on the scale of those roman colosseums that could seat a hundred thousand people easily, but there were still thousands of people waiting for her to enter the arena. She couldn''t help but shudder at the thousands of gazes that seemed to focus on her body at once.


    Evelyn turned her gaze upward as she looked for the most ''outstanding'' people in the crowd. How could the pompous Lavinian royalty remain inconspicuous aftering all the way here like that?


    And as expected, the main podium with the most luxurious seats seemed to be empty except for a teenage boy and a girl. With silver streaks running through the purple hair, Evelyn was sure that she wouldn''t mistake them for anyone else if she ever saw them again.


    Of course, given that she had so thoroughly burned their image into her mind, she wouldn''t ever forget them anyway.


    The white haired man from earlier was standing guard behind the two, despite the abundance of empty seats.


    The murmurs of the crowd grew louder as she neared her grandfather and the other elders in the center of the arena.


    All of them appeared to be in theirter stages of aging, with only one man who appeared to be quite young. Although it seems his standing among them was perhaps the lowest, as she stood the furthest back with his head lowered.


    Her grandfather received Evelyn''s hand from Bree with a smile, and the blonde retreated behind the other elders but did not leave the arena despite the obviously dissatisfied hinting eyes of the other elders.


    Osmond could only force a smile on his face and continue, hoping that the other ancient family heads would also cooperate.


    He picked the pink haired girl up from her waist, and raised her above his head as if showing her off to the world.


    "I, am Osmond Knox, the patriarch of the ancient Knox family. This is my youngest granddaughter, my pride and joy, born from a supreme tier blessed spirit egg! We shall witness her test of talent today!"


    The patriarchs and matriarchs also put aside their dissatisfaction with Bree''s presence, and came forward to begin the ceremony.


    "I, as the Patriarch of the Ventura family, shall bear witness to this test of talent!"


    "I, as the Matriarch of the Fulbright family, shall bear witness to this test of talent!"


    "I, as the nominal leader of the Coleman family, shall bear witness to this test of talent!"


    "I, as the Patriarch of the Reynolds family, shall bear witness to this test of talent!"


    Bree also stepped forward at this moment, although her cheeks were red with some embarrassment as the others looked at her weirdly, but her voice was surprisingly stable and full of confidence.


    "And I, as the nominal leader of the Devaughn family, shall bear witness to this test of talent!"

 Chapter 28: Spirit Power

    Chapter 28: Spirit Power


    Evelyn felt slightly embarrassed being held up like that by the old man, especially with her feet awkwardly dangling in the air. Thankfully, he let her down shortly after, and the girl breathed a sigh of relief.


    Once her introduction was over, all the elders except for the strange man, Bree, and her grandfather flew away in one direction.


    Just as she was nervously wondering what she was supposed to do now, she saw them head back with a giant stone b that looked like it weighed at least a few tons floating between them in a spirit formation.


    Even though they let it down quite slowly in front of her, it made a resounding boom upon making contact with the ground.


    Evelyn gulped, hoping her test wasn''t to crack it open with a punch.


    ----------


    ''So that''s the girl grandma alwayspares me to.''


    That was the first thought that crossed through the mind of a young girl sitting in a special area reserved for the ancient family''s descendants. Her ash blonde hair was tied in two pigtails using red ribbons, and her soft brown eyes squinted as she tried to figure out what was so special about the little girl.


    Long pink hair immactely arranged in abination of princess and waterfall braid, a dark blue short halter dress and white stockings... all served toplement her adorable appearance.


    She looked like a beautiful doll that anyone would love to hold in Cecilia''s eyes.


    And she had many dolls. They were nothing special. After a while, they were... boring.


    "She doesn''t look like much."


    Cecilia didn''t realize she had spoken out loud until the boy sitting next to her chuckled.


    "Be kind, Cecilia. She''s so much younger than you."


    The young girl frowned. "Bleh, don''t teach me, idiot Markus. Treat your brother better first, maybe."


    Markus Ventura was almost twice the age of the young girl, almost approaching his twenties, but he still found her reactions quite amusing.


    At least, it was far more interesting than the dolled up little girl who would probably start crying once she goes through the test and fails.


    They had all gone through it, after all. And only Cecilia had ''passed'', even if barely.


    "Aiyoo, you won''t understand. As the only heiress to the Fulbright family, how can you know what it''s like topete for the position of the future leader? If I''m kinder to him, I''m unkind to myself. Besides, we''re only step brothers."


    The twintailed girl harrumphed but refused to answer him.


    "Hah, you only want me to be nice to him because you think he''ll marry you, right? Oh but remember, the Fulbright family only agreed to a marriage with the Ventura. They never said it had to be with little Aeron. Who knows, it could be me?"


    The young girl pretended to gag. "Yuck, disgusting! I''d rather marry a dolly like that girl than marry you!"


    Markus chuckled. "Heh, you like that little girl?"


    Cecilia''s face twisted into a frown. Just why did she have to share the same breathing space as this disgusting man? When she grew up and became stronger than him, the first thing she must do is turn him into a red stain on the ground!


    "At least she''s cute! You''re just disgusting. Your name shouldn''t even be Markus, but Disgustus, because all you do is disgust everyone!"


    Markus seemedpletely unaffected by her tirade and smiled instead. "Hmm, I guess you''re the type who likes to console soft little crybabies, huh? No wonder you like Aeron."


    The little girl had nothing to do with him, but it was another matter for his ''little brother''.


    "Ew, stop talking to me! Disgusting moron!"


    Markus was about to continue teasing the little girl, but his words got stuck in his throat as he stiffly turned his neck towards the arena.


    "W-What''s going on?"


    ----------


    The hushed murmurs of the arena turned intoplete silence as Evelyn felt the spirit power within her body flow strangely after she was told to sit cross legged in front of the stone b.


    This was not the first time these people had been to an ancient family''s ceremony, so they noticed right away when something was out of the norm.


    At first, Evelyn felt nothing, and even started to idly wonder if her white stockings would look ugly now that she had gotten them dusty by sitting on the ground.


    But within a few moments, the spirit power in her body started moving on its own, and it felt as if the stone was a giant ma that could attract and repulse it even from within her body.


    Thankfully, the force it applied was very gradual, and the direction in which the spirit power was directed seemed to be a circuit that didn''t cause any actual loss of her spirit power.


    Evelyn was wondering what exactly was the point of that, but she could only focus within herself and hope that nothing strange happened.


    ''Is it going to suddenly turn wild? I better be ready, or I might explode!''


    Thankfully, her predictions were wrong, and the stone b was moved away from her far before she could explode.


    After removing the heavy b, the leaders of the ancient families seemed to be arguing about something, but Evelyn couldn''t hear them.


    ''Is it some kind of skill that prevents sound from leaking out of an area?''


    Her thoughts were cut off as the Fulbright family''s matriarch cleared her throat, and her amplified voice echoed throughout the colosseum.


    "Spirit power is the very foundation of our strength! Those with low spirit power remain civilians, while those with higher spirit power can be soldiers."


    "And above those, are people whose spirit power can exceed a hundred points, and it gives them the qualifications to be a ranger!"


    "In the first test of spirit power, Evelyn has passed! We estimate her spirit power to be at least a hundred points!"


    There was a huge uproar the moment her words were finished, but the old woman seemed to ignore the crowd and continued.


    "Next, we shall proceed with the test for affinity."


    The other elders could understand why the crowd was moring for an exnation like that.


    After all, this was perhaps the most absurd result they had ever had. But that being said, it was impossible for so many top tier experts like them to be all mistaken on such a minor thing.


    "Still, Osmond what the hell are you feeding her?"


    ----------


    Compared to the mild shock of the elders, the spectator''s excitement was on another level entirely.


    "Isn''t the first ceremony of the ancient families held at a kid''s fifth year? She''s only five years old and has over a hundred spirit power?"


    A rich looking woman frowned, thinking that herpanion was being too overexcited over nothing.


    "Is it so weird? All the guards at my home are required to have over a hundred, minimum."


    The man who had spoken earlier rolled his eyes.


    "Ignorant! Those are all ranked rangers, and have gone through years of training! This little girl hasn''t even seen the academy yet. How can the two be put together?"


    Thedy looked awkward. "For all you know, her family trained her since she was born."


    "They would have to be crazy to teach an ignorant child any kind of spirit cirction! A simple mistake can cost their life, you know? If they did that, she should already be crippled."


    "Maybe she''s just lucky."


    "Hm"


    Compared to the conflicting voices among the crowd, many of whom thought it was the overly ambitious Knox family overdrawing the girl''s potential, the children of the other ancient families werepletely awed.


    Markus Ventura''s joking face waspletely devoid of emotion, and the eyes of the previously gloomy ''little brother'' of his were glowing brightly.


    Aeron hadn''t even dared to speak while he was being ridiculed by Markus in front of Cecilia, but right now his words of wonder just wouldn''t stop flowing.


    "Cici, didn''t you have just sixty points of spirit power during your ceremony?"


    Cecilia''s face was red. "Y-Yeah I guess she''s a bit stronger than me and a bit cuter but I''m definitely smarter!"


    The boy with long golden blonde hair who had remained silent till now sneered in their direction.


    "She''s just a monkey, dressed up like a doll by her mother and doped up on medicines to be strong. It''s hrious that you guys are all thinking she''s so great just because of a stupid stone."


    Cecilia frowned as she gazed at the pink haired girl in the arena, who was now standing in front of an array of colored boxes instead of therge stone for testing spirit power.


    "You''re being sour as always ''uncle'' Ryan. Even if you think she''s stupid, you should just wait for the test to be over first, or it might be you who looks like a monkey in the end!"


    ----------


    The quarrels among the spectators and even the ancient families children had nothing to do with Evelyn, who was attentively listening to her grandfather finally exin what she had to do next.


    "Channel a little bit of spirit power through each of these items, slowly. Stop channeling only once you''re told, and then move to the next one. And be careful. Got it?"


    Evelyn nodded. "Okay."


    As she moved towards the first box, the Fulbright matriarch''s voice echoed through the arena once more.


    "We use spirit power to manipte elements, and each of us has a different affinity for each element! To be a qualified princess of an ancient family, one must have an affinity greater than seventy percent for at least three elements!"


    Evelyn gulped as her heart sped up. She didn''t know of her affinities at all, because she didn''t have any abilities that could manipte elements yet. All her abilities so far were based on either spatial or body maniption.


    ''Ugh, I hope they count space as an element or something, or I might be out of luck''


    And as the matriarch opened the first box slowly, a brown colored thing sprang out of it and lunged straight at her face!

 Chapter 29: Failed?

    Chapter 29: Failed?


    Evelyn had been nervous and on edge ever since the test began. Perhaps it was because of all the stares from the crowd, or perhaps because of the mishap right before the test, but in either case, she had considered the worst possibility every time.


    And when her grandfather told her to be careful, she was already on high alert against the box.


    It was a good thing she was so cautious, because otherwise she might not have caught the strange furry earthworm looking thing in her hand.


    Perhaps calling it a furry snake would be more appropriate, but it did not have a head like a snake.


    Remembering her grandfather''s words, she started channeling spirit power through the worm.


    Unlike with the stone te earlier, this time she could clearly feel that some of her spirit power was lost, and it would take some time to recover. Thankfully the amount wasn''t much, and she still felt confident in her reserves.


    The strange furry worm''s body was divided into ten ridges, and they started glowing one by one as her spirit power was slowly absorbed.


    Within moments, seven out of ten of the ridges were glowing brightly, while thest three remained dull.


    There was once more some hushed discussion between the elders, but her results were quickly announced.


    "Evelyn''s affinity for the earth element is seventy percent! A standard among the blessed spirits! Pass!"


    Bree and her grandfather finally seemed to breathe a sigh of relief once they saw everything with the first affinity test went well.


    If Evelyn had panicked and be scared of the creature, it would have been far more difficult for her to channel her spirit power through it, and her affinity would have appeared worse than its actual value.


    The next few affinity tests weren''t as nerve wracking for the pink haired girl, and she easily breezed through them.


    It became a routine to her. The box opens, catch the thing inside, channel her power through them, and watch them glow. Once the results are announced, move to the next one.


    "Evelyn''s affinity for the water element is eighty percent! Outstanding among the blessed spirits, pass!"


    "Evelyn''s affinity for the lightning element is ny percent! Top tier even among the blessed spirits! Pass!"


    "Evelyn''s affinity for the wind element is fifty percent! She should avoid the use of wind element unless necessary, fail!"


    The matriarch''s voice was slightly hoarse by the time she announced the results of thest affinity test.


    "Evelyn''s affinity for the fire element is thirty percent! She''s unsuitable to channel the fire element, and should avoid trying to use it in the future, fail!"


    The pink haired girl felt her heart thump a little erratically. After getting a clear over seventy percent evaluation in earth, water and lightning, she had been quite confident already.


    However, her results for wind were only fifty percent, while the worst by far turned out to be her affinity for fire element, which was only thirty percent.


    She hoped that there would be a few enhancements simr to Vivian''s that would boost her affinity with an element in the future.


    She didn''t know how much her fire affinity would actually improve after obtaining the ''Pyromaniac'' enhancement from the younger Gilmore girl, but she couldn''t let any chance to get stronger go.


    And even if she already knew only three out of the five elements needed her to ''pass'', it still felt bad hearing ''Fail!'' two times in a row.


    "Evelyn has passed the requirement for spiritual affinity with three elements, and she is fit to move on to the next test!"


    Evelyn felt slightly disappointed that there was no test for spatial control or affinity.


    Her grandfather and the elders collected the boxes and had them sent away as Bree patted her on the shoulder to ease her mood.


    "Don''t be nervous for the next part. Keep your mind empty."


    Evelyn gave her aunt an understanding nod, already trying to clear any distracting thoughts with little sess.


    The matriarch of the Fulbright family took out a strange looking ck disk from her spatial ne, and ced it on the ground.


    Shortly afterwards, a circr spiritual array appeared on the ground with a single central spot surrounded by five circles in a star pattern.


    "Certain gifted children are born with innate abilities, while most acquire them as we grow up either through luck or hard work! We shall now proceed to explore her innate abilities! As a future princess, having at least a single innate ability is a must in order to prove her talent!"


    Evelyn was nervously made to stand in the central position as the elders each took one of the outer ring spots, except for Bree, who remained outside the array.


    The pink haired girl felt something was wrong the moment they started channeling spirit power, but since she had been told to keep her mind clear of distracting thoughts, she could only helplessly force herself to remain calm and not think about it.


    And then, a tremendous force impacted her chest. Evelyn felt as if she was hit by a truck, and a copsed immediately on the ground while coughing out blood.


    "Aaaaahhh!"


    The crowd began moring as the elders instantly stopped channeling their spirit power in confusion.


    Bree had already dashed into the array and took the pink haired girl in her embrace, examining her in distress.


    "Evelyn! Evelyn?!"


    "What happened?"


    "The probe failed?"


    "This is a high grade array, right? How could it fail? Even if a rank S ranger was standing in the center, the array would bridge the gap in our levels and allow us to feel out their abilities, right?"


    The Fulbright matriarch''s expression changed. "Unless"


    The other elders all seemed to focus on her.


    "I think her innate skill might be a ''shield''!"


    "Impossible!"


    The matriarch didn''t fault the other elders for not believing her. After all, shielding against probes was a skill that was exclusive to high grade items!


    And they had already made sure that the little girl wasn''t carrying any items on her body. It was against the rules for the test, after all.


    But although the elders firmly believed their judgement, the atmosphere among the audience was quite different.


    "What happened?"


    "The ability probing array failed?"


    "Did she use a concealment or defensive item?"


    "So she''s cheating!"


    "But is the Knox family so stupid? Why would they do this when it would clearly be exposed, doesn''t that make things worse?"


    And in among the ancient family''s descendants, ''uncle Ryan'', the young blond boy who had been mocked by Cecilia before, was now mocking her back.


    "Who looks like a monkey now, Cecilia? Just because you passed the test while we didn''t, does not mean you''re so smart! Look, you thought I was being jealous, but she''s cheating as expected!"


    Cecilia''s face was twisted into a frown. How was it her responsibility whether the little doll was cheating or not?


    "Idiot Ryan, why are you always jumping around like a monkey? Did I talk to you?"


    "You!"


    Their argument was abruptly cut off by the announcement from the elders.


    "We have determined that Evelyn has passed the test, and from now on shall be known as one of the ancient family''s princesses! She is now qualified to inherit the position of a matriarch of the Knox family!"


    There was a huge uproar from the crowd, who had all but concluded that whether or not the little girl cheated, she had definitely failed!


    "Even if she had a huge amount of spirit power, she barely passed the affinity test, right? And then she clearly failed thest one!"


    "Bleh, I guess the standards for the ancient families have fallen quite low."


    Perhaps the elders were aware of the sentiments brewing in the crowd.


    "Evelyn''s innate skill is ''shielding'', which is why the probing array failed, and she suffered a trauma from blocking the energy in the array!"


    There was another uproar from the crowd, this time farrger than the one before.


    "A shielding skill? Humans can have a shielding skill?!"


    ----------


    Far from the arena, the pale green haired man had arrived back at one of his clubs.


    "Master ise, we have already investigated this matter. There are really only three protectors left in the Knox family, along with three elders. The strongest among them is the patriarch, whose strength should be at the peak of rank A, and is only slightly weaker than an S ranked ranger."


    "Tell me then, who was the blonde bitch at the gate today?"


    The subordinates looked at each other nervously. None of them could figure out the threat that Bree possessed, and so they couldn''t understand why their master was so obsessed with the girl.


    "Master maybe she was one of the guests? We haven''t investigated all the other ancient families, and there was a sighting of the carriage of the royal family heading into the Knox estate today!"


    "The royal family!"


    ise wiped some nervous sweat that had started forming on his forehead at some point, and thanked his good instincts for leaving early.


    "Those bastards If she''s with them, I guess it makes sense."


    But he chuckled shortly after. "But that just means she''ll leave once the show is over. Tell the boys be ready to go at any moment. Our hunt is not over yet!"

 Chapter 30: Hand It Over

    Chapter 30: Hand It Over


    It didn''t take long for Evelyn to regain consciousness, and Bree finally breathed a sigh of relief once she saw niece''s pinkshes flutter as she woke up.


    "Thank goodness, you scared me!"


    Evelyn tried to look around to see what was going on. Thest thing she remembered was standing in the middle of an array, and then there was a ring noise in her mind before everything went nk.


    "U-Uh, what happened?"


    The blonde haireddy smiled gently. "Don''t worry, you passed."


    Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief, but was still wondering what exactly happened for her to lose consciousness like that.


    Moreover, she vaguely recalled getting multiple warnings in her system, but she fainted before she could realize what was going on.


    "It looks like you may have a shielding skill, which prevented the probing array from working."


    Of course, Bree never expected Evelyn to already know about it. How could she, when no one else did? It''s not like anyone had ever tried using a probing array on her before.


    "The way the shielding skill works normally is that the spirit power stored in an object is exhausted to resist the probe, and once it has run out, the shield will copse and lose its function, exposing whatever it was inside that was being protected from the probe."


    She smiled softly as she caressed the little girl''s luxurious pink hair.


    "Since this is the first time I have heard of this skill being innate to a person, you should be careful not to let any powerful probing arrays be used on you."


    Evelyn nodded.


    "A shielding object breaks once it runs out of power, and it is safe to say that the consequences of running out spirit power while resisting a probe won''t be pleasant. We were lucky that the elders quickly shut the array down when they noticed your abnormality. So you have to be careful in the future, okay?"


    "Un I understand."


    It''s a pity that she was unaware of this side effect when she had acquired the shielding skill. But even if she knew, she would probably still get it.


    After all, it was better for her to be able to resist probes.


    And if someone was strong enough to force her into an array and grind her spirit power to nothing using just a probe, they could probably easily crush her anyway.


    As she finished gathering her thoughts, it was only then that she realized she was still in the middle of the arena, being stared at by thousands of people.


    The little girl got out of her aunt''s embrace with embarrassment, causing both Bree and the surrounding elders to chuckle.


    Although there were some mishaps, overall they were all quite happy with the oue.


    One more child with great talent meant one more pir who could carry on their legacy once everything was over.


    Once the war between the great nations began, the ancient families weren''t stupid enough to fight for an empire when their royal family only thought of them as an eyesore.


    At that time, their only goal would be to safely escort these children away from the mes of war.


    Once the elders confirmed there was nothing wrong, her grandfather handed her a small copper medallion iid with a purple gem.


    "This is your reward for passing the assessment."


    The gem was surrounded by ten different symbols engraved in silver, each representing one of the ancient families. Although some of them had ceased to exist.


    As Evelyn looked at the medallion in her palm curiously, the old man continued exining the medallion''s function and importance.


    "As an ancient family''s princess, you are entitled to enter the ''Timaeus Vault'' once."


    The old man told her that he couldn''t take her there now, but he would once ''things settled down''. In the meantime, the safekeeping of the medallion would remain her own responsibility.


    "Only you can enter using this badge, and you can pick one treasure, if you manage to find a suitable one inside. Keep it safe."


    Well, even if she couldn''t obtain it right now, a vault containing treasures from all of the ancient families since time unknown definitely had to contain something good, right?


    Just thinking about it made her feel giddy. Like it was definitely worth it going through all those excruciating level ups.


    "U-Un, thank you, I will treasure it, grandpa."


    Her excitement at obtaining a ticket to new treasure was interrupted, however. The white dressed mannded in front of them with a boom, sending dust flying everywhere from the impact.


    It was the same bastard who had been chasing after Bree before the ceremony, and had introduced himself as a ''Royal Guardian''.


    The man ignored the elders in the arena, and directly aimed a condescending finger at Evelyn.


    "Little girl, rejoice, for the second Prince of our great Lavinian Empire has invited you over for a talk. Since the prince was even gracious enough to allow your ceremony to finish first, I trust you wouldn''t dare to waste his highness''s precious time anymore?"


    Evelyn was gritting her teeth, and she could feel that none of the surrounding elders were happy either.


    If each of them was on the same level as Bree, or even slightly lower, it should still be possible to effortlessly crush this arrogant man in front of them.


    However, they did not dare do so, because he represented the royal family, and attacking him in public was the same as seeking death. Not just for themselves, but also their entire families.


    Even if she was angry, Evelyn couldn''t say anything. She didn''t even know whether it would be better to agree to go with him or refuse in this situation.


    It was Bree who held her hand and walked forward.


    "Let''s go meet the ''mighty'' and ''illustrious'' prince."


    ----------


    The two royalties had already left the arena at some point, as if her ceremony wasn''t really worth watching for them, and the ''royal guardian'' led them to the ornate carriage standing outside the colosseum instead.


    Most of the guests were also leaving the arena, and many directed curious looks at them as they watched the ceremony girl being led towards the royal carriage.


    "Wasn''t the royal family said to be on bad terms with the ancient families?"


    "Idiot, if it was like that, would theye attend one of their ceremonies?"


    "Oh, makes sense."


    "You can''t just blindly trust the rumors."


    "Anyway, let''s just hurry up and get to the party first. I''m famished."


    "It won''t start if the girl is not there, you know?"


    "Won''t they still serve the guests?"


    "I guess, but are you here just to eat?"


    The ''Royal Guardian'' ignored the whispering crowd and opened the carriage gate. As he motioned them to enter, Bree could only reluctantly carry her niece in, no matter how uneasy she felt.


    The insides of the carriage were far more spacious than its appearance on the outside suggested.


    It was almostrge enough to be considered a decent sized room, with two long luxurious sofas on both sides. There was a grand ornate coffee table in the center, with plenty of leg room between the table and the sofa.


    Both of the royalties were sitting on one side, and Bree ced Evelyn on the empty sofa before taking a seat by her side.


    The prince chuckled, with mockery as tant as could be in his tone. "As expected ofmoners. Uncultured."


    Bree didn''t respond at all, only gritting her teeth in anger.


    "Don''t waste your time talking to trash, brother. Hey, fake!"


    Evelyn would have to be an idiot to not realize who this princess was referring to. But she only red at her in response.


    The princess didn''t seem to care if she responded or not.


    "You got that medallion for entry to the Timaeus Vault, right? Oh don''t look at me like that, everyone knows about it. Anyway, hand it over."


    "Hand it over?"


    Evelyn''s hands were shaking as she thought of all the suffering she had gone through, forcing herself to level twenty just to make sure she could pass the test, only for the rewards to be snatched away like this.


    Moreover, she had just made a promise to keep it safe, and now this princess told her to just hand it over?


    This so called princess didn''t even seem to really care about it, like she was snatching it just because it caught her eye.


    As she recalled all the concessions that the ancient family elders had made, how cautious they had been, Evelyn knew there must be a reason they didn''t dare rebel.


    Perhaps the royal family was just too strong.


    Since even Bree did not dare openly go against them, what other choice did she have?


    The pink haired girl could only bury the grievances deep in her heart, and make sure to avenge this transgression once she was strong enough.


    Just as she was about to put the medallion on the table, however, Bree reached out and held her hand with a smile.


    "And what if we don''t?"

 Chapter 31: What Happens in the Carriage, Stays in the Carriage

    Chapter 31: What Happens in the Carriage, Stays in the Carriage


    The princess didn''t seem to take Bree''s words seriously at all, and just chuckled.


    "Oh, quite daring, aren''t you? You know, I remember you even tried to stop us from entering. There has got to be a limit to your insolence, right?"


    The ''second prince'' shook his head, finally ending his silence.


    "Don''t argue with garbage, sister. Since they insist on offending us"


    Their words were cut off abruptly as if someone had choked their throats, and the two of them looked in panic towards the carriage door, wondering why the ''Royal Guardian'' hadn''t entered yet to rescue them.


    Bree smiled, both her eyes and hair now giving off a golden glow.


    "Ahh how rxing it must be to move around in a treasure like this! Both thefort and security on this thing are top notch. Truly, the royal family is quite formidable."


    Although her words were filled with ''admiration'', the mockery in her tone was clear to everyone.


    "Unfortunately, the two of you areplete morons, and even your guardian is just a muscle brained idiot. You don''t even know the functions of this thing properly, do you? Perhaps you have too many such treasures."


    She chuckled.


    "In this carriage that istes all sound and aura to make sure that its upants are both ''safe'' and fortable'' tell me, how exactly do you n to live, little bastards?"


    It seems like some of the restraint on their throats was lifted, as they could barely squeak out some words now.


    "Y-You you dare do this! You''re dead meat! Dead!"


    "S-Shut up, brother! Let me talk!"


    In contrast to the indignant and furious expression of the prince, the princess had apletely pale face.


    Bree smiled even wider. "It looks like you''re not aplete idiot. After all, if you''re already dead, would it be of any help to you if the royal family seeks revenge on meter? And even if they do, can''t I just escape and hide?"


    The princess tried her best to force her face into a ttering smile.


    "W-We apologize for our earlier behavior,dy. But aren''t you being too unreasonable here? Will you really offend the royal family like this just for a single medallion?"


    "Hoh did you already forget about almost killing my dear sister and niece?"


    There was a shocked hup from the princess, as she had genuinely put the ''small matter'' out of her mind. To her, it was truly no different from kicking a pebble she saw on the road.


    But in this context, that ''small matter'' made things turn from bad to worse.


    "I-It was only a prank, if we meant to hurt someone, would they all be alright?"


    Bree''s smile remained unmoved, clearly not believing her words.


    The princess finally couldn''t hold it anymore as she felt a tremendous amount of spirit power gather in the blonde girl''s hands. She could feel a ''wetness'' down below, and it filled her with both shame and despair.


    "We don''t want the medallion anymore, just let us go!"


    Bree''s eyes twinkled as she watched the humiliated expression on the faces of the two ''royalties''.


    "Since it is my niece''s birthday, let''s leave this small matter to her."


    The second prince finally couldn''t contain his rage anymore. "Y-You hwack!"


    His shout was abruptly cut off as he clutched his neck, his face slowly turning purple.


    As the princess turned her face towards the little girl, the tiny bit of hope she had been feeling also turned to despair. The pink haired girl was watching their humiliation with a smile, as if greatly pleased by the ''show''.


    "T-Then, what do you want?"


    Evelyn smiled.


    "What could we possibly want, princess? Wasn''t it you who came to us, almost killing my mother, and then threatening us like that?"


    "I-I already apologized! I don''t want the medallion anymore, so tell that woman to let us go!"


    The pink haired girl blinked as she turned towards her aunt, fluttering her pinkshes innocently.


    "Ahh but aunty, won''t things be bad if we just let them go? I read a story before in which the hero let his enemies go, and then the enemies came back to kill his whole family."


    Just as the ''princess'' wanted to make an argument, the girl continued, as if lost in recounting the ''amazing'' story she had read about.


    "Then he beat them up, but let them go again, and they then killed his lover! Then he beat them up, and let them go again, and the next time they came back they finally managed to beat the hero because they knew all his tricks."


    The prince had already copsed with his face purple and a strange frothing out of his mouth. The princess didn''t know if he was already dead or not.


    Evelyn continued her story, as if oblivious to the world.


    "He''s the hero though, so how can he really die? So he managed to make aeback at thest second and survived, bing even stronger! But how can we be so ''lucky'' like the hero? So why should aunty let you go?"


    There were already tears running down the princess''s eyes, her vision so blurry that she could barely see the pink blob in front of her face.


    She imagined the little girl must have an innocently curious expression, and it filled her with even more despair.


    It was like a monster had handed a hammer to a child, and she was a bug that the child was trying to crush.


    The only difference in the situation was that this bug could speak and plead to be spared, but the child''s response was ''Why? Bugs go st!''


    In her despair, she could only put all of her bargaining chips on the table, and hope that one of them were shiny enough for the child to take interest.


    "I am the third princess of the Lavinian Empire. I will never inherit the throne, unless both of my older brothers and both of my older sisters die. The purity of my bloodline is the highest in the royal family."


    There was some renewed confidence in her eyes. That''s right, how could someone like her die just like that?


    "Everyone loves me! As long as I say the word, no one in the pce dares to oppose my will! Let me go and I will support you! I will get rid of the bastards bothering your family!"


    She took a deep breath.


    "And spirit stones! I have lots! Even crystals, no, cores! More spirit cores than you can imagine! I''ll fill your Knox mansion with so much wealth"


    "Aunty, can you buy me anything I want?"


    "Of course, anything for my baby."


    "Uh-huh. Then isn''t all that money useless to me?"


    The princess closed her mouth in shock. That''s right this was just a five year old brat, how could she know what to do with so much wealth? As long as all her desires were fulfilled, she would already be happy.


    It felt like her heart was about to give out under both the ever-increasing suppression of spirit power and ever mounting despair.


    ''I-I''ll die?''


    ----------


    When the gate to the carriage finally opened, the ''Royal Guardian'' was shocked to realize how ttering the always prideful and arrogant third princess was being towards the little ceremony girl.


    Not only did she personally open the door and exit the carriage ahead of the little girl, she even offered her hand to help her down.


    And the little girl ced her foot in the hand of the princess!


    It felt like his eyes were about to fall of as he saw the princess''s face turn red not from rage, but tion?!


    The pink haired girl didn''t enter the offered embrace of the princess, and simply used her hand as a stepping stone towards the ground.


    Even the royal guardian felt second hand embarrassment, but the princess didn''t seem to mind at all, so what could he say?


    The pink haired girl nodded towards the princess,pletely ignoring the prince and the white haired man as if they were air.


    "I''m going to my mother to start the celebrations, the guests must be waiting for a while already. Are you leaving?"


    "Ahaha I didn''t know Evelyn is so smart and cute before, so don''t be like that! But now that I know, how can I leave without attending your birthday party?"


    The white haired man was sure that if his jaw could detach itself, it would already be on the ground.


    He turned his eyes towards the second prince to see his reaction. Surely he should be just as shocked, right? But the prince lookedpletely nonchnt, as if what was happening next to him waspletely normal.


    "Am I dreaming? Is this real life?"

 Chapter 32: Enthralled?

    Chapter 32: Enthralled?


    Evelyn smiled as she saw Isabe rush over and pick her up as soon as she saw her.


    The young mother gave her a loud kiss on the cheek, and was surprised when her generally petnt daughter didn''t throw an embarrassed tantrum.


    "How was the test? All good?"


    The pink haired girl nodded innocently.


    "Little Eve isn''t angry because momma couldn''te see?"


    "No, I know mom was busy, or she woulde."


    Isabe could only smile and put the uneasy thoughts out of her mind. It really felt like something was wrong, especially with her little sister rushing away as soon as she made sure her niece was now with her. But maybe she was overthinking things, maybe everything really was okay.


    Evelyn knew that her mother must be somewhat worried. But she would never know what truly happened today. Maybe the most worrying thing she would hear about is her copse in the arena, but that wasn''t even a big deal.


    The celebration was being held in an open area, with dozens of tables full of food and drinks being served to hundreds of guests.


    It looked like only a part of those who came to witness the ceremony could stay for the celebration, or it would truly be too crowded for this ce. Or maybe the rest of the guests were somewhere else.


    Her mother introduced some important guests to her as she passed them by, it was mostly people from the families of rich merchants or powerful warriors, and Evelyn greeted each of them politely.


    Her heart, however, waspletely elsewhere.


    She had instructed the princess toe to the celebration separately, because it would surely cause amotion if she followed her around like a loyal dog.


    And she was d for her decision, because she didn''t know what expression her mother would make when she came across the third princess.


    Even if she didn''t know about what happened in the arena or in the carriage because she was busy arranging everything for the party, she couldn''t possibly forget that the royal carriage tried to run them over just a few hours ago.


    When she thought back to what happened in the carriage, her heart still beat wildly.


    She didn''t know what Bree was thinking, taking such a huge risk, but it wasn''t something she could prevent anyway.


    When she asked, Bree confessed that herst resort was to simply kill the two royalties, and then silence the royal guardian swiftly as well.


    In the time it would take the royal family to find out and react, she would then take her sister and niece away by force, abandoning the rest of the Knox family.


    Evelyn was thankful that things hadn''t ended up like that, because it would mean not only the rest of the Knox family, but even her two close friends woulde in harm''s way.


    But she couldn''t me Bree either. She knew what she was thinking. Even if they kept conceding to the demands of the royal duo, there was no guarantee when they would let them go.


    It would just be a slow trampling to the death.


    So Bree struck the lethal blow at the first chance she got. Isted from their guardian, the overconfident prince and princess were no different from helpless babies in her hand.


    But their short victory did little to reassure Evelyn.


    The technique Bree had used to turn the princess into her thrall couldn''t be used on multiple people, and thus the prince could only be a mindless puppet.


    To put it in simple terms, he was already dead. His empty body still performed all the usual functions, but the mind was empty. There was nothing inside.


    The strings to this puppet were of course given to her thrall, the princess.


    This meant that as long as the prince had to go somewhere, the princess had to follow. The two couldn''t be separated too far.


    Even if they often ventured out together, the situation would surely appear strange after a while.


    Another major worry in Evelyn''s mind was how utterly reckless her aunt had been.


    She hadn''t known her exact amount of soul power, all she felt was that it was higher than her own. But she still bet on the fact that it would be above a thousand points, which was required for the thralling technique in her inheritance.


    And to top it off, even her inheritance did not contain any way to channel the technique through someone else. She just went in blindly, trusting that their close rtionship and cooperation would help work things out.


    It did work out in the end, but Evelyn could feel a stress on her soul. As if something was tied to her heart with a rubber band, and it kept stretching and pulling with every move.


    But far more worrying was that she had felt something crack while she was still linked with Bree while executing the technique.


    She was sure something went wrong, but her aunt insisted otherwise.


    If Bree''s words were to be believed, the princess would now think of her like a deity, and obey her whims asmandments. Even if she told her to kill herself, the princess wouldn''t think twice.


    And she would still remain the same person otherwise, which would greatly help conceal things for a long time.


    To Evelyn, it was too good to be true.


    There was either something Bree didn''t know, or didn''t want her to know.


    She wished she could have somehow acquired the technique, but it seemed somehow linked to Bree''s inheritance stone, which was buried deep inside her.


    It is not that she was greedy, although she definitely would wee having one more skill, but that she wished to know more about how it worked and the possible drawbacks.


    The only system prompt she received was ''Warning: Soul Interference Detected'', which was of no help at all.


    She could only sigh and hope nothing went wrong till she figured out some countermeasures.


    ''First things first, I have to get back my belt and get together with Ruru. Now that the test is over, there''s no need to preserve my spirit power. I should check what skill she obtained for level twenty!''


    ''And then since the third princess is now my puppet, I can''t let this chance go to waste, can I?''


    ----------


    Being the birthday girl, she still had some privileges. Even if all the important guests were waiting for her, as long as she threw a tantrum for her pet and her jewelry, her mother could only have them fetched over first.


    Now finally reunited with her adorable little fox, Evelyn snuggled the fluffy little thing, rubbing her cheek against Ruru''s soft squishy ear while it protested with a few annoyed yips.


    Her mother watched her tease the little pink fox with a smile, but still had to harden her heart or the guests would really throw up blood just from waiting.


    ----------


    Cecilia twirled one of her twintails in boredom as she watched the monkey jump around in front of her.


    It was one thing to wait for the ceremony girl to arrive, but it was really something else that one of the ''hosts'' responsible for attending to them was so annoying.


    "What was your name again?"


    The young boy in the burgundy three piece suit looked at her startled as his words were interrupted. "Eh? You forgot already? It''s Tristan! Tristan Knox, the eldest grandson of Osmond Knox, future heir to the Knox family!"


    The ash blonde haired girl nodded. "Oh eldest grandson, huh The little dolly is your little sister, then?"


    The boy looked disgusted at the thought. "Ugh, no, she''s no sister of mine. My father is George Knox, the first lord! She''s just the third lord''s daughter."


    "Oh"


    Cecilia nodded again, not looking too interested anymore.


    Ryan patted the sulking boy on his shoulders. "Don''t bother with her, Tristan. She''s a stick in the mud. Tell us more about how that little idiot kept biting her tongue while speaking, haha!"


    Cecilia flicked one of her pigtails with a snort, looking disgusted at the two of them.


    If she wasn''t so disgusted with Markus bullying that spineless little brother of his, she would have gone over to them instead.


    "Really, birds of a feather, flock together! Ryan, didn''t your daddy teach you not to gossip about others behind their back? And the two of you boys don''t feel any shame making fun of that little doll? She''s so much younger than you!"


    Tristan looked embarrassed, but the blonde boy just rolled his eyes. "Ohe on, Cecilia, she''s not that much younger than us. Your ceremony was just two years ago, right?"


    "I''m not talking about myself, ''uncle'' Ryan! Wasn''t your failure of a ceremony held decades ago? I wasn''t even born then. To think someone who is close to balding is gossiping about a little dolly who was just born."


    "It was nine years ago! I''m not balding, I''m only fourteen!"

 Chapter 33: Cecilia Fulbright

    Chapter 33: Cecilia Fulbright


    The squabbling of the ancient family children was interrupted by the entrance of the ''ceremony girl'', and they could only pipe down and wait for the most important guests to congratte her.


    Shockingly enough, even big shots like the second prince and the third princess of the empire were present!


    Most people expected them to at most attend the ceremony proper out of curiosity, but their presence at the celebration afterwards hinted that perhaps the Knox family''s standing in the empire''s eyes was quite high.


    This caused many to reevaluate their previous ''misconceptions''.


    After the formalities were over, Evelyn was allowed to freely wander on her own.


    Just as she was wondering where to go, she saw an ashy blonde haired girl rush towards her and grab her hand before dragging her away towards a tree near the outer edge of the area.


    The girl seemed slightly embarrassed after realizing how strange she must look.


    "Sorry, that was quite rude of me."


    "Well maybe you had your reasons?"


    Cecilia''s entire face was red. "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Cecilia Fulbright. My grandmother was leading your ceremony today."


    "Nice to meet you, I''m Evelyn."


    The twintailed girl scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Um, likewise. Anyway, the boys over there kept annoying me, so when I saw you I just rushed without thinking. Especially that idiot rtive of yours, uh, the brown coat boy, what''s his name again?"


    Evelyn had a feeling she knew exactly who it was.


    "Could it be Tristan?"


    Cecilia pped, delighted at clearing her confusion, but went on a diatribe almost immediately as she thought about them again.


    "That''s the one! He kept badmouthing you, it was super annoying! Why haven''t you beaten him up already? I tell you, with boys like this, it''s better to knock some sense into them before they get out of hand!"


    Evelyn blinked, quite amused by the little girl. She must be only seven or eight years old, right?


    Seeing that the pink haired girl wasn''t responding, Cecilia felt a little depressed.


    It was all those idiots'' fault! If they didn''t rile her up like this, she wouldn''t act so weird!


    Well, one thing she learned from her grandma was that if nothing else worked, people always responded well topliments.


    Now, how topliment her?


    Looking at the little girl up close, she was really much more adorable than she expected after looking at her from afar.


    The short skirt halter from the test was reced by a full blue empire waist dress, and she also had a silver belt with a multitude of pink jewels wrapped around her waist.


    The girl was wearing a strange bracelet that looked quite out of ce with the rest of her attire, but perhaps the strangest thing had to be the pink fox with a purple gem in its forehead that was sleeping peacefully in her arms.


    It was small and adorable, and made her have a conflicting feeling of wanting to fluff it, but at the same time being too scared of hurting the tiny thing.


    When looking back at the girl after staring at the fox, a strange thought crossed her mind. Isn''t she like a bigger version of the fox?


    There was a fluffy feeling to her pink hair that made it really hard to resist ruffling it up. Especially when it was arranged so meticulously and looked so easy to mess around with.


    And now that she was so close, she noticed that her eyes were also a soft shade of pink.


    Maybe she wasn''t like her dolls, because none of her dolls were so cute.


    Cecilia jolted awake as she realized she had just been staring up and down at the little girl, and hadpletely forgotten her pliment to remove awkwardness'' strategy.


    "A-Anyway, you look much cuter up close."


    But it didn''t have the desired effect at all, and instead of forgetting about their awkwardness with a blush, Evelyn tilted her head curiously, as if wondering what nonsense she woulde up with next.


    Cecilia felt even more awkward.


    "Y-Your fox is very cute too!"


    "Thank you."


    If she wasn''t so prideful, Cecilia would have started crying already. Ah, her image as an older girl,pletely obliterated! Quickly, how to reim her pride?!


    "Anyway! I-I also passed the ceremony, you know, two years ago."


    There was a glint of interest in Evelyn''s eyes, and Cecilia felt proud at finally having caught her attention.


    "Cecilia is already of academy age?"


    The girl deted. "Un, not yet, I''ll go by the end of the year. Onlymoners go a year early."


    Evelyn felt quite curious. "Oh, why is that?"


    "Mhm, I don''t know it''s just how it is?"


    The pink haired girl nodded. "I see"


    Cecilia wasn''t used to these types of conversations at all. Usually she was never the one to initiate, and it was always the other person trying to butter her up and make sure the conversation didn''t turn awkward.


    With the usual role she held being reversed, Cecilia feltpletely out of her element.


    "Uhm, I think you did well!"


    Evelyn blinked curiously. "With the ceremony?"


    "Y-Yeah"


    "Thank you."


    As if afraid she would think it was just a formality, Cecilia quickly waved her hands.


    "I-I''m not just saying it. Even though others kept making fun of you, I believed you from the start!"


    There was an adorable pout on the pink haired girl''s face.


    "They made fun of me?"


    Cecilia looked panicked, as if worried the girl would misunderstand her too.


    "N-Not me! I did not!"


    Evelyn chuckled, feeling like it was better to stop while ahead. It wouldn''t be good if she actually started crying.


    "Fufu okay, Cecilia is very cute, I won''t tease you anymore."


    Cecilia looked dumbfounded, as if not understanding what happened at all.


    "E-Eh? Me? You were teasing me?"


    Evelyn smiled and nodded towards her fox instead.


    "Do you want to hold her?"


    Cecilia''s mindpletely nked. Were her thoughts seen through? Does she know? But even if she does, isn''t this good?


    "C-Can I?"


    The pink haired girl nodded as she carefully handed little Ruru over.


    "Be gentle, don''t wake her up."


    Cecilia held the sleeping little fox in her hands as if it was the most precious treasure, her eyes lighting up, and all the previous awkwardness and shame vanishing like smoke.


    After feeling the soft pink fur of the little thing for a while, she felt it stir slightly, and quickly motioned for Evelyn to take it back in panic. It settled down again once back in the pink haired girl''s arms.


    The twintailed girl let out a sigh of relief.


    It looked so tiny, it was probably a premature baby, right? No wonder it kept sleeping. She was quite curious what it was called. Could she get one too?


    ''Oh, but wouldn''t little dolly be upset if she thought I was copying her? Mhm, I better not.''


    Evelyn did not know of her strange thoughts, and was wondering if this girl also received the same reward as herself for passing the ceremony.


    After the whole fiasco with Bree, she felt desperate for upgrades. As long as she wasn''t strong enough, she would always have to helplessly watch others make decisions for her, and it didn''t sit well with her at all.


    Moreover, she no longer trusted that Bree could take care of herself. She had already determined that her ''aunt'' was more like a child than even Vivian, and needed someone to discipline her properly.


    Otherwise, she would just continue hurting herself with poor decisions and self-sacrificial thinking.


    But even though she wanted to put the question forward, she didn''t know how to phrase it without making the girl suspicious.


    ''Oh whatever, she''s only seven anyway, I''ll just ask. Even if she''s smart, what can she even suspect me of?''


    "Did Cecilia also get a ''reward'' after her ceremony?"


    Contrary to her expectations, Cecilia didn''t seem to think it was a strange question at all, nor did it look like the ''reward'' was as important to her as she felt it might have been.


    "Um, the vault token, you probably did too, right? But don''t get excited over it."


    Evelyn tilted her head, both curious and dreadful of her response. "Why?"


    Cecilia sighed. "I was so excited when I got it too. But look, it''s been two years. No vault, no treasure."


    Evelyn still felt a little unconvinced. How could the reward for such a big ceremony be pointless?


    And since it was a key to the vault, as long as found out where it was, wouldn''t that be enough?


    "Then do you know where it is?"


    Cecilia shook her head. "I asked many times. Granny only said it''s in a very dangerous ce. She will take me one day, but not now. Whenever she says it like that, I know it''s never happening."


    Evelyn''s disappointment couldn''t be more obvious. "Oh."


    But even if she was disappointed with Cecilia''s words, she decided to at least find out the vault location somehow. As long as she knew where it was, she could figure out how to get there.


    Meanwhile, Cecilia''s hands had been twitching constantly after touching the pink fox. And she finally couldn''t hold it in anymore.


    "C-Can I touch your hair?"


    "Huh?"

 Chapter 34: Little Puppy Is Real?!

    Chapter 34: Little Puppy Is Real?!


    Evelyn did not see anything too wrong with her request, and so she allowed Cecilia to pet her hair.


    It did make her a little ufortable, but since the twintailed girl had answered all her questions so faithfully, Evelyn did not mind giving out such a small reward in return.


    Thankfully, the girl didn''tpletely mess it up, and was very gentle, just like she had been with little Ruru. It deepened Evelyn''s good impression of Cecilia a bit more.


    Unfortunately, the Gilmore siblings had to find her right at that moment, and Vivian immediately demonstrated the might of her ''little hamster quick attack'' on Cecilia.


    Evelyn felt embarrassed, since Cecilia was a guest after all, and she hadn''t done anything to deserve a full set of kiddy teeth marks on her arm.


    "Uh, I''m sorry about her, she''s very protective of me. Vivi, apologize to Cecilia, okay? You shouldn''t attack people out of nowhere."


    The tiny redhead red at the ashy-blonde, her gaze full of unconcealed hostility. If not for Amara holding the little redhead quite firmly, she would probably rush over to do it again.


    "I''m sorry. Humph!"


    It didn''t look like she wasn''t sorry at all, and Amara could only apologize on her behalf.


    But there was no trace of anger in Cecilia''s expression. Instead, she looked more amused than anything else.


    "It''s fine. I think she''s very adorable. Is she also one of your cousins?"


    Evelyn sighed. If only her cousin was someone adorable and reasonable, she would be so happy. No, as long as it hadn''t been Tristan, she would already be satisfied.


    "No but you can say she''s my ''little sister'', and this is my ''older sister'', Amara Gilmore."


    Cecilia nodded politely to the older redhead, even if she was a little confused.


    Amara nodded back but remained mostly silent as before, as if something else was on her mind.


    Evelyn seemed to get the hint, and bid farewell to Cecilia shortly.


    "Pleasee again whenever you like, okay?"


    Cecilia smiled. "I''ll try, but it''s probably not happening. We''ll meet in the academy so don''t forget me until then."


    Evelyn could only awkwardly nod. Who knows what could happen in two years? Even if she remembered, Cecilia may forget her instead.


    They had only met once, after all, and there was no deep bond between them. As far as Evelyn was concerned, easily established bonds were also the most easily dissolved.


    "Um okay"


    Cecilia watched the three of them leave with a smile, wondering how wonderful it would be if she could stay here longer.


    There was a tiny pink fox, a cute pink fox girl, and an angry little red hamster. Wouldn''t every day be full of fun and adventures?


    Her smile faded away as she walked back to the other ancient family children.


    ''Hopefully the little fox dolly won''t forget me in two years.''


    ---------


    The three of them arrived at the third lord''s mansion not long after, with Vivian constantly trying to jump up and rub Evelyn''s hair on the way, as if trying to get some ''dirt'' off.


    The pink haired girl was quite amused, but didn''t stop her. She was far more concerned with the fact that Amara waspletely silent as she led her towards her mother''s room.


    ''Nothing''s wrong with mom, right? I just saw her in the ceremony, she looked perfectly fine. There''s no signal from the third princess either, there should be no issue''


    Her doubts were cleared immediately when she arrived at their destination, however.


    ''No wonder she didn''t say anything''


    Amara looked at her awkwardly, not sure how much sense the little girl could make of the situation in front of her.


    "When I came to fetch your fox and belt, I saw her ahem, she just shrank and vanished, her clothes falling off, and then this thing, it came crawling out"


    Evelyn didn''t need Amara''s exnation at all, because the moment she hadid eyes upon the little golden puppy on the bed, she knew it was Bree.


    Even if she could ignore its fur shining in the same shade of gold as Bree''s hair, or the nearly identical look in its big green eyes, the connection she felt to her couldn''t be faked.


    This was doubly so after the execution of the technique in the carriage earlier, which had allowed her to get a very concrete grasp of what her spirit and soul power felt like.


    The redhead was hoping this was some sort of secret technique in the Knox family that Evelyn knew of, but looking that the girl''s curious gaze, she knew that was probably not the case.


    She had tried talking to the little puppy, but the dumb little thing just ran away and hid inside the bedsheets. It didn''t seem to understand her words at all.


    The puppy''s ears stood up as it seemed to finally notice their existence, and then it delightedly leaped off the bed towards Evelyn.


    Of course, Evelyn was already carrying her little fox, and was barely able to use her chest as leverage to catch the fluffy little thing softly with one arm.


    She breathed a sigh of relief as the puppy barked happily, wagging its golden little tail, its big green eyes shining with happiness.


    "Wuff!"


    Although it was adorable, Evelyn was deeply concerned in her heart.


    She could only use her probe on the little puppy, despite it having failed multiple times on Bree so far. Shockingly enough, it actually worked!


    - Bree Devaughn: Level 82 [ Exp: 112,450 / 967,230 ]


    Hybrid Physique: Blessed Spirit, Thunder Beast


    [ Contaminated with unknown object marked as ''Raijuu''s Legacy'', immediate removal rmended. ]


    [ Afflicted with ''Qilin''s Tears'': Enhanced rate of spirit power recovery, and greatly enhanced experience gain. ]


    [ Currently suffering from severe soul bacsh. Intelligence is greatly reduced. All stats greatly reduced. ]


    [ Severe bacsh has caused soul fragmentation! ]


    [ Qilin''s Tears have prevented soul fragmentation from reaching critical state. Qilin''s Tears buff effect is now permanently reduced. ]


    [ Unable to determine recovery time. ]


    Physique: 21 / 1156


    Spirit Power: 13 / 786


    Soul Value: 4 / 779


    Vitality: 52 / 1208


    [ Enhancement (avable): Raijuu''s Blessing ]


    [ Affection: Stable ]


    [ Unable to view skills, higher level of affection required. ]


    "Huh"


    Some of her previous doubts were instantly cleared.


    Her probe skill had previously failed to get any results from Bree, but after her drastic decrease in stats, she was able to view most of her details.


    This meant that as long as someone wasn''t absurdly stronger than herself, the probe skill could still show its usefulness.


    The so called unknown object was definitely Bree''s ''inheritance'', and despite the system''s rmendation, Evelyn wasn''t sure if it was a good idea to remove it from her body.


    It was very likely that her current state was due to the misuse of the technique in the inheritance rather than the maliciousness of the inheritance itself.


    As for ''Qilin''s Tears'', it was definitely what had ended up saving her life, even if she didn''t know the exact details.


    It made her angry just thinking about it. If not for this strange blessing, wouldn''t Bree have ended up dead already?


    After she figured out a way to fix her up, she definitely had to teach her a lesson!


    More importantly, just how was she supposed to deal with this?


    The little golden puppy kept trying to jump from her arms towards her face, continuously going ''Wuff wuff'' and then licking her palm happily.


    Evelyn couldn''t bring herself to scold her at all!


    Vivian was only a little curious about where the puppy came from, but the look on Amara''s face was something to behold.


    ''No wonderdy Isabe called her little puppy! But wait does that mean lord Desmond transforms into a pig?!''

 Chapter 35: Slaughter

    Chapter 35: ughter


    Bree in her puppy form was full of energy despite her abysmal stats, and Evelyn could only helplessly y with the dumb little thing to prevent it from bullying her little fox.


    In addition to boosting the amount of energy avable at her disposable for use in various skills, every point of increment in spirit power also increased her inventory size by around a square meter.


    Even before her level up, the space was farrger than what she could currently find a use for.


    So it was no wonder that as long as it was something people wouldn''t mind ''going missing'', it might as well go missing. Right into her inventory.


    With over a hundred meters square of spare space, Evelyn had collected all sorts of knick-knacks.


    "I really have to organize things a little better though."


    She threw the soft rubber ball again, and the little puppy bolted off to catch it back.


    She sighed. "Just how long is Amara going to take to fetch mom?"


    Under normal circumstances she would just find it funny, or even adorable, but she couldn''t help but worry for Bree after looking at her status.


    Even if the so called ''Qilin''s Tears'' would prevent things from reaching a critical point, wasn''t she already too weak?


    The only source offort would be that the status showed that there was an unknown time left for recovery, which meant that it was possible for her to naturally recover.


    Or maybe she might need some external aid, but it should still be very much possible.


    "I just hope mom knows more about this. Shouldn''t most of the guests have already left by now?"


    The door opened right as Bree had juste back with the soft rubber ball in her mouth, tail wagging happily.


    The little puppy jumped at the sound, and as she saw Isabe, she happily dropped the ball and bolted towards her.


    Isabe smiled and bent down to pick the little thing up, but her smile disappeared soon after.


    "Do you know what''s going on, mom?"


    "I I suppose I might as well tell you."


    Her mother sighed as she sat down on the bed. Amara had already closed the door and left with Vivian, ignoring the little redhead''s cries to y with the puppy too.


    "Bree and I are like sisters, but we''re not rted by blood. I don''t know where my mother found her. ording to her, one of her parents must have been a very high level spirit beast, and she inherited some of their abilities."


    Evelyn swallowed as she tried to process what she had just heard.


    "So can all spirit beasts take human forms?"


    "I don''t know to be honest, I only know what Bree has told me. At least some of them should be able to do it, but probably not all. I think it should be quite rare, since I have never heard of it from anyone else."


    "Oh"


    The pink haired girl was both relieved and disappointed. Probably her little Ruru will always stay a fox.


    "Bree hates being in this form though. She can''t think clearly, and she''s very weak. I''ve never seen her transform again since our childhood. I don''t know what happened for her to do it now and why is she not turning back? Even if she can''t think clearly in this form, she''s never looked this dumb."


    Evelyn coughed, wondering how to tell her mother about the bacsh. Although her mother would probably never suspect her if she hid what she knew, as long as there was the slightest chance of helping Bree recover faster, it was better to juste clean.


    A thundering BOOM resounded through their ears just as Evelyn opened her mouth to exin, sending the golden puppy whimpering and startling the sleeping fox awake.


    "What happened?!"


    ----------


    ise gazed indifferently at the chaos and smoke around him.


    The threat of the ''Justice Envoys'' had been hanging over his head like an executioner''s de, and the sooner he got rid of it, the earlier her could live in peace.


    And since there was no way for him to get rid the ''Justice Envoys'' themselves, he could only desperately try toplete their ''request'' before his right hand man returned and learned something he shouldn''t.


    But even if he was impatient, he waited until all the ''ceremony guests'' left the Knox mansion, especially keeping an eye on the royal carriage. Even after it had left the Knoxpound, he still had two of his men trailing after it.


    And just when everyone inside the Knox familypound was settling down from the tiring day, his men struck like lightning!


    The outer walls copsed almost instantly from the explosion of the high grade spirit treasures, and hundreds of his men flooded into thepound with orders to ughter at will.


    Although he knew it was impossible to kill all of them in this one strike, as long as he dealt a crippling blow to this family, he could safely retreat and then strike back again at a much weaker force.


    Of course, it was best if he killed the threats that could ''grow'' first.


    Just as he was about to head in personally, he felt the heating from the low grade spirit tool meant to convey a warning from his subordinates.


    The green haired man''s face changed instantly, and he escaped without a moment''s dy, not even pausing to shout a retreat order.


    Before the men he had left behind could realize their leader was already gone, a golden chariot tore through their ranks, sending blood, gore and torn limbs flying haphazardly.


    The carriage came to a halt after running through dozens of ''intruders'', and the third princess alighted from within with a grin on her face. Clearly, the ughter was no ident.


    "Ahahaha! Look at these fools! Bastard guardian, kill them already!"


    The intruder''s blood had already run cold the moment they saw that it was the princess who wanted them dead, but they couldn''t even think of escaping at all.


    If it was just the princess herself, there were many here who could crush her. As a group meant to deal a severe blow to the Knox family, some of them were quite high level.


    The carriage driver had to bemended for urately avoiding the higher level opponents, ensuring a truly grand and dramatic entrance.


    But even these higher level intruders were helpless at this moment, because before the princess had even stepped out of the carriage, a horrendous pressure had descended upon them, rendering thempletely immobilized.


    The white haired mannded on the ground with a sigh.


    "Please be more prudent, princess. The golden chariot is far too fast for me to keep up with at its full speed. This minion may not be able to serve you as well if you do not allow me."


    The princess snorted.


    "You dare talk back to me, bastard? Kill these insects, and once we''re back, go receive a hundred barbed floggings from the castigators."


    The white haired man gritted his teeth, but could only do as he was told. Such was the unreasonable nature of this third princess, not even listening to those who only sought her well being.


    The pressure on the intruders intensified until intermittent sttering sounds rang out through the area.


    Many of the Knox family who had been rmed by the sudden intrusion and ready to defend themselves to death could only watch the scene with a pale face.


    It was at this moment that Isabe rushed into the area along with Evelyn. She had tried her best to dissuade the girl from following, but her stubborn daughter absolutely refused to listen.


    And it was impossible to hold her with force, since her daughter was already quite a bit stronger than herself.


    The elders and Desmond all let out a breath as they saw that Evelyn was safe. The moment they had been attacked today, the one they were most worried about being the intruder''s target had been Evelyn.


    After all, she had just showcased her talent to the public. Perhaps there was someone who wanted to nip her in the bud.


    Looking at the gruesome scene in front of them, Isabe didn''t know whether she should be relieved that the threat was dealt with so swiftly, or distressed that her daughter had ended up seeing such an unsightly thing.


    And although most of them were relieved that things had ended without any losses on their side, none of them could figure out why the royal carriage had returned.


    Especially in the case of Osmond and the two elders, they couldn''t help but be suspicious. Perhaps the entire thing was staged by this whimsical third princess.


    The princess didn''t seem concerned about their strange looks at all, and rushed towards Evelyn instead.


    "My dearest! Lovely, I remembered I had forgotten to say goodbye properly, and I was worried if such a cute girl would be angry, so I returned! Who knows, a bunch of insects had crawled over here But don''t worry, I have squashed them for you. I did well, right?"


    Evelyn''s lips twitched. Knowing that Bree was in no state to fight and that anything could go wrong at this time, she had issued amand to recall the princess as soon as the explosion rang.


    But both her response time and the absurdity of her ''excuses'' were truly ''exceptional''.

 Chapter 36: Good Intentions, Poor Decisions

    Chapter 36: Good Intentions, Poor Decisions


    The man with pale green hair smashed his fist onto the sturdy wooden table, sending splinters flying as his fist bled, but he seemed too lost in his rage to care.


    "AAHH! Why! Why!!!"


    Almost everything in the room was already in tatters as he had stormed through it in a rage.


    "My hard work for all these years, gone just like that?! AHHHH!"


    ise clutched his head tightly, almost pulling out several tufts of hair as he screamed in frustration.


    His eyes were terrifyingly red, but they were not the eyes of a man in despair. They were the eyes of a wounded predator.


    "That bastard definitely yed me like a fiddle. He knew the royal family was protecting them but let me believe otherwise. But guess what, you fucking piece of shit, I''m not dead yet!"


    The green haired man took several deep breaths to calm himself down. He knew he couldn''t stay here for long.


    "Since I''ve already stepped on the royal family''s toes, I need to get out of the empire before it''s toote. As for that bastard leader of the justice envoys ahahaha. he thinks just because all my men are dead, he can rule over the streets of Moreen city alone?"


    The smile on his face was cold enough to send shivers down anyone''s spine.


    "As for where to go"


    ----------


    In the Knox family''s first lord''s mansion, a young boy in a brown three-piece suit was stomping his feet in anger.


    "It''s definitely her fault! They attacked us because of that pink witch, or else why did it have to be today?"


    "Shut the hell up, Tristan! Why can''t you learn how to control your tongue?!"


    The boy turned around in shock. "Even you, mom?!"


    Nadina sighed. "What do you think will happen if your dad heard? Besides, now that she has the third princess backing her up, you should be even more careful not to show your dislike."


    Tristan''s eyes were red with anger. "Why? WHY! You clearly hate her too, but now you want me to keep quiet."


    Unlike Evelyn''s mother Isabe, Nadina''s face was already starting to show signs of wrinkles. She never seemed to be able to put the worry of her son''s future out of her mind.


    "You''re not a baby anymore, Tristan. Adults don''t throw tantrums and show hatred on their face. If you hate her, you should make her suffer. But it has to be in a way that doesn''te back to bite you yourself, don''t you understand this much yet?"


    The young boy looked wronged.


    "B-But mom, what can I even do? She''s stronger than me because of that stupid egg, and even when I tried to rile the other ancient family children against her like you said, it didn''t hurt her at all!"


    Nadina sighed. She still remembered the day when her son hade crying to her,ining about being beaten up by that pink bitch daughter of Isabe. But even if she knew, what could she do?


    Not to mention the patriarch, even her husband seemed to favor that slut''s daughter more than their own son. The poor boy had no one but herself to look out for him, and she could only teach him all she knew before it was toote.


    "Don''t be stupid, Tristan. Some things take time to happen. The seeds you sow today, may sprout many yearster. Besides, the reason it didn''t work is mainly because she got lucky and passed the test. If she had failed, it would have been much easier to band them all together against her."


    Tristan gritted his teeth as he remembered his humiliation at the celebration. If not for Ryan, maybe he really would have to run away in shame.


    "It''s all because of that slut!"


    Nadina sighed. "Again with that attitude. Didn''t I say you should specially make a good impression on the Fulbright family''s daughter? They''re the strongest of what remains of the ancient families. If she ends up marrying you in the future, it won''t matter if you never got the chance to have a spirit physique."


    "B-But she mocked me! I tried to get close, but she just kept favoring the pink bitch!"


    Nadina''s mouth twitched as she tried to keep the irritation from showing on her face.


    "Did you badmouth her right from the start?"


    Tristan''s voice became meeker. "N-No, I talked about the Knox family and Moreen city like you said, I swear, mom."


    Whether he was telling the truth or not, Nadina could only trust her son.


    "Un. You should always take care of your first impression."


    "T-Then"


    His mother nodded.


    "It''s not your fault that Cecilia ended up sticking to that bitch. She''s probably the type of conceited brat who thinks no one else deserves her attention unless they are of an equal standing. Stupid bitch probably thinks it''s a waste of time talking to anyone who hasn''t seeded in the first ceremony."


    Tristan shook his fist in anger. "That''s so unfair! What about those who never even got the chance?"


    His mother smiled. "If you think it''s unfair, then do something to change it."


    The young boy pointed at himself in disbelief. "M-Me?"


    "That''s right. I''m tired of always thinking my child will always be behind because he didn''t get the right start, but I realized something today."


    Tristan didn''t think he could do much at all, however. Didn''t everything he try so far always fail in the end? Even he was starting to feel that maybe it was pointless, after all.


    "Mom?"


    "I realized that the talent of that little bitch didn''t matter at all in face of a strong enough force. If the third princess wanted to squash her to death, wouldn''t it be easy?"


    "B-But didn''t you say the third princess favors her?"


    Nadina smiled. "That is so. But she''s just the third princess. Aren''t all the royal family''s children going to the academy at one point or another? Make the right friends, Tristan. Be smart, and her strength and talent will be useless in front of your intelligence."


    Tristan seemed to brighten up instantly as he realized things may not be so hopeless after all. Didn''t he make friends with Ryan today? Even if he wasn''t as good as Cecilia, he wasn''t much worse.


    In fact, if the difference in age was disregarded, he was probably a little stronger.


    And in terms of family backing, even if the Reynolds family was worse than Fulbright, wasn''t it still much better off than the Knox?


    In the end, his enemy was Evelyn, not Cecilia. He felt that just this single rtionship alone would put him in a superior position.


    "As long as I can keep doing better than her like today, I''ll definitely show everyone how I''m better!"


    ----------


    Evelyn was relieved that the threat was so easily dealt with thanks to the timely arrival of her newfound puppet.


    Under ideal circumstances, she would definitely leash the third princess and all the forces she couldmand directly under herself, but she knew that would be a self-defeating move.


    As long as someone noticed that the third princess wasn''t quite ''right'', it may not take long for a major crisis to descend on both herself and her family.


    The longer that the third princess stayed with them now, the more likely it was that something could go wrong. So she clearly conveyed her intention through their ''link''.


    The Lavinian Princess clearly looked reluctant while leaving, and if the ''Royal Guardian'' wasn''t preupied with dreading his uing flogging, he would definitely be suspicious.


    Of course, his suspicions were harmless. Regardless of his strength, he was just a disposable pawn of the royal family, with no right to question someone like the third princess.


    But that didn''t rule out the possibility of him making it known to someone much higher up.


    So it was better to minimize such risk.


    Isabe looked a little lost as the royal carriage left and the elders got busy trying to restore the security of the mansion now that one of the walls had a huge hole.


    The young mother sighed wistfully.


    "To think I was hating them so much just earlier, and they end up saving our lives now."


    Evelyn frowned.


    "Let''s go back first, mom, there is something I have to tell you."


    ----------


    "What?! So the third princess she''s under some kind of charm?!"


    Evelyn didn''t exin everything to her mother in detail. It was enough for her to know that Bree had ended up injuring herself, and that the princess was no longer a threat.


    "Yeah"


    "But to think Bree would do something so stupid! What if something went wrong?"


    Evelyn sighed.


    "I think she was too emotional from the carriage almost running the two of us over, and when the princess started bullying me again, she just snapped. More importantly, you really don''t know of anything that can help?"


    The young mother sighed. "I wish I did she never tells me anything just ''Don''t worry'' this, ''I''ll take care of it'' that, ugh."


    Evelyn frowned as she realized she would have to figure out a solution on her own. Of course, she couldn''t say that to her mother. It would only make things worse.


    It was better for her to believe everything will be alright, given some time. Even if Evelyn wasn''t so sure herself.


    "I see Don''t worry, mom, I''m sure she''ll be fine after a while, okay?"


    Isabe''s eyes were slightly wet. "Ugh this stupid puppy!"


    The golden puppy in Evelyn''s arms whimpered pitifully, as if wondering why it was being scolded.


    The pink haired girl smiled and rubbed the golden puppy behind its ears, and the little thing quickly forgot all about its grievances and started to growl in joy.


    "Well, what''s done is done. Let''s just take care of her like this until she recovers."

 Chapter 37: Sacred Lakes Eternal Ripple

    Chapter 37: Sacred Lake''s Eternal Ripple


    Little Ruru was a smart little fox, even before she had merged with her destiny.


    As a weak little newborn spirit beast, she had always known that as long as she showed up in front of anyone else, it was probably the end of her free life.


    A free life that was full of leisure, doing nothing but sleep all day, every day.


    After all, spirit beasts did not need to eat or drink. What else was there to do? Just enjoy slumbering, passively absorbing the energy from her surroundings and growing stronger slowly and safely.


    This disposition was shared by many of her fellow spirit beasts, although there were a few exceptions. This was one of the reasons why it was so rare to find a spirit beast, let alone catch one.


    When they were hibernating, there was simply no way for a human to detect their presence using spirit power. They could only search for them by sight, which would be like looking for a needle in a haystack in the vast spiritnds and forests where they usually reside.


    Unfortunately, when it came to her destiny, she could never bring herself to resist. Even though she knew that it could mean the end of her peaceful life, she still dived right into the gem, losing her camouge during the merge process and ending up in the hands of human traffickers.


    She had been lucky that they kept her in a stasis box. For her, it was like taking a nap after merging with her destiny, and then after a short nap, she met the one she thought she would be searching for eternally.


    Fate really was quite kind to her, leading her straight to her destined partner. The child chosen by the Lotus Throne, and now her eternal master.


    Little Ruru was still a child. She did not know much about her destiny herself, but what she did know was that she must help her master reach the ''Throne''. As for where it was or even what it was, she had no idea.


    Truthfully, she did not feel any motivation to do so any longer. She was already quite content.


    There were many reasons why Ruru was so satisfied. Her master''s embrace was much softer than her previous beddings, and she took good care of her. Little Ruru appreciated the affection that her master showed her, and rewarded her once a day with a lick on her cheek.


    Of course, only an idiot would stay awake when they could sleep. So little Ruru slept for the whole day every day.


    But one day, she realized that the soft and fragrant embrace was robbed from her.


    There was an imposter upying her ce!


    Where did that yellow thinge from?!


    Little Ruru was incensed, and immediately dered war against the little puppy.


    Unfortunately, her master seemed to favor it very much, so she could not harm the dastardly thing at all. She could only growl and try to chase it away, but the stupid thing thought she was ying with it!


    And so, Ruru''s days of peaceful slumber were gone. Now she had to ve away trying to distract the little puppy to make sure it didn''t upy her ce any more than it already had.


    Ruru finally realized what ''good thingse to those who''re awake'' meant. How could this thing havee into the picture if she hadn''t been sleeping all the time? The little fox could only regret herziness.


    Evelyn smiled fondly as she watched her little fox ying around with Bree.


    "How adorable. Looks like Ruru really needed a friend to y with, and Bree''s just perfect. Mhm, too bad she can''t stay like this forever."


    She sighed as she watched her little fox jump around, pretending to be angry at the puppy. But the fact that Bree was safe and sound after so long despite her abysmal stats in the current state meant that Ruru was actually taking very good care to control her strength.


    After all, her little fox had already crossed level twenty.


    Speaking of which, the new skill that her little fox had gained from her second milestone was much more useful than she expected.


    The name ''Sacred Lake''s Eternal Ripple'' did not help her much in deciphering the meaning, and at first she was dreading that it would like the ''Lotus Throne''s Golden Wheel'' all over again.


    Wouldn''t it be a punch to the gut if she had a whole bunch of abilities but no idea how to use them or what they were even for?


    Thankfully, the description of the ability was far more useful than the ''Golden Wheel''.


    Seeing how she had some time, she decided to look through the little fox''s stats once again, just in case she could figure out the meaning of the ''Lotus Throne''s Golden Wheel''.


    -Lotus Moon Spirit Fox (Ruru): Level 20 [Exp: 0 / 500]


    Special Physique: Spirit Beast


    Physique: 74


    Spirit Power: 326


    Soul Value: 602


    Vitality: 77


    -[ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    [Lotus Throne''s Nirvana] - Combines the soul value of the host and the beast, carrying out a direct attack through a spirit power channel. <View Full Description>


    [Lotus Throne''s Shackles] - While in physical contact, the energy absorbed by the master resonates with the beast, allowing it to grow along with the master. The master does not lose any energy in the process. <View Full Description>


    [Lotus Throne''s Golden Wheel] - The two souls are bound together in a golden circle of life and death. One cannot fully perish while the other still lives, but the other cannot thrive while one is in peril.


    [Sacred Lake''s Eternal Ripple] - As the chosen one dips into the sacredke, the ripples on the surface act as her messengers. The user can send ripples of spirit power through thepanion''s feet, and is then able to sense any object containing spirit power within a certain radius.


    She had already tried the ability out, and although it wasn''t quite the ''radar'' like thing she was expecting, it was still quite useful.


    The limitation of this ability was that it could only sense objects with spirit power. When she focused her mind on sensing the surroundings using ''Sacred Lake''s Eternal Ripple'', the whole world would go dark in her sight, except for the objects within the sensory range of the ability, which would glow brightly.


    Perhaps the best part was that she did not have to be the center of this sensory circle.


    For example, she could send her little fox out to the first lord''s mansion right now, and without even entering, she could expend ten points of spirit power to sense a spherical zone of hundred meters around her fox. And the more spirit power she used, therger the radius of the sphere!


    Every single human being as well as graded item contained spirit power. This meant that with just ten points of her own spirit power, she could figure out how many treasures the first lord''s mansion had, where exactly they were ced, and where each of the inhabitants were.


    Not only that, although the ability description did not mention it, the ''glow'' of the object or person varied depending on how much spirit power they contained.


    Does that not mean she can have a rough idea of the strength of the people within the circle, as well as the grade of the items?


    "In terms ofbat ability, this is already miles ahead of the probe skill. Of course, the probe skill has a utility far greater than anything else. I would probably struggle a lot with figuring things out if not for that."


    Evelyn smiled as she saw her little fox pretending to get tired. She knew it was trying to make her feel pity so she would pick it up, but who made little Ruru so cute?


    The pink fox gave a smug nce at the little puppy as it entered her master''s embrace.


    Of course, the puppy had a lethal weapon of its own.


    Looking at Bree''s big green eyes and downed ears, Evelyn''s heart melted.


    "Aww c''mere, you let''s go."


    Little Ruru could only curse internally. This imposter was really too cunning! More cunning than a fox!

 Chapter 38: Heading For The Ancient Academy

    Chapter 38: Heading For The Ancient Academy


    The Ancient Academy was nested deep inside the abyssal forest, and was a ce where every child in the continent dreamed of going. It was a ce of both wonder and discipline, where both the rich and poor were treated equally, or that''s how it was supposed to be.


    As the rulers of the continent, the ancient families such as Knox had long since banded together and imposed many rules upon the academy from the day it was formed. One of them was of course preferential treatment for their descendants.


    Over the years, as the ancient families lost more and more of their strength, the dissatisfaction within the academy grew to a boiling point. New regtions that would remove all preferential treatment for these privileged descendants were already in motion, and the teachers were hopeful that they would be implemented very soon.


    As one of the teachers who firmly detested the ancient families, Madam Augury dictated her lecture to the seven-year-olds in front of her with much enthusiasm.


    "You children maye from all sorts of backgrounds. Rich, poor, doesn''t matter. One thing you all have inmon, is talent."


    Madam Augury paused as the children looked at her proudly. To many of these seven-year-olds, such acknowledgement was quite hard toe by.


    She continued in a duller tone.


    "Most of you probably do not know, but our continent is called ''The Old World'' by those outside. Why is it, when we get so much talent every year, we are still behind the others in almost everything?"


    "As far as I''m concerned, the traditions and backward thoughts of the ancient families along with ourck of pioneers is what has made usg behind. In the future, I hope that some of you can be those very pioneers who shall open the eyes of those that look down upon us!"


    The little children listened to her with their eyes and ears wide open, their minds boggled as their world view expanded. Even the mighty images of the ancient houses came crashing down in an instant. Many of their parents may dislike the ancient families, but none of them had truly dared to look down on them.


    "The leaders of these ancient families call themselves Kings, although they do not really rule over anything or take any responsibility, and their children are called Lords and Ladies, while the youngest descendants might receive titles such as Prince and Princess."


    "Is this not a joke, children? In the future, remember, these so-called Princes and Princesses are no better than you, and you must not let them look down on you in any way! Even the royalty of thoserge kingdoms and empires is nothing special in our academy, you are all equal!"


    "In fact, these ''royalties'' will bezing around for an entire year and enter your ss when they''re eight years old. By then, there is no reason why the leaders aren''t from you bunch! Remember, you must make me proud and work hard, don''t let these so-called royalties look down on us!"


    "Madam Augury don''t worry!"


    "We''ll work hard!"


    "We won''t lose!"


    Madam Augury nodded with satisfaction at the kids'' enthusiastic cheering. "Alright, don''t waste your energy shouting, lets learn more to get ahead while we can!"


    ----------


    As time passed, the foreign alliance kept on exerting more and more pressure on the Lavinian country, and neither the royal family nor the justice envoys cared for the crippled ancient families anymore. Or at least that is what Evelyn assumed was happening.


    Unfortunately, Bree''s condition did not change even now. But the little puppy had really grown far too close to her heart. She wondered how she would part with her puppy once Bree returned to her original form.


    But that was a dilemma she could face another day, because right now she was busy pacifying her panicked mother.


    "It''s fine, mom, don''t worry so much"


    "But you''re going to be away from home for so long! Are you sure you haven''t forgotten anything? Did you take all the clothes I bought for you earlier?"


    "I did, it''s all in here."


    Evelyn patted ''The Untainted'' proudly. Of course, it barely contained anything, as she just used it to mask her usage of the inventory.


    Desmond patted his wife''s shoulder. "Stop fussing over her so much, Be. You''re embarrassing the poor girl."


    Isabe reluctantly stopped nagging her daughter, and turned her attention to the Gilmore sisters instead.


    Amara was much more cooperative, and faithfully tallied each of the items she had packed up to the young mother. The redhead still found it a bit unbelievable that they were also being taken along with Evelyn, especially since Vivian couldn''t even be admitted yet.


    Apparently, Evelyn had decided to exploit her right to have up to four personal attendants to register all of them as her fellowpanions in the academy''s ''Impermanence Expedition'', which was basically the only way to enter and exit the academy safely.


    She even registered Ruru and Bree as herpanions!


    Amara couldn''t help but bite her lips, holding her little sister''s hand tightly. "Are you sure this is okay?"


    "It''s fine, Amara. I''ll handle it if somethinges up."


    Of course, Evelyn''s confidence wasn''t unfounded. After making friends with Cecilia, she had established a ''pen pal'' rtionship with the girl, as she could be a valuable pool of knowledge.


    And the girl ended up responding to her letters with much enthusiasm, enabling Evelyn to learn about many things she had been struggling with.


    The knowledge of the academy rules as well as the general strength of her peers was included among the details she had acquired.


    She was shocked to confirm that people born from spirit eggs absorbed energy ten times faster than normal people, while those born from blessed spirit eggs did so a hundred times faster than the regr people.


    This meant that a normal child could technically be barely level one when they reached academy age, which was absolutely garbage as far as Evelyn was concerned.


    Of course, once they enter the academy, they would learn the techniques required to level up faster.


    People born from spirit eggs were quite rare, and those from blessed spirit eggs were even rarer. ording to Cecilia, only two people in the world could upgrade the spirit eggs to blessed spirit eggs, and simply getting their hands on spirit eggs was hard enough, let alone getting them upgraded from these two ''supreme beings''.


    "It''s quite impressive that Bree managed to somehow get it done, huh. She must have paid quite the price. I guess I''ll have to rub her behind her ears some more as a reward."


    Before she realized it, her parents were already waving goodbye as she approached the academy''s escort team.


    Their age varied from young teenagers to elderly, hunched backs and everything. They even had many rough looking muscr strongmen and tantalizing beauties. The variety of these guards was really amazing.


    The only thingmon between them was a royal blue cloak they all donned, each with a shield shaped badge on their chest.


    "Identification, please."


    Evelyn took out the metallic card she had been given by her grandfather, and the gruff looking man didn''t react at all to the thing appearing from thin air.


    The pink haired girl of course knew that among the wealthy and the talented, spatial treasures weren''t anything worth gawking about. Of course, even the most precious of them could neverpare to her inventory.


    After all, even her grade five silver belt could only hold a fraction of what she could store in her inventory. Simply put, they were in totally different leagues.


    "Please head to sphere 13, you can count the marks to find out which one, right?"


    "Yes, thank you."


    As the guard allowed her to pass along with herpanions, she finally saw the ''vehicle'' they were being escorted into.


    Ginormous ck balls, each the size of a small building,y on the ground interconnected by a ''string'' with at least a teen foot diameter. Thest bead of this chain was bound to a beast that looked like it could rampage through Moreen city unimpeded.


    A hideous looking thing that very much resembled a centipede, with thousands of eyes all along its carapace and legs. From time to time, the eyes receded back into its body, leaving ominous holes from which long red ''tongues'' would sometimes poke out of.


    Just looking at it gave Evelyn shudders, and she couldn''t help but turn her eyes away.


    "Here, sphere thirteen. This is the one. But how do we enter it?"


    Amara''s question made sense, since it was literally just a ck sphere with no openings. Even the connected ''string'' seemed to simply merge into the sphere, with not a hair''s gap.


    "Wait."


    Evelyn watched as the gruff looking man who had taken her ''identification card'' earlier walked towards the hideous creature leading the carriage. He didn''t get too close, staying a few feet away from the creature as if waiting for something.


    After a while, one of the ''tongues'' struck towards the man like lightning, and the card in his hand was gone.


    The man walked back, and Evelyn thought she saw him shudder. Although that could have been just her illusion.


    "Let''s go."


    She held Amara''s hand and led the confused redhead right into the sphere, passing through the solid looking object and entering a luxurious cabin. Surprisingly enough, it wasn''t circr, but rectangr in shape.


    "Wow!"


    Vivian had of course followed them in as well, carrying Evelyn''s two ''pets'' in each of her hands.


    If it had been the past, Ruru would have thrown a huge tantrum, but her little fox had grown much more obedient with time. Although she was still very naughty, she now knew how to read the situation.


    In sharp contrast, Bree hadn''t learned anything at all, and was still the same dumb little cute puppy.


    The cabin had a total of fourrge marble tables, each with a long blue cushioned sofa on either side. The entry ways on either end of the cabin seemed to lead into other cabins, and Evelyn expected that perhaps it was to promote ''socializing'' between the students during the trip.


    It was a nice gesture, considering that it was a fourteen day long trip, after all.


    Perhaps the best feature of the cabins was that two of its four walls werepletely transparent, allowing the students inside to view the mystical and perilous woods when the academy''s expedition would pass through them.


    Evelyn calmly took a seat on the sofa, and the Gilmore sisters took the one opposite. Her little fox and puppy quickly jumped over the table and onto herself, and the pink haired girl wondered just what the academy would bring to her.


    She hoped it did not disappoint.

 Chapter 39: Prejudice

    Chapter 39: Prejudice


    The academy''s expedition picked up students from each of the five major capitals in the continents, and Moreen city happened to be itsst stop.


    Althoughpartment thirteen currently only had the few of them, Evelyn knew it would not remain so for long. After all, they could not be the only ones from the Lavinian Empire who would go to the academy.


    Even if there were few or even no children of the ancient families entering with her this year, there would still be dozens ofmoners.


    "I wonder what your ssmates will be like."


    Evelyn stroked little Ruru''s fur leisurely, clearly not very curious about her uingpanions for the journey.


    "I don''t think we''ll be meeting any ssmates at all. Themoners who go with us will all end up one year behind me, so they''ll all be my juniors."


    "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Still, there could be someone from the ancient families, or someone from the royalty, who knows?"


    "Mhm, there will definitely be some. If not from our own, then from other regions. But they may not end up being in ourpartment."


    Amara nodded thoughtfully. "True."


    If it had been in the past, Evelyn would never have been so unenthusiastic about meeting potential ''targets'' for her missions. But she had learned a lot more about her system and skills in these two years, and now had a clearer idea on how to make progress.


    Even after two years and a clearly strong bond between them, neither Amara nor Vivian''s affection had crossed the line which would allow her to acquire their enhancements.


    Perhaps the more ''gifted'' an individual was, the harder it was to max out their affection. Her parents can be considered gifted only among mortals, but it had taken her years to max their affection, and that was despite their clear adoration of their dear daughter.


    This made it clear to Evelyn that the affection route was quite unreliable, and should only be ast resort. Instead, it was far better to simply defeat or kill her opponents.


    It was unfortunate that this ''defeat'' condition''s requirements were quite harsh, and she simply could not bring herself to bully Vivian, Amara or even Bree to that point.


    Of course, since people in this world could get stronger even without her system or the grand ''Cmity'' skill, how could she not have any other way?


    Apparently, the way people acquired ''experience'' in this world was not through missions, but through ''cultivation'', ''ughter'' and ''enlightenment''.


    Evelyn had the feeling that although the way they went about naming and understanding it was different, this cultivation and enlightenment weren''t much different from her experience and missions.


    And themon point between the two was that the levels shown by her system and those that the people measured through devices and artifacts were identical.


    Perhaps when the people of this world unknowinglypleted a ''mission'', they could undergo ''enlightenment''.


    But of course, unlike her, who could just browse the missions and pick the ones she liked, these people did not have that luxury and could only do things blindly and hope for the best.


    One such example would be the ''ceremony'' she had undergone. If she didn''t have a system interface and only had a vague idea of how it worked, she would have wondered if she had ''failed the mission'' or if there was never one in the first ce.


    But the reality was that this mission required her toplete all three of her ceremonies before she could receive her rewards, and that was a long way off. And with war on the horizon, she did not even know if it would ever happen.


    Her thoughts were cut off by the giggle and gaggle of around a dozen children who phased into the carriage all together. Most of them were boys, with only four girls, and all of them had either brown or ck hair.


    "Yes! Finally, we''re in, ancient academy here wee!"


    "Silly."


    "Haha"


    Their jovial mood instantly turned sour, however, as they realized they were not alone in their carriage.


    No, instead, the people upying one of the tables were clearly quite ''different'' from themselves.


    Their clothing was luxurious, and the aura they gave off was one of nobility and indifference.


    Most people in this world were born with either brown or ck hair and eye color. In some ces, green, grey, yellow and even blue eye colors could be seen, while the hair color could range from gold to red.


    More exotic eye colors could still exist, but at the very least there would be no mortals born with ''pink'', ''purple'' or other such oundish colors of hair. And the glittering pink hair of the girl in theirpartment could only mean one thing then  she was born from a ''spirit egg''.


    An abnormal existence,pletely different from ''humans''.


    For many of thesemoner children, this was their first time seeing one this close. Although they tried to be on their best behavior since they knew that the ancient academy definitely did notck these kinds of people, most of them still ended up gawking.


    One of the boys even started walking towards their table, but was abruptly pulled back by the others.


    "What are doing?! You want to get beaten? Did your mother not teach you anything?!"


    "W-What? What''s going on? I just wanted to say hello."


    The girl''s voice was ominous and somber. "Don''t talk to the abnormals. You will get hurt."


    The boy gulped, clearly much more fearful of the strange pink haired girl than before.


    Their group quickly huddled away to the table diagonally opposite to Evelyn''s, and she rolled her eyes at their reaction.


    The ''normal'' people clearly had a lot of prejudice against those born from ''spirit eggs''. Although it was widely epted among the higher echelons that this kind of sentiment was just a form of ''jealousy'', there was little they could do about it.


    If she had not talked to Cecilia before, she would not have even known about this.


    Amara was surprised by both the reaction of the children who entered, as well as Evelyn''s indifference to their attitude.


    "What''s going on? Why do they look like Vivian fried their pet duck?"


    Vivian couldn''t help but whine. Why was this thing always brought up? She didn''t even do anything this time!


    "That''s unfair, ''mara, I did that only once!"


    The older redhead ruffled her little sister''s hair. "One time too many, I say."


    "Uuh."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but giggle, her mood much lighter than before. "Well, don''t mind them. They''re just prejudiced. They''lle around by themselves, eventually."


    Amara tilted her head. "Prejudice against what?"


    "Hmm... ''Spiritual'' and ''Blessed'' physiques, I guess. Especially those that stand out at a nce."


    Amara realized just then that Evelyn''s pink hair really did stick out like a sore thumb. Even if herself and Vivian can pass off as exotic mortals, no one will ever mistake Evelyn for anything other than what she was.


    "Oh what if they don''te around by themselves though, shouldn''t we clear up any misunderstandings?"


    Evelyn clearly disdained the thought, and the displeased frown on her face made it no secret. "I did nothing wrong. Why should I go clear anything up? If they nevere around, well, it''s none of my business, is it? Unless they stick it to my face, in which case I will just have to teach them a lesson."


    Evelyn turned her pink eyes to themoner group with a smirk, and the children quickly huddled together in fear.


    "Kyaaa!"


    "Wow, such sharp eyes! I feel like I was stabbed!"


    "You''re just being overdramatic now. There''s no way she can hurt us without even touching, r-right?"


    Evelyn could only roll her eyes, ming her own enhanced hearing for being able to hear their nonsense. Perhaps leveling up so fast had its own downsides, but she would dly take those over being a weakling.


    And it''s not like she didn''t understand where these children wereing from. In herst life, her condition had definitely been far worse than any of them, after all. But she would rather spend her time focusing on herself rather than finding fault with others.


    At this moment, another entity phased into their carriage, one that Evelyn had clearly met before.

 Chapter 40: Unwelcome

    Chapter 40: Unwee


    The boy who entered appeared to be about the same age as Evelyn, although that wasn''t much of a surprise. What did surprise her was that she knew who this boy was.


    Evelyn hadn''t expected to meet anyone she knew on this journey, aside from her own group. This was because she couldn''t possibly know of any younger children among themoners, and the ones in ancient families were all mostly older than her.


    But if she recalled correctly, this boy had been in the same area as Cecilia, before the girl had dragged her away.


    She had just assumed he was either a servant or an attendant to the older looking boy, but apparently that wasn''t quite the case.


    She hadn''t been able to talk to any of the others that day, but considering that Cecilia told her the others were badmouthing her during the ceremony, she did not have high expectations from any of them anyway.


    The young boy with brown hair and yellow eyes did not look much different from regr humans at first nce, but his gold lined white three-piece suit made it clear that he must be from a well-off family, at the very least.


    Perhaps due to his ''normal'' appearance, themoner children did not have as much aversion to him. Some even waved him over.


    The brown haired boy hesitated for only a few moments as his eyes flitted between the pink haired girl and themoner children, but in the end he walked towards therger group timidly.


    In his mind, someone like Evelyn would only willingly associate with those of Cecilia''s level. In her eyes, he was probably just a worm.


    The children greeted him enthusiastically, offering up their names one by one. Clearly, if it was not an ''abnormal'', these children were quite eager.


    The yellow eyed boy''s voice was demure, and he looked quite easy to bully.


    "Hello! I-I''m Aeron."


    He did not tell them hisst name, because although he was shy, he was not an idiot. The surname ''Ventura'' would be a dead giveaway of his identity, and he knew what kind of reaction thesemoner children will have.


    Although the children from the ancient families got a ''guaranteed'' seat in the academy, themoner children had to pass multiple rounds of testing just to be considered as a potential student.


    If these qualifying candidates were too many, sometimes there would even be elimination tournaments.


    To make matters worse, these tests and tournaments could be held throughout the year, and would only be conducted in the capital cities.


    This meant that thosemoner students who were truly destitute would bepletely hopeless. At the very least, they needed to be able to arrange enough resources to survive in a capital city for an entire year.


    Otherwise, they would end up missing a test if it came with a notice of only a day or two, and all their hard work would go down the drain.


    Considering how most of them would only be level one and have abysmal stats, not to mention their insignificant background, the sheer difference between thesemoners and the ''privileged'' students from the big families or royalty was like an uncrossable chasm.


    For them to be here, their parents had sacrificed almost their entire life savings, and many were even in heavy debt. The envy they must feel for those born with a silver spoon in their mouth was obvious.


    And now that Aeron had made some new friends, how could he bear to let the surname ''Ventura'' take it all away so soon?


    Evelyn''s ears twitched a few times as she listened to their conversation, and Amara couldn''t help but giggle.


    The pink haired girl tilted her head curiously.


    "What is it, what are you giggling about?"


    The redhead smiled. "I''m just thinking, you pretend to look so cold, but your ears are twitching when you try to eavesdrop."


    Evelyn''s face flushed in shame.


    "I-I''m not eavesdropping! My hearing is just sensitive."


    "Fufu okay, little Eve, whatever you say."


    "Hmph."


    With her mood now ruined, Evelyn turned her head away from themoner''s seat and sulked while petting her little fox, who made a smug face at the puppy.


    ''Look, who''s always the first priority? It is I, the great Ruru.''


    "Only little Ruru doesn''t judge me. Good girl, good girl."


    "Wuff!"


    "Oh, you too Bree. You''re also good, c''mere."


    As she was holding the two fluff balls in each of her arms, a heavy weight crashed into her thighs.


    "Me too!"


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Vivian you''re not a pet, don''t act like that!"


    "Aw."


    Amara giggled.


    Unfortunately, their good mood was ruined as a rather ostentatious group entered theirpartment. They didn''t phase in from the outside, they walked in from the opening leading to one of the forwardpartments.


    "I heard there was Lavinian scum boarding here, and turns out it was right. Who let these cowards in?"


    Themoner children did not dare to speak, because even though the boy had dark brown hair and eyes, the sheer aura of dominance from him made it clear that he was nothing like them.


    As for Aeron, he could only clench his fists in anger and keep his eyes glued on the ground. He had always hated people like his older step-brother.


    Why can''t they leave others alone? Why do they only feel happy when someone else is in distress?


    "Well, why is the trash not speaking?"


    Amara and Evelyn knew it was best to ignore these kinds of idiots. After all, if a conflict broke out then the academy would dole out a heavier punishment on the ''instigator''.


    Trading words with someone who clearly had some hostile agenda would just end up getting them goaded into aggression.


    As for the other ''solution'', if he started a fight, they could only serve him with his own medicine.


    Unfortunately, despite Evelyn pressing down on her palm to hint her, Vivian still exploded when she heard ''trash''.


    "Who are you? Dare to speak like that to us?!"


    "Hoh, seems like it''s not just trash here, guys, why did you guys give me wrong info?"


    The people following the brown haired boy seemed familiar with this routine, and their responses were almost as if they had it all scripted.


    "Our apologies, master Rufus, we didn''t know that there was noisy trash here too instead of just normal trash."


    Their raucousughter finally ticked Evelyn off. Even if she knew they were doing it deliberately, some people really did need to be taught a lesson.


    The dark skinned boy grinned widely as he saw the pink haired girl stand up from her seat after settling down the jumping little redhead and carefully setting down her ''pets''.


    His smile faded a little as she stood in front of him, looking at him straight in the eyes.


    In his family, children fought viciously as soon as they learned how to walk. Judging an opponent''s physical strength as they stood face to face was almost an instinct to him.


    And although his heavily muscr frame made it look like he could snap the delicate looking girl in front of him in half, his instincts were screaming at him to run! Run, and never look back.


    "May I know your name?"


    His attitude shifted abruptly, leaving his follower''s minds reeling in confusion.


    "Evelyn Knox. And who are you?"


    The brown haired boy seemed to realize that if he backed off too fast now, his prestige amongst his friends would definitely take a hit. But if he got beaten up, wouldn''t be worse?


    His cousin was right, he really shouldn''t be so impulsive! But now he was stuck between a rock and hard ce, and did not know how to respond at all.


    "I-I am Rufus Stonehardt. The eldest son of the Stonehardt family from Masengale. You know, our Masengale is twice the size of your Moreen city, and your Lavinian Empire is bound to lose against our Earthbound Alliance!"


    The pink haired girl tilted her head with a smile. "Okay. But what does that have to do with me?"


    "H-Huh?"


    Rufus expected her to get into an argument about how their Lavinian Empire was definitely not inferior. He hoped it would change the confrontation from being violent to just argumentative, but his hopes were clearly dashed.


    Evelyn flicked her long pink hair, looking at the buff looking boy as if looking at an idiot.


    "I''ll tell you what, Ron."


    "Rufus!"


    The pink haired girl rolled her eyes dismissively.


    "Whatever. Listen, Ringo. You can use either use those stubby little legs of yours and run out with all four of your dirty tails, or I can use you like a foot rest for the next two weeks."


    As the muscr boy and hispanions gawked at her in disbelief, Evelyn gave them a ''gentle'' smile.


    "I''ll give you ten seconds to decide."


    If it had been before, thepanions following Rufus would have already jumped the pink haired girl to rain down punches and kicks, but looking at their leader''s apparent cowardice, they did not dare step in the line of fire.


    Of course, at this point Rufus knew if he really ran away, he might as well bury his face in sand and forget about earning any glory at the academy. This would be the greatest shame of his life!


    Just as Rufus was about to grit his teeth and fight it out, a lightning fast figure darted in from one of the rearpartments and crashed straight into the pink haired girl, leaving everyone else reeling in shock.

 Chapter 41: Prefect

    Chapter 41: Prefect


    Evelyn''s eyes were wide open as she barely managed to stop herself from attacking the iing girl upon recognizing who it was at thest moment.


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but take a couple of steps back as the older girl''s frame crashed into her. If she had been weaker, she might have directly copsed on the floor.


    And had it been one of thosemoners in her ce right now, they would have been sttered on the opposite wall.


    "Evelyn~!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but groan in exasperation as the ash-blonde girl held her tight, almostpletely burying her face in Evelyn''s fluffy pink hair.


    "Hello, Cecilia. I would prefer a gentler greeting next time. You almost killed me, you know?"


    Ceciliapletely ignored her reprimand, however. "Fufu did you miss me, Evelyn?"


    "We talk every week, don''t we?"


    Cecilia pretended to look hurt.


    "No way~ You''re telling me you didn''t miss seeing me for two years?! I''m so sad!"


    The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes. "C''mon Cecilia, don''t think you can fool me now. Your acting is about as good as your cooking."


    The girl finally let her go from her overly affectionate embrace.


    "Hey! How can you say that? You''ve never even tasted anything I made yet!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but shake her head.


    "What about those cookies you sent me? Did you know my mother thought someone sent me stones and almost threw them out? And when I put them on the table after failing to eat any, little Vivi chomped one down before I noticed, and then cried for three hours before we finally managed to make her throw it up!"


    Cecilia cringed. Okay, so maybe her first attempt at baking cookies didn''t have good results, but so what?


    "Anyway, since you couldn''t eat any, my point still stands. You''ve never tasted my cooking."


    Evelyn didn''t know whether to be amused or exasperated at her friend''s shamelessness.


    "And what about what happened to Vivi?"


    Cecilia snorted. "Psh, don''t lie so much, Evelyn! How can my cookies be so easily bitten through by a little yikes!"


    Vivian had taken offense to either her clinging to Evelyn or Cecilia doubting the sharpness of her teeth. Either way, she was now firmly biting on her arm, just like two years ago.


    Unlikest time, Cecilia couldn''t be indifferent at all, as even with the vast difference in strength, she could feel that Vivian had almost bitten through her skin!


    "Ow! I give! Let go, please!"


    Vivian reluctantly let go when Evelyn patted her head.


    "Geez, Evelyn, your little hamster''s teeth have be sharp!"


    "Mhm, I almost couldn''t believe it when she easily chewed through your indestructible cookie, but it really did a number on her once it went inside. You know, you owe her an apology."


    "Oh sorry, little hamsterhey wait a minute, why am I the one apologizing when she bit me?!"


    Evelyn smiled. "Because she had to get her stomach pumped because of you?"


    The older girl still looked reluctant. "B-But isn''t it your fault for leaving my cookies out in the open?!"


    Evelyn could only roll her eyes. "You didn''t tell me they were a biohazard, did you?"


    As they were arguing, Rufus and his gang took the opportunity to slink away silently. Themoners were too scared to offend either party, and Amara was too focused on making sure Vivian didn''t make trouble again.


    Unfortunately, however, Cecilia spotted them just as they were almost out of there.


    "Stop right there, criminal scum!"


    Rufus could only sulk as he dragged his feet back in front of the older girl.


    "Good. Stand right here, and if I see you moving again, you don''t wanna know what will happen, okay?"


    "I understand, prefect."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but blink in surprise. "He''s surprisingly obedient to you?"


    Cecilia puffed out her chest with pride. "Fufu, are you surprised? I didn''t tell you on purpose. I''ve be a prefect now, meaning I have the authority to mediate between any disputes between my juniors and judge their punishment ordingly."


    The pink-haired girl frowned. "There is such a system in the academy?"


    Although it sounds good when Cecilia''s the one saying it, the whole thing reeked too much of possible authority abuse.


    "It''s not as if we can just do anything we want. If we do something truly unreasonable, not only would we lose our prefect position, but also receive very harsh punishment as well. Besides, only exemry students are ever selected to be prefects to begin with."


    "I see How did you know they did something wrong?"


    Cecilia cliked her tongue, as if it was obvious.


    "Just polluting my cute little Evelyn''spartment with their foul existence is already a sin!"


    ""


    "Ahahaha look at your face!"


    Evelyn felt that ever since Cecilia arrived, she had been rolling her eyes way too much. She almost afraid they would roll to back of her head, and she would be blind.


    "Honestly, Cecilia, you''ve changed a lot in two years."


    The ash-blonde smiled. "Fufu who knows. Maybe I just finally found someone to open up to."


    Evelyn could feel some heat rising to her cheeks. Thankfully, Cecilia didn''t continue her ''attacks''.


    "Anyway, I know you won''t needlessly seek trouble. Since they were facing off with you, they were definitely making trouble. So tell me, what''s going on?"


    Rufus felt that maybe if he took the initiative to exin, perhaps things could be still be ''swept under the rug''.


    "W-We"


    Unfortunately, the ''prefect'' wasn''t a very reasonable person.


    "I''m not asking you, so shut your trap! Ahem, well, Evelyn, you go ahead."


    Evelyn sighed. "Honestly, I have no idea what they came here for. This guy here just came in hurling insults left and right. I didn''t even want to pay attention, but I also couldn''t bear it when all of us are being continuously insulted... By a weakling, no less."


    Cecilia hummed, her brown eyes darkening to an almost ck shade.


    "Well, Evelyn, you go have a seat with your little pets. I''ll have a word with these idiots and see what they have to say."


    Evelyn nodded as she walked back to her seat, and Amara physically dragged the growling Vivian away from Cecilia.


    The ash-blonde rubbed the bite mark on her arm.


    "Even though the little hamster is so cute, it''s really vicious I might have to apply some ointment to make sure it doesn''t leave a mark."


    She turned to the five boys standing still like petrified statues.


    "Well, criminal scum, what do you have to say for yourself?"


    Rufus couldn''t help but grit his teeth. Aside from his initial slip-up, hadn''t he made concessions all along? He really couldn''t bear it anymore.


    "Miss prefect, it''s not right of you to use us like this. We didn''tmit any crime, did we?"


    "Oh?"


    "That''s right. We didn''t hit anyone. As for what verbal insults, who knows what was said by whom in a heated argument?"


    Although he already realized that this prefect was clearly biased towards the pink-haired girl, he knew she couldn''t go too far against the rules for her, or she would lose her position.


    "Hoh, I guess I really can''t punish you just for a verbal argument."


    The boys collectively breathed a sigh of relief.


    Cecilia smirked. "Or can I?"

 Chapter 42: Cecilias Decision

    Chapter 42: Cecilia''s Decision


    "H-Huh?"


    Rufus and his followers looked at each other in both dismay and confusion. Just what kind of trick was this sold-out prefect cooking now? Was it so difficult to just let them go?


    "Tell me, the so called ''argument'' was between the five of you guys and the group with my little Evelyn, right?"


    Rufus shifted his gaze towards the pink haired girl who was leisurely petting her pink fox as if she had already put him out of her mind. A strange feeling of both resentment and helplessness started festering within his heart.


    "T-That''s right. Just a minor disagreement. We didn''t do anything!"


    Cecilia frowned. "Just tell me what I ask, don''t go bbering useless stuff! Anyway, you didn''t provoke anyone else?"


    The dark skinned boy gulped, recalling his entry deration of Lavinian scum being trash. If it was said out loud, wouldn''t this Lavinian prefect chew his bones to dust?


    "O-Of course not?"


    Cecilia nodded, satisfied.


    "Good. Then you agree that everyone else in thispartment can act as a witness, aside from the ones with that girl on the table?"


    Rufus knew she was trying to find fault with him, but when he really thought about it, would thosemoner bastards dare to testify against him?


    It looks like just because neither her friend nor herself could feel fearful of him, they forgot to take into ount the sheer intimidation thosemoners would feel from him.


    Heh, if thosemoners wanted to rat him out, they can try if they have the guts!


    Cecilia squinted her eyes. "Well, why are you silent? Were they also involved or not? I want yes or no answer!"


    If he said yes, then it was no longer a personal conflict. She could just say he was going around creating disturbances with everyone. As for if he said no, well, that was even better.


    "N-No, they weren''t involved."


    Cecilia smiled. "Good!"


    She turned to themoner''s table, and the children collectively shuddered at the malicious gazeing from the bulky boy behind her.


    They knew they were done for if they dared to speak out against him.


    Anyway, this girl was a prefect. She wouldn''t bully them just because they refused to speak, right?


    But Cecilia never had any faith in them anyway. Instead, she directly set her eyes on the one familiar boy among them.


    "Hey Aeron, why don''t youe testify against this criminal scum over here?"


    The brown-haired boy''s face was ashen. Not only had she outed him as a ''nonmoner'' by showing her familiarity, alienating him from his new friends, she had also ended up creating enemies for him. Would they really leave him be in peaceter?


    As the Ventura heir remained silent, Cecilia couldn''t help but frown.


    Although she knew he was timid, was there any reason to be scared speechless against these small fries when she was right there? Did he think she wasn''t strong enough?


    "Well, why are you not speaking? I don''t have all day, you know? I still"


    Aeron gritted his teeth and made up his mind.


    "Don''t speak to me as if you know me!"


    "Eh?"


    Cecilia tilted her head, confused. Even Evelyn had turned to look at them strangely, because Cecilia had briefly mentioned this ''possible fianc'' in her letters, and the only negative point she made was that he was timid.


    Although the ash-blonde was slightly embarrassed, she felt furious more than anything else.


    "Alright. I guess we really don''t know each other. That''s fine."


    Aeron gulped when he felt the suppressed fury in the girl''s voice.


    Cecilia moved closer to their table and tapped it gently with her forefingers.


    "We don''t know each other, but do you know who I am, Aeron?"


    The brown-haired felt his knees shivering in fear, but even if he wanted to say something, his voice choked and refused toe out in front of the girl''s dark eyes.


    Cecilia smiled, but it was a smile without warmth.


    "I''ll make an introduction, since you''re so unfamiliar. I''m Cecilia Fulbright. Many in the Lavinian Empire call me the brightest star of the Fulbright family. Have you heard of it?"


    Aeron shook his head nervously.


    Themoners looked at each other in shock. How could someone not know of the most potent ancient family in their empire? And even if someone didn''t know, they would have at least heard some things about this particr girl.


    Perhaps only the foreigners and those in remote regions of the empire wouldn''t know.


    "Okay. Fine, I get it. I''ll remember that we don''t know each other."


    Cecilia knew she had made the wrong bet, thinking that Aeron would actually support her.


    Evelyn had thought that Cecilia had everything under control, so she was leisurely staying out of it, but now that she saw her friend being embarrassed, she couldn''t just stay put.


    "It''s fine Cecilia. Just let them leave, I don''t even care anymore. Come on, stop wasting time on those idiots, they don''t deserve it."


    The ash-blonde grit her teeth in anger. "Wait, Evelyn, let me handle it."


    Not to mention letting off people who had insulted her friend, even she felt humiliated today. How could she let them leave without paying the price?


    She stomped her way back to the now clearly relieved group of foreign boys.


    The attitude of Rufus and his buddies was obviously more rxed, although they still tried to maintain some surface politeness due to her position.


    "See, miss prefect, we told you it was just a minor thing. They didn''t even notice anything was wrong."


    "Hahaurk!"


    One of his buddies had just started tough along when he felt the prefect''s sharp gaze set on him.


    The ash-blonde girl haughtily flicked one of her twin tails, her tone full of disdain.


    "Alright, I''ve decided. All five of you will be manning the toilets inpartment twenty for three days, making sure they are kept clean. You will report to the janitor that you have been ordered to domunity service for your reprehensible behaviour towards fellow ssmates."


    "T-That''s absurd! Onlymoners go to toilets anyway! You expect us to c-clean it?!"


    Cecilia seemed to relish in their shocked and disgusted expressions for a few moments before she smiled.


    "Oh I''ve changed my mind."


    Just as they were about to breathe out in relief, Cecilia continued with a smirk.


    "Instead of three days, you should see a good deed to the end. Make sure the toilets are squeaky clean for the next two weeks, alright?"

 Chapter 43: Terran Prince

    Chapter 43: Terran Prince


    Rufus and his friends could only grit their teeth and leave for the rear most twentiethpartment. They did not bother hiding their animosity for the ash blonde girl anymore, since she had already gone overboard with punishing them anyway.


    Cecilia seemed to relish in their expressions full of depression and hate.


    "Oh, and if I hear any ''incident'' happening anywhere even near that area, I''ll know who it is. Trust me, I''ll be very, very happy to show you what the difference is between thismunity service and a real punishment, alright?"


    The bunch of boys wanted to curse and throw a tantrum, but that might end up giving the obviously evil prefect another excuse to punish them, so they could only grumble amongst themselves and leave.


    Themoners and Aeron avoided her line of sight as she returned, but Cecilia didn''t seem to bother with their presence anyway and headed straight for the seat by Evelyn''s side.


    "So, how was it?"


    Evelyn smiled. "Their punishment? I''d say it was fair. Not too extreme, but not lenient either."


    The older girl didn''t look satisfied with her friend''s response.


    "A, I thought you''d be happy? Should I go drag them back?"


    The pink haired girl giggled. "Honestly? I am happy."


    Cecilia patted her chest. "That''s good."


    The pink haired girl smiled. "It''s not because they got punished, though, but because you stood up for me. This won''t cause you any trouble, right?"


    The ash blonde couldn''t help but pout. "Aw, Evelyn, don''t mind such little things between us! You''re my best friend, after all."


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. "You didn''t answer my question. Will this cause you trouble?"


    Cecilia hummed, as if thinking about it carefully.


    "Honestly, I''m notpletely sure, but probably not. Although you should be careful of anyone from the Terrazyme kingdom while here. That Rufus guy is nothing, but not everyone at the academy is a small fry like him, especially in higher years."


    The pink haired girl nodded.


    Cecilia''s curious eyes settled on the purring little golden pup on Evelyn''sp.


    "When did you get this little puppy, by the way? Last I remembered, you had a pink fox, hm, that one''s sleeping in your arms, a red fat hamster, hm, that one is growling at me across the table, and that''s it, right?"


    Evelyn burst into giggles, while Amara was trying to prevent her little sister from jumping across the table to bite Cecilia''s face clean off.


    ----------


    As Rufus and his friends got away from Cecilia and into the fourteenthpartment they had been staying in, the others turned to look at the group of boys who had obviously left quite proudly but came back with their tails tucked between their legs.


    "Yo, why do you guys look like you got a scolding from your grandma?"


    Although the boy who made the inquiry didn''t hide the mockery in his tone at all, Rufus didn''t dare appear as anything but respectful.


    "P-Prince Craig. There''s a Lavinian prefect in thatpartment, and she showed tant favoritism and punished us! Please, you have to avenge us, for the honor of the Terrans!"


    Craig burst into boisterousughter.


    "Ahahah, that''s hrious! Didn''t you guys go by yourselves to have some fun? Did I order you to go? Why should I cover your asses if they caught fire while trying to fart into a firece? I say you deserved it. So, fuck off before my mood dips."


    As Rufus and his group hurried away into the nextpartment, their faces pale, the smile from Prince Craig''s face faded.


    "Hold on. What was your punishment?"


    Rufus''s face turned red from shame. Doesn''t that mean now all of his ssmates and countrymen will now know of it too? But he could only reiterate dutifully, as it was an order from the prince.


    "We''re forced to clean themoner toilets for the entire duration of the expedition, your highness."


    The serious expression on the prince''s face once again turned to a mocking grin.


    "A fitting punishment. Clean your character while you''re cleaning the toilets, Rufus. Instead of always thinking about petty things, you should use your time at the academy to improve yourself to the fullest, and contribute well to the kingdom!"


    The dark skinned boy''s eyes were red, but he could only nod, not even daring to make a reluctant expression. His Stonehardt family was one of the branches of the royal family. And the difference in status between a side branch eldest son and the crown prince was just too big.


    "I-I understand, your highness."


    "Good. As yourpanions were dragged into this by you, they shall stay while you serve their part of the punishment as well, understand?"


    Rufus could feel his teeth groaning as he almost broke them while clenching his jaw. Today was really the most humiliating day of his life! His reputation waspletely tarnished, not just in front of the Lavinians, but also in front of the Terrans!


    "As you wish, your highness."


    The children who had been previously following Rufus bid him ''sympathetic'' farewells, but everyone knew they were feeling jovial in their hearts.


    "Take care, Lord Rufus."


    "Lord Rufus, this is a tribtion! You must hone yourself well."


    "The Prince is wise, he sees opportunity for Lord Rufus even in this difficulty, you must not let his wisdom go to waste!"


    Rufus red at his ''friends'', making a mental note to never associate with them ever again as he dragged his feet towards the toilets.


    Craig turned his sight to the boy next to him once Rufus left and everyone settled down. In contrast to the seven and eight year old children filling the rest of thepartment, it was clear that these two boys were much older.


    "Hey, Stanley, how many prefects are there aside from us in this expedition? Howe there is someone inpartment thirteen when you''re here with me?"


    Another thing that stuck out to him as odd was how that idiot Rufus had mentioned a ''Lavinian Prefect'', but there was obviously no such thing in the academy.


    As there had been no outstanding Lavinian students in the academy from year three onwards, which was a basic requirement to bing a prefect, the fifth prefect position had gone to his fellow Terran, Stanley.


    It was an embarrassing situation for the Lavinian empire, but perhaps they were lucky that as soon as the next session starts, that girl from year two will be promoted, and they''ll finally have a prefect again as well.


    It was unfortunate that Stanley would lose his position so soon, but once Craig graduated, it would be back in his hands before long.


    "Milord, as far as I''m aware, there shouldn''t be anyone in there. Shall I go check it out?"


    The prince shook his head. "No need. It doesn''t really matter, anyway. Just a petty squabble, doesn''t matter who punished those kids. Besides, it''s disgraceful to bring dishonor to our kingdom like this, so they deserved whatever punishment they got."


    Of course, it wasn''t the provocation that irked him, but theirplete and utter failure.


    "When you go to humiliate someone in the name of the Terrans, there should be no reason toe back humiliated instead. Either you don''t go in the first ce, or don''te back. As for those who dare humiliate the Terrans... well, they shall soon know what it means to suffer the wrath of the rock!"


    Stanley bowed with a smile.


    "Spoken like a true Terran, my Prince."

 Chapter 44: Still Underestimating Her?

    Chapter 44: Still Underestimating Her?


    As Vivian struggled against her older sister''s grasp in an effort to jump across the table and grind her teeth against Cecilia''s skin, Evelyn felt both worried and amused.


    "You should be kinder to Vivian, you know, or you might regret it in the future. She''s quite a firecracker. Maybe one day you''ll find a few of your fingers missing or something."


    The little redhead stopped struggling against her Amara to puff out her chest with pride, making the older girl let out a sigh of relief as she copsed back on the sofa.


    "Hmph. See, even Evelyn knows. Be scared of me! Idiot!"


    Cecilia blinked her honey-colored eyes innocently. "Eh, when was I ever mean to the little hamster? I didn''t even get mad when I got bit, you know."


    Evelyn nodded as she recalled how Vivian has already bitten her older friend twice, and she didn''t try to retaliate even once.


    "Hm, that''s truWait a minute, even if that''s true, isn''t it already mean enough to call her a little hamster? Her name''s Vivian! You can also call her Vivi, but that''s it. Even I don''t call her little hamster or something, let alone a fat one."


    "You deserved it! Always trying to cling to my Evelyn, and being mean to me!"


    Looking at the little redhead huffing and puffing out her cheeks like a hamster, Cecilia couldn''t believe no one else saw the resemnce.


    "Doesn''t she look like it, though?"


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. Just why was she so insistent on calling Vivian a little hamster? She had given up on calling her ''Foxy Girl'' in her letters after just a single response full of reprimands, so it''s not like Cecilia was incapable of learning.


    "I''ve literally never heard anyone else say that about her. Anyway, I don''t care anymore, you two deal with it amongst yourselves."


    Although she didn''t mind speaking up about it a little, Evelyn truly didn''t wish to police her friend''s thoughts too much, especially on mundane matters like this one. After all, she didn''t want the girl to feel constrained around her.


    Cecilia''s eyes were glinting as she took Evelyn''s ''backing out'' as a surrender. Now that she had two out of four votes, including herself, all she had to do was get another to get the majority.


    "I''m sure there must be someone else who thinks so too! Well, big sister Amara, what do you think, do you think I''m hateful for calling her that?"


    The older redhead didn''t like being put on the spot, but considering Cecilia''s obvious friendship with Evelyn, it was impossible to ignore her question.


    "Uh, to be honest, I can see why you would call her that."


    Vivian''s big red eyes stared at her sister in betrayal as she hammered her little fists into the older girl''s shoulder. "''Mara you traitor! Bad big sis! Meanie!"


    Of course, since her fists couldn''t really get any point across, wouldn''t her razor-sharp teeth be pointless if she didn''t use them?


    But having lived with her for her entire life, how could Amara let herself be bitten?


    "Yikes, hey, don''t try to bite me, I''ll beat your butt!"


    The little girl''s jewel like eyes welled up with tears, making both Evelyn and Cecilia sigh at how adorable the sight was.


    "Wuu! Meanie!"


    The older redhead looked a little flustered. "W-Well, be that as it may, no one''s allowed to tease my little sister like that! So, cheer up, okay? I''ll let you bite anyone who dares tease you now."


    Vivian''s tears dried up instantly as she burst into a big, bright grin while jumping into her sister''s arms. "Big sis is the best!"


    "Un."


    Cecilia was just about to open her mouth when she was nudged by the pink haired girl on her right.


    "Don''t provoke them anymore, alright, or I''ll be angry."


    The ash-blonde girl smiled widely as she hugged her friend sideways.


    "A my little fox girl is so cute! She''s jealous when I talk to other people too much!"


    Thankfully, Vivian was busy being pampered by her sister, or she would have exploded again if she saw Cecilia sticking to Evelyn like that.


    The pink haired girl''s mind seemed to reboot for the next three seconds as she subconsciously protected the little puppy and fox from being crushed into Cecilia''s hug.


    Her dark pink brows scrunched up together, making her displeasure apparent.


    "Okay, first of all, didn''t you I tell you to never call me that? And secondly, who''s jealous of what? Hmph. What''s there to be jealous of? I''ll have you know, I, Evelyn, care very little of who else you associate with, unless they are someone openly hostile to me."


    Cecilia blinked innocently, though her mischievous smile made her intent to tease the little girl quite clear. "A I never called you that before, okay? This is the first time! I had to say it at least once, you know. Paper just doesn''t count."


    Evelyn rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Fine! But never again, okay?"


    The ash-blonde girl stuck out her tongue. "Alright~ Oh, and as for the other thing, that''s not nice! If you keep that attitude up, your future lover will be sad if you ''don''t care about who they associate with'', you know."


    The pink haired girl snorted in disdain. "Good. I don''t need such a person."


    Cecilia blinked. "You don''t need who? Someone who gets jealous?"


    Evelyn frowned. "No, jealousy, I understand. Even friends can get jealous of each other, or for each other. What I don''t need is someone like a lover."


    The older girl pondered over Evelyn''s words for a while before nodding. "I get it. Naturally, you''re still young, so that''s how you think. Eventually you''ll have one though. Ah, I wonder which guy will be so lucky, to have such an adorable wife?!"


    The pink haired girl twisted her lips in clear disgust. "It''s never happening. Just talking about it makes me feel sick."


    This time Cecilia was truly surprised. Even a girl as young as Evelyn would sometimes dream about her prince charming, right? Which one of them didn''t think of a knight in shining armor who would sweep them off their feet in the future?


    Of course, reality is often disappointing. Take Aeron, for example. What part of him was worth mentioning in front of herself? But unfortunately, if the Fulbright family required it, she would have no choice but to settle with him.


    Perhaps even Evelyn''s marriage wouldn''t be of her own choice.


    ''No Even if I can''t control my own fate, I''m older than her, and the Knox family isn''t that strong. I won''t let anyone force her. This is the least I can do as her best friend.''


    "Well, Evelyn, don''t take this the wrong way, I''m not trying to set you up with anyone or anything, but what kind of boys do you like?"


    Evelyn sighed. "I don''t."


    Cecilia blinked, wondering perhaps if the selection of boys she had met so far had all been morons like Rufus and Tristan. "Um, as in, you hate boys?"


    The pink haired girl bit her lip, not sure if she should even be exposing these kinds of thoughts to someone else. But in the end, she couldn''t find a reason to hide it from someone she considered a close friend, either.


    "I think the type of ''like'' you''re referring to is something I don''t feel for anyone, boy or girl."


    Cecilia scratched her head, still a little confused. "Ah, maybe you don''t like boys?"


    Evelyn sighed, wondering just how blunt she had to be before her friend could understand.


    "I don''t detest boys, don''t misunderstand."


    Cecilia coughed. "Of course. I didn''t mean you just t out hate boys. I mean, you hate them as a lover candidate, right?"


    Evelyn nodded. "Of course. I don''t mind my friends getting touchy feely, but to stand in a position of control over me I will never allow it willingly."


    The ash-blonde girl pped, a glint of mischief shining in her honey colored eyes.


    "Ahhh, basically you don''t want a rtionship with a boy, right?"


    Evelyn''s mind spun. Just how in the world could someone still misunderstand after she made it so clear?!


    "So that means you like girls, right? Hmmm you know, I just had my fianc ditch me, how about youfort me a little~? Oh but, of course, I''ll wait till you''re older, don''t worry!"


    Cecilia expected her friend to blush and shy away, but noticing how Evelyn was starting to look a little ufortable, Cecilia quickly backtracked.


    "S-Sorry, looks like I got too far with my jokes! I just thought it would be obvious I was joking. Uhm, you''re not angry, are you?"


    The pink haired girl sighed. "No I''m not angry."


    ''Well, Cecilia is still young, she''ll probably mature and grow smarter. Hopefully.''


    Cecilia patted her chest in relief. "Thank goodness. Although your angry face would also be cute, I''m sure!"


    Although Evelyn smiled, there was a hint of danger in her tone. "You sure you wanna see it?"


    The ash-blonde girl gulped nervously. "I-I guess not?"


    Evelyn nodded, deciding to never think about this conversation, ever again.


    "Good. Anyway, there''s something I''ve been wondering for a while."


    "Hm?"


    The pink haired girl tapped the floor beneath their feet lightly. "This thing you know, this whole thing consisting of those ck spheres and huge string it''s an artifact, right?"


    Cecilia''s eyes were wide as she stared at Evelyn in wonder. Even though she knew the girl was ''special'', as someone who often got hailed as the greatest genius of the Lavinian Empire, the highest pedestal Cecilia had ced her friend on, was beside herself.


    But in Evelyn''s position, she would never have been able to figure this out by herself.


    Was she underestimating her friend?


    "Wow How did you guess, Evelyn? This is like the big, shocking, surprise reveal they always do to rattle the newbies, and you just guessed it?"


    If it had been her from the past, Evelyn truly would depend only on guesswork to figure it out. But as she had grown more ustomed to her skills, she also figured out how to get some information even from ''failures''.


    For example, if she used her probe skill without a target, it would just fizzle out, wasting her spirit power. But if she used it on something that can be analyzed if not for some obstruction, her spirit power would bounce back and return.


    When she had used it on thepartment, both outside and inside, the result had been the same ''failure of probe'', with her spirit power full returning back.


    Combined with her previous knowledge that only certain artifacts could block her probe, aside from a very wide gap in levels, Evelyn could be sure that this must be an item with that kind of attribute.


    Of course, these were all things that only she could know.


    "I just guessed it."


    "Ahahaha well, since you made such a good guess, I guess I can let you know another ''secret'' as well!"


    Evelyn''s pink eyes shone with curiosity as her friend leaned closer to whisper in her ear.


    "Not only is this thing here one of the strongest artifacts in the world, the beast you saw pulling it is the strongest spirit beast in the continent, the ''Thousand Eyed God''!"

 Chapter 45: Thousand Eyed God

    Chapter 45: Thousand Eyed God


    Evelyn looked at Cecilia a little skeptically.


    "Is it really the strongest spirit beast in the continent?"


    The ash blonde nodded. "That''s right!"


    "Why would it allow itself to be used like this, then?"


    Cecilia smirked. "I thought so too when I first found out. But the instructors exined it to me, and then I understood."


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but be interested. Although she was sure that this ''Thousand Eyed God'' couldn''t be as strong as the strongest experts on the, it should still be quite formidable to be called the strongest spirit beast on the continent.


    "Well, spill it then! What''s the reason?"


    Cecilia''s smiled mischievously. "What do I get for telling you?"


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Just tell me, c''mon!"


    The ash blondeughed. As another group ofmoner students phased into theirpartment, upying the remaining empty tables, Cecilia huddled closer to Evelyn to whisper in her ears.


    "Well, if you think about it, what if the ''Thousand Eyed God'' isn''t the one being used, but it''s the one using us?"


    Evelyn also subconsciously softened her tone into a whisper as she watched Vivian jumping in delight. The little girl seemed fascinated when the strange bead carriage started moving, rapidly gaining momentum.


    She suddenly had a dj vu of the time when Bree had taken them to the Port of Nemer to buy Ruru. Vivian had been just as delighted to be floating around then.


    Evelyn sighed as she rubbed the little puppy''s ears. Its stats hadn''t changed since that day two years ago, except for the vitality falling by two points. Even her intelligence showed no signs of recovery.


    The pink haired girl shook her head to clear the depressing thoughts. It was more important to focus on the present first. As for Bree''s situation, worrying about it aimlessly would just do more harm than good.


    The core of the issue was insufficient information. Aside from getting stronger, Evelyn had to do her best to gather as much information as possible. Perhaps this way, some clues woulde to her hands that could lead to Bree''s recovery.


    "It''s faster than you thought, right?"


    Evelyn nodded. "Mhm given that it has to slide on the ground, I didn''t think it would be faster than carriages."


    As someone who understood how friction worked, although not at a deeply scientific level, Evelyn had always considered wheels to be the ideal way of moving on the ground. How could sliding objects everpare?


    The only better way to move was to fly.


    Ceciliaughed as she remembered that she, too, had been quite shocked when she first saw it. Even when her grandmother carried her to fly over, it was nowhere as fast as the speed they were currently going at.


    And her grandmother was one of the strongest in the empire, on par with the guardians of the royal family.


    "Ahaha but of course, a legendary artifact that is powered by such a strong spirit beast, how can it be slow? In fact, I think if it went full speed, those people outside wouldn''t be able to keep up."


    Evelyn turned her eyes to the blue robed figures who had been escorting them. Most of them were flitting by like shadows, some flying, some on foot. Even as the woods passed them by at an absurdly fast speed, none of them seemed to struggle to keep up.


    Although she was slightly distracted, Evelyn''s attention was still primarily focused on her conversation with Cecilia.


    Her interest was less for trivia, and more for this ''Thousand Eyed God''. She felt that although it was too strong for her currently, it could definitely prove to be of great use in the future. The more she knew, the better.


    "What use could it make of us by carrying us over to the academy? What does the academypensate it with?"


    Most of the students at this time, including Amara and Vivian, were already entirely focused on watching the rapidly changing scenery in fascination. Even if Evelyn and Cecilia started speaking normally instead of exchanging whispers, it was doubtful anyone would pay attention.


    It was no wonder, because most of them had never seen such tall, dark and foreboding trees. Nor those vastkes full of dark, ominous waters.


    "You know how the forest area surrounding the academy for thousands of miles is considered the ''Wondend of Doom'', right?"


    Evelyn nodded.


    "Mhm. I know. It''s very easy to lose yourself in the eerie and beautiful sights, and just as easy to be the prey of a powerful predator. But although this ce is beautiful and eerie, there is no spiritual hypnosis or anything strange going on. The only real danger is predators."


    "Correct. And why do you think there''s never been a case of an academy student''s death while passing through the forest?"


    The pink haired girl tilted her head in confusion. There were already some wolf like beast groups that had been attracted by themotion, but they were swiftly dispatched by the blue robed figures almost before most students could notice.


    Even though the guardians were so fast and efficient, somemoner students could still be seen shaking in fear as they watched the ughter. Perhaps the transparency of walls on both sides of thepartment served as both a baptism and a lesson.


    Nevertheless, the effortless ughter of the beasts confirmed Evelyn''s thoughts.


    "Uh, with so many guardians with us, how could security be an issue? This artifact should be strong enough to protect the students while they deal with any iing threat. It''s no wonder no one''s died, right? From what I know, level sixty and above people can pass by this zone with a very low chance of death."


    Cecilia nodded. "Right. I thought so too at first. But a single person passing by isn''t enough to attract the really strong beasts. It''s only when they''re really unlucky that theye across one and die. For an entire expedition of this size, though?"


    "You mean to say there are beasts strong enough to threaten even this group?"


    "Just wait. You''ll see. It''s quite frequent, after all."


    As if to demonstrate her words, not even five minutester a ginormous ape-like blue creature tore through the tall trees and shot towards the expedition like lightning.


    And instead of protecting them, the blue robed guardians instantly scattered away from the best, putting the carriage between the blue ape and themselves.


    "WHAT?!"


    "NOOO!!!"


    Instantly, the students inside were in a pandemonium,pletely unable to believe that they had been abandoned just like that. Screams of terror and disbelief filled thepartment, making Evelyn''s sensitive ears ring painfully.


    "Ugh"


    Even Vivian''s face was pale as she huddled into Amara''s arms, although the older redhead was rtively calm.


    The blue beast charged towards them recklessly, and before the screams of the students could really make Evelyn''s ears bleed, thousands of white ''snakes'' burst forth from the ground beneath the ape, instantly destroying its momentum and crushing its figure to half of its original size.


    The students watched dumbfounded as the deformed blue and red ball of oozing gore entered the ground with a thunderous boom, followed by another that seemed toe from the front of their ''carriage''.


    Evelyn knew the so-called ''Thousand Eyed God'' must now be happily munching on its meal.


    What was most fascinating to her was how even though the artifact hade to an abrupt halt once the ape had been caught, they didn''t experience the sudden change of momentum.


    ''It is perhaps apletely separated space, isn''t it? It should be quite simr. For the untainted to be grade 5 with such a small space, what grade would this artifact be?''


    Cecilia looked quite smug as the carriage started moving once again. It seems like the humongous ape wasn''t worth more than a couple of bites for the giant centipede. Perhaps even dozens of such apes wouldn''t fill its appetite.


    "You see what I mean?"


    "Mhm. I get it. If they regrly had to fight beasts like that ape, there were bound to be some casualties among the guardians at some point."


    Cecilia nodded. "Right. All those blue robed guardians are actually just here to deal with the small fries that the ''Thousand Eyed God'' doesn''t think are worth eating. After all, even those ''small fries'' can cause some damage to the artifact, which would be disastrously expensive to repair."


    Evelyn smiled. "And as long as a stronger beast appears to take the ''bait'', it bes food for that thing. This creates a perfect safety for us. This thing uses a very roundabout way to hunt though, doesn''t it?"


    Cecilia smiled. "That''s right. I don''t know much about it myself, but many at the academy have theorized it over the years. ording to them, although the presence of the ''Thousand Eyed God'' is quite hidden, allowing it to approach any strong beast without alerting them, that method is too slow to sustain its growth."


    Evelyn squinted her eyes. ''So even this absurd thing wants to grow stronger, huh even though it''s the ''strongest spirit beast in the continent'', this is definitely worth looking into.''


    If Cecilia had known her friend''s thoughts, she would definitely regret ever opening this topic. However, she remained blissfully oblivious and continued to bber.

 Chapter 46: Are you into it?

    Chapter 46: Are you into it?


    It took most of the students a while to recover from the apparent shock of being abandoned by the blue robed guardians. Many of them had thought they were going to die.


    They could not be med, of course, even trained adults would get scared in the face of what they perceived is ''certain death''.


    Evelyn would have been no exception to the shock if Cecilia hadn''t warned her in advance.


    After they finally realized they were safe and sound, their reactions to the event varied greatly. Some directly copsed on their seats with relief, while some rushed away to the bathroom. Aeron, along with most of his newfound friends, had been a part of the second group.


    Cecilia didn''t even pay attention to their existence, but Evelyn wondered just what Aeron was going to do in the toilets given the way their bodies functioned. He was not a human, after all. Was he going to pretend to be one?


    As for the rest of them, Evelyn didn''t really know whether they needed to change their undergarments or felt the need to throw up. But she did feel some schadenfreude in knowing that Rufus and his buddies will be very ''busy'' now.


    In most otherpartments, the prefects were busy consoling andforting the students, and were bestowing ''knowledge'' and ''wisdom'' on these poor fledglings.


    But inpartment thirteen, the overly biased prefect Cecilia waspletely ignoring them, and focusing solely on Evelyn. If themoner children had been more courageous, they would have drowned her in curses and spit.


    Of course, even if she was in the ''wrong'', Evelyn wouldn''t be the one to set Cecilia on the right path. She already had too much on her te to worry about others, after all. If she didn''t, she would stay far away from the giant centipede instead of probing for its details.


    The country was already at war, though it hadn''t reached the peak state of conflict yet, and Bree''s condition couldn''t wait either.


    Moreover, both of these perilous situationspounded each other. Evelyn was sure that Bree had nned to take the Knox family out of the danger zone when the war broke out, and the longer she remained in this puppy like state, the stronger the possibility that it would be toote.


    Who knows what kind of contingencies she had set up, and who knows how many of them had failed in her absence?


    Since this was something that involved the entire Knox family, herself, the Gilmore sisters and even Bree... how could Evelyn not risk her life for even the slightest chance of salvaging the situation?


    Of course, she wasn''t going to rush in blindly. She had also done a fair bit of research based on Bree''s status. Even though her capabilities were limited, she could at least find out what kind of beasts the Qilin and Raijuu were.


    Although there was no way to know if her findings were actually true, they were all she had to go on now. And the appearance of this ''Thousand Eyed God'' had given her a glimmer of hope, so how could she not grasp it firmly?


    If she could get her hands on a single body part from that thing, no matter how tiny, she could use it to stimte Bree''s lineage. Of course, she would have to take some precautions before doing that.


    "Cecilia, I''m a bit curious about something. Since ''Spirit Beasts'' are quite simr to us in the sense that they don''t really need to eat or drink, why does this one feelpelled to do so?"


    Cecilia had clearly done her due research on the ''Thousand Eyed God'', and she seemed all too happy to show off her ''profound wisdom'' to Evelyn.


    "For the same reason that you''re not sitting at home sleeping all day. Just like us, it wants to grow stronger, faster. And only by rapidly consuming strong beasts that attack the expedition can the ''Thousand Eyed God'' feel a semnce of growth, although I''m sure that''s not much either."


    The rate at which a spirit beast absorbed energy from the surroundings remained the same from its birth. So the stronger it grew, the slower its growth would be as the energy required for each level became more and more.


    Just a glimpse at Bree''s level and the experience required to level up had given her this much insight. Maybe at that level, even the yellow missions she had been so ecstatic toplete would only be a drop in the bucket.


    Evelyn pretended to look doubtful, although her true thoughts were focused on probing out as much as she could out of Cecilia without arousing her suspicion.


    After all, if she knew that the younger girl was ''coveting'' the strongest spirit beast on the continent, she might just throw up a thousand liters of blood and die from shock.


    "Hm isn''t it quite dangerous, though? If that beast ispletely beyond anyone''s control, it could go on a rampage at any time, and we''ll bepletely helpless if it decides to ughter us, right?"


    Cecilia nodded, still oblivious to Evelyn''s true thoughts as she freely handed out information on Evelyn''s absurd ''target''.


    "That would be true, but I''ve been told that the ''Thousand Eyed God'' has been around for a long time, and it has suffered many times at the hands of the previous academy heads, thousands of years ago. Although there is currently no one in the academy that is strong enough to kill it if it goes on a rampage, that beast doesn''t know thatmph!"


    The ash blonde blinked at Evelyn, who had closed her mouth shut with her palm.


    "Uh, are you sure you should be saying that?"


    Cecilia rolled her eyes, and Evelyn removed her palm when she saw that her friend hadn''t just slipped up.


    "Do you think I''m dumb? I wouldn''t say it if it could hear us, whether or not it understands human tongue, how would we know for sure?"


    The pink haired girl nodded. "That''s right. But you should still be careful not to say things that don''t need to be said, around people whom you don''t want them to be known the most. It''s a recipe for disaster, whether or not you''re sure they can''t hear you."


    Cecilia blinked as she realized her mistake.


    ''That''s true I guess, although the beast can''t hear us, someone else can. And these newbies probably don''t know the difference between heaven and earth. Who''s to say they won''t bber about it in the beast''s hearing range? Good thing we were whispering and the students were distracted, or it might have been bad!''


    The ash blonde girl looked a little embarrassed, but she didn''t want to admit her mistake even if she made a mental note to not do it again in the future.


    "Anyway, don''t worry. This artifact is quite extraordinary, and the headmaster has only allowed the beast to control the entry of the students, nothing else. It cannot hear us. In fact, it cannot even pull us out of the artifact if it wanted to. Not without destroying it, at least."


    The pink haired girl nodded. "So do you know anything else about it?"


    Cecilia scratched her head in embarrassment. She had wanted to impress her friend with her knowledge, but it looks like Evelyn''s thirst for knowledge was a bit too great for her to handle.


    "Ugh, i-it''s not that I don''t know, it''s just It''ll be better if we read about it together in the library, you know! That''s the best way to learn."


    Evelyn smiled. "Alright, I''ll depend on you to help me out then."


    The ash blonde sighed. "Hah, you''re really into this centipede thing. You know, although it''s strong, it''s ugly. Not to mention it hasn''t managed to morph into a humanoid form even after thousands of years, there''s little doubt that it''s one of the dumbest among the spirit beasts. There''s nothing to like about it!"


    Just what kind of tangent was that? She really shouldn''t have answered all those ''what do you like'' questions Cecilia kept asking earlier!


    ''This girl When I said I don''t like boys, she thinks I''m into girls. And when I deny that too, she thinks I''m into giant centipedes?! What the actual fu''

 Chapter 47: Lavinian Misfortune

    Chapter 47: Lavinian Misfortune


    Even though Evelyn thought that it was absurd, she still decided to make it clear, just in case Cecilia ended up misunderstanding her.


    "I never said I liked the giant centipede. I was just curious. Got it?"


    Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief. "Got it. That''s good."


    Evelyn raised her hands in exasperation, now sure that she shouldn''t allow Cecilia free time to think too much, or she''ll surely have many headaches by the time they reached the academy.


    The pink haired girl cleared her throat. "You know, I was wondering why those boys from earlier came making trouble for me, even though I''ve never met them before."


    Cecilia blinked. "Ah, you mean those Terran boys?"


    Evelyn nodded. "Right. If they wanted to pick a fight here just because of their kingdom''s enmity with the Lavinian empire, isn''t it too absurd? Do they n to go around picking fights with everyone from the empire while at the academy?"


    The ash blonde scratched her head, slightly embarrassed.


    She wanted her friend toe to the academy with her, and had been very excited at the prospect of being here together for the past two years. Perhaps she had glorified the academy too much in her letters, and the pink haired girl thought everything there must be perfect.


    Cecilia felt like a scumbag who had scammed an innocent maiden off her money the first time she left home.


    "I-It may sound absurd, but actually it''s not far from the truth. B-But you don''t have to worry about it, I''m here, after all!"


    Evelyn tilted her head in confusion. "Really? They fight with us all the time?"


    Cecilia sighed. "It''s true. While the students of the remaining countries are peacefully studying or practicing, the Lavinian and Terran students spend a lot of their time butting heads."


    "That''s just"


    Seeing how her friend was speechless, Cecilia groaned. Now that the cat was out of the bag, might as well reveal it all in one go.


    "Actually, to make matters worse, the Terrans have recently had far more talented batches, making the Lavinian students easier to bully. With myself as an exception, it''s safe to say that most of the Lavinians are either average or worse."


    Evelyn frowned. From what she had been able to glean in the past two years, the general level of strength in the Lavinian empire was the highest among the five greater powers of the continent.


    "But Lavinia is the biggest empire in the continent. Even if we''re going through a lower quality batch ofmoners, how can the difference be so huge?"


    Cecilia sighed. "Well, you have to realize that while the bullies can often just do their thing and go meditate with a rxed mood, the bullied will often not be able to get into the right mindset out of frustration and rage. The core of the problem lies with the strong momentum of the Terrans against the Lavinians."


    What she didn''t say was that the main issuey with the fact that not only did the Lavinian royalty supportplete suppression of the ancient families in the empire, they themselves did not send many descendants to the academy.


    This meant that the number of ''true talents'' from the Lavinian empire were much lower than the others.


    Going by the current trend, even if the war ended today, the next few Lavinian batches would have nothing butmoners. Because the youngest spirit baby in the ancient families, Evelyn, had already entered the academy.


    At least in the next eight batches, there would be no one else unless the royal family''s descendants had someone among their ranks. The future of themoner Lavinian students at the academy was grim and dark indeed.


    "As a prefect, wouldn''t you be able to do something about it? Like you did earlier?"


    Cecilia scratched her cheek lightly, looking away shyly. "I mean, I just became one. This is the first time I''ve punished someone. Do you think I made a difference?"


    Evelyn smiled. "Definitely. If not for you, things might have been a lot more troublesome to handle. I could have beaten them up, but it might have led to an even worse situation."


    The ash blonde girl nodded happily before motioning her friend toe closer. "It''s good that you realize that. Because there''s a reason those boys were so confident."


    Evelyn blinked curiously as she motioned her friend to continue.


    Cecilia leaned closer to whisper directly into her ears. "Past thispartment, the next one is upied by the Terrans, you know. And their prince is currently the strongest student in the academy, and is also in thatpartment as a prefect."


    Evelyn frowned deeply. Although she had grown to level twenty two already and was fairly confident in beating up most students, she couldn''t be sure of the exact level of this so called ''strongest student''.


    "Do you know what his level is?"


    Cecilia looked a little dumbfounded at her friend''s question. Was she looking to fight someone more than twice her age? Not only was Prince Craig not a nobody, his reputation as a genius preceded his status far and wide.


    "Uhm, no idea, honestly. The only way to know would be to use either a probing array or an assessment stone, and the academy uses neither. The rankings are all decided based on real worldbat."


    Evelyn''s eyes were glinting, her curiosity clear for all to see.


    "Oh that''s interesting."


    Cecilia shrugged.


    The pink haired girl smirked mischievously. "Then, how strong is hepared to you? Can he beat two of you together, or ten of you?"


    "Ugh"


    While the ash blonde was embarrassedly looking away from her, Evelyn took the time to use her probe skill on the girl.


    - Cecilia Fulbright: Level 31 [ Exp: 21,440 / 23,730 ]


    Special Physique: Blessed Spirit


    Physique: 220


    Spirit Power: 162


    Soul Value: 159


    Vitality: 482


    [ Enhancement (avable): Lumineer''s Plight ]


    [ Affection: Stable ]


    [ Unable to view skills, higher level of affection required. ]


    Cecilia was certainly quite strong. She must have grown tremendously over the past two years, because there was no way a normal blessed spirit could get to this point at this age with just natural growth.


    However, the difference between Cecilia''s current level of strength and Evelyn was only around twenty to thirty percent. If Cecilia was the most gifted genius in her year, then Evelyn really had no expectations from her peers.


    But she had expected as much. In fact, if she still had topete with children ''her own age'' with all of her numerous advantages, then she would have to really reevaluate what she was doing with her life.


    Cecilia seemed to have gotten over her embarrassment at this point, and mumbled something inaudible, even though Evelyn had her sensitive ears fully perked up.


    "I didn''t catch that?"


    Cecilia''s eyes were slightly wet as she bit her lip. "I-I said he can crush me like a bug, okay?"


    Evelyn blinked, genuinely shocked. To crush someone like a bug meant it would take him no effort at all, right? Wouldn''t that mean she, too, would bepletely defenseless against him right now?


    "Would you really be helpless, even if there were hundreds of you against him?"


    Cecilia''s face flushedpletely red. "H-He''s six years older than me! I''ve only had two years of training, he''s had eight. A-And, and he''s even got the best resources of the Terrazyme kingdom! I-I''m not weak!"


    Looking at the tears welling up in the girl''s eyes, Evelyn felt her heart soften as she pulled the girl into a hug.


    She had forgotten that this girl was, after all, only ten years old.


    ''Poor baby was trying to show off to her friend, but I ended up making her feel humiliated Sheesh, I guess I owe her.''


    "Sorry, Cecilia, I didn''t mean to say you were weak. In fact, I think you''re super, duper strong. That''s why I couldn''t believe it when you said he could beat you."


    "R-Really?"


    "Mhmm."


    The girl seemed to have recovered a little, but instead of pulling away, she snuggled deeper into her friend''s embrace, ignoring the gloomy re from the little fox that had been set aside on the table along with the puppy.


    "Well! I''ll have you know, I can beat him! Just let me grow a little more! Humph, two, no three years! Three yearster, I''ll kick that Terran toad''s butt for you!"


    ----------


    Meanwhile, the prince, who was inspecting the food in chamber sixteen suddenly looked around in confusion.


    "What''s wrong, Prince Craig?"


    "Nothing, I just felt like someone said that ursed word, hm, but no one would dare, right?"

 Chapter 48: The Toads Tale

    Chapter 48: The Toad''s Tale


    Stanley felt cold sweat soak his back as he recalled the destruction and chaos that the prince had caused in the pce when the Aquan princess had called him a ''toad''.


    And to make matters worse, somehow the girl he proposed to a year ago ended up doing the same, this time for an entirely different reason than the princess. The girl was lucky that she survived due to the timely interference of the academy staff.


    "N-No one has the guts, my prince, rest assured!"


    Craigughed. That''s right, he hadn''t heard it ever again in the past year, and how could these newbie children even know?


    "Ahaha you''re right, I guess I''m just getting paranoid. Anyway, all this food looks equally shit to me. How in the name of mother Terra do I tell what is below standard?"


    Gazing at the wide variety of food in front of them, with many dishes that Stanley could never afford with his father''s entire month''s sry, the boy could sigh in envy. Truly, the crown prince lived a different life.


    "Like I said earlier, your highness, we should delegate this kind of job to themoners. The academy''s rules are archaic and blind. There''s no need to follow them like this."


    The chefs presenting the dishes were already covered in a cold sweat since the prince had entered theirpartment. And each of his words was like a hammer to their heart. A mockery of their entire life''s hard work and research.


    "Hm I suppose you''re right, I''m tired of looking at this shitty food anyway."


    Stanley felt a headache when he thought of how the prince had previouslypletely ignored his position as a prefect, focusingpletely on self-improvement throughout his years at the academy.


    However, he seemed to have suddenly lost interest in training a few weeks ago, and had been doing things quite whimsically since then.


    Stanley recalled oftenining to himself about how irresponsible the prince was, but looking back at it, wasn''t he fortunate that the prince had been willing to stay put? He was suffering from far fewer headaches back then aspared to the present.


    "Let''s go inspect the toilets next. Wonder if that runt is having fun."


    The chefs did not say anything to the prince, but Stanley could feel their sharp res filled with hatred on his back when he left.


    ''My life sucks''


    ----------


    Evelyn giggled as her friend went on a tirade about how she will absolutely crush ''that toadstool'' in a variety of ways.


    "I''m sure you will be stronger than him soon enough, Cecilia. But why do you call him a toad?"


    Cecilia paused as she scratched her cheek shyly. "Eh, to be honest, I don''t really know. I heard about it because he created a massive ruckus in the academy when someone called him that. And now most people call him a toad in private. Oh, but of course no one dares to say it to his face."


    The pink haired girl blinked in surprise. "What did he do to the guy who did that, back then?"


    Cecilia bit her lip as she tried to recall the incident. At that time, she had just finished sending a letter as well as ''the cookies'' to Evelyn, and wasn''t paying much attention. She couldn''t be med, since it was not an easy task to arrange it, after all.


    "Uh, it was a girl, I think. I''m pretty sure he broke both her legs. She was a spirit physique, and it took her six months to fully recover. That''s pretty much all I heard. If you want, I can ask around about it more."


    Evelyn shook her head. "It''s fine. But, she must really hate his guts now, huh."


    Cecilia smirked. "Absolutely. But it''s no surprise, no one likes him except the Terrans."


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but be surprised.


    "Aren''t these prince types usually popr amongst the girls?"


    Cecilia nodded. "He used to be quite popr when I first came to the academy, but remember that girl I told you about earlier?"


    Evelyn tilted her head. "The one who had both her legs broken?"


    The ash blonde nodded. "Yeah. This is only based on rumors, so take it with a grain of salt. But apparently, they had a private wager going. The Terran prince liked her and proposed, but she told him she''d only consider it if he beat her in a battle."


    The girl paused for suspense, and even though Evelyn resisted the urge to ask, the eavesdropping Vivian couldn''t help but jump.


    "What happened then?!"


    Cecilia smirked. Little hamster is cute... when it''s not biting people.


    "Fufu After he defeated her in the arena, she told him he was just a toad who wanted to eat swan meat! Then he beat her half to death, breaking both her legs, and might have even killed her if not for the academy staff arriving on time. Or so the story goes. Anyway, most of his admirers abandoned him after that."


    Vivian pped happily. "Ahahaha! Nice! I like that girl! Terrans are morons. Dare to go against us, humph!"


    Amara couldn''t help but shush her sister. "Don''t speak like that, Vivi, you''ll get us into trouble."


    The little redhead turned her head away with a snort, causing her sister to look at Evelyn helplessly. "Evelyn, you tell her!"


    The pink haired girl nodded.


    "Vivi?"


    "Yeah?"


    Evelyn thought about it for a while. Although she would rather let her be free, she really couldn''t afford to seek trouble with the prince right now.


    "You can say whatever you want, but only when there are no outsiders around, okay?"


    The little redhead nodded happily. "Okay!"


    Amara didn''t know what to say as she watched Evelyn get back to her conversation with Cecilia as if nothing had happened.


    "Anyway, is he like, really ugly?"


    Cecilia scratched her cheek as she tried to recall what the prince looked like. She had never paid his appearance too much attention before, after all, and only saw him asionally from afar.


    "Ugh, no I guess if I have to be objective, he looks quite good? He shouldn''t be ugly, at least."


    Evelyn nodded, but she appeared a little skeptical.


    The ash blonde hurriedly waved her hand as she thought maybe her friend ''misunderstood''.


    "Not as good as you, though! Not even close!"


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but burst into giggles. "Okay, I get it. I don''t think that the love conflict thing is true, though. Sounds so made up."


    Cecilia hummed in thought. "Maybe he has warts like a toad? Oh! It could even be abination of the two! Maybe she saw his warts, and didn''t like him anymore."


    Their conversation was interrupted as four youngdies in white aprons walked in with two interconnected carts full of food and sweets.


    Even Evelyn could feel that the aroma was appealing. Probably the food was of a good enough grade for even spirit physiques to eat without any consequence.


    "Oh~ The food sure got a lot better than when I came to the academy?"


    One of the youngdies sighed as she saw the prefect badge on Cecilia''s chest. "The chefs are overdoing it because Prince Craig keeps walking by. They''ll end up burning themselves out if they keep this up for too long."


    Evelyn blinked. Wasn''t the prince also a spirit physique?


    "Ah~ What is he there for, does he want to eat swan meat?"


    As Evelyn''s group of four burst into giggles, the youngdy with the cart looked at the door in a panic. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no one from the Terran side had overheard them.


    As a citizen of the Lavinian kingdom, thedy did not like the prince at all. But as the senior-most prefect of their grand expedition, it wouldn''t end well if he wanted to make trouble for someone.


    She didn''t want these young children to suffer due to their ignorance.


    "Miss prefect should teach your friend to be more careful. It would be a disaster if someone heard us just now."


    In fact, it was fortunate enough that her group of four did not have a Terran.


    Cecilia nodded as she knew thedy was only warning them out of goodwill. "Don''t worry, I''ll watch out for her. What do you have on the menu, by the way?"


    The youngdy handed them a single long sheet of paper, and the four of them as well as the two little fluffballs looked over it curiously. Unfortunately, it did not have any pictures, so Vivian and Ruru quickly lost interest.


    Evelyn''s focus shifted to the little puppy, who seemed to be intently looking at the menu with an unnatural focus. It was as if the puppy really could read what was on it, and was very interested in the contents.


    Of course Bree could read, Evelyn had no doubt about that. But ever since she transformed into a puppy, she did not exhibit any signs of her previous intellect. Even among normal puppies, the little thing would probably be considered dumber than most.


    ''Could it be...?''

 Chapter 49: Serenity Dew Drops

    Chapter 49: Serenity Dew Drops


    Even though she had various guesses in her heart, Evelyn did not show any outward signs of surprise for fear of startling the little thing. She knew how timid the little thing was, especially in front of people she didn''t know that well, such as Cecilia.


    Evelyn gently rubbed the little puppy''s fluffy head. "Like anything?"


    The big green eyes turned to her in slight confusion before Bree tapped her paw on one of the menu items twice.


    Evelyn still wasn''t quite sure if the little puppy was just doing it on a whim, or if perhaps some of Bree''s intelligence was starting to shine through.


    Nevertheless, there was no harm in getting whatever the little puppy wanted.


    "Please add, uhm, ten bowls of frozen serenity dew drops."


    Of course, she had no idea what it was, or how much it cost. The menu did not mention any prices, after all.


    The servingdy stared at her in surprise. "T-Ten? Are you sure? Each bowl has two hundred droplets, after all. It''s enough for two people. And they''re sweet. You''ll get sick if you take too many."


    The pink haired girl smiled. "Don''t worry, I n to keep them forter."


    "Oh. Alright then, give me a moment, please."


    Thedy took the orders from the others as well before fetching two bowls full of hundreds of tiny blue beads from her cart.


    Although the food carts did not look much different from an ice cream cart in her previous world, she was sure they were far from ordinary given the sheer amount of food being taken out from them as all four servingdies fulfilled the orders from students in thepartment.


    Shortly after, anotherdy came to their table with a te containing a delicate looking purplish shortcake along with two tall, crystal clear sses filled with rainbow colored ice cream, topped off with what seemed to berge purple fish scales.


    "Miss here''s your trimbleberry shortcake, and two orders of karpesian parfait. We currently have only two bowls of serenity drops. We''ll fetch the rest once wee by for the second round, alright?"


    As she saw Evelyn about to touch her jewelled belt, Cecilia quickly grabbed her hand.


    "My treat, please?"


    Evelyn blinked twice in surprise before nodding. Although she didn''t like having others ''take care'' of her like this, she felt it would be a bit unsightly to argue over it in front of the servingdies.


    Cecilia puffed out her chest in pride as she took out a fat, heavy looking purse from her storage ne, mming it down on the table with a loud thump. "How much is it?"


    Evelyn was looking at the fat pig shaped wallet in amusement when the bill left her gobsmacked.


    "For now it would be 501 gold coins, and 50 silver coins. You can pay the remaining 2000 gold coins when the remaining eight bowls of serenity drops are delivered."


    Feeling that the palm she was holding got a little tighter after hearing the price, Cecilia knew that Evelyn wouldn''t let her pay for the rest if she didn''t do it now.


    "Can''t you take it all at once?"


    The servingdy did not seem to get her hint, and shook her head. "No need, miss. Please pay only for what you have already received. You can make the rest of the paymentter, it''s not a small amount."


    Cecilia sighed as she dug into her fat purse to open the smallerpartment within, taking out five spirit stones. Thedy carefully put them away in a locker on the cart before epting the additional gold and fifty silver coins, which she simply slid into her apron pocket before moving on to the nextpartment.


    Cecilia smiled at her deeply frowning friend. Not to mention her, even Amara and Vivian looked a little awkward.


    "What, are you going to count this small thing between us?"


    Evelyn sighed. "I didn''t know it was so expensive. Shouldn''t they mark it clearly on the menu if it is so absurdly pricey?"


    Ceciliaughed openly before lowering her voice so only the girls at her table could hear. "Don''t you know that most of the children whoe to the academy on this ride carry enough money tost them throughout their academy life? This is their way of lightening their fat pockets a little."


    The girl patted her fat pig wallet, which had not lost much volume from the transaction, and then put it away in her ne.


    Evelyn blinked. That''s right, although the food was absurdly expensive, she really could easily afford it. But considering that the hundred spirit stones she had were meant tost her through years of academy life, she knew that splurging it like this was just being stupid.


    Of course, she never nned to depend on this little sum tost her for years. But what about regr students?


    Looking at themoner''s table, the ones with Aeron were looking at him with admiration as they chewed on luxurious looking food. The other two tables were not in as good a mood, but they were also happily eating and drinking what was probably the best meal of their lives.


    Too bad these children didn''t realize that this one meal was probably worth weeks or even months of their parents'' hard work. Even if it looked like they only used a fraction of what they had been given, the funds that should have been more than sufficient would slowly dwindle into nothing.


    And sending additional funding in the middle of the year was impossible without taking the huge risk of passing this forest. The only reliable and safe way was this yearly expedition under the protection of the ''Thousand Eyed God''.


    Of course, there were some ways, such as the one she used to exchange letters with Cecilia, but that was only thanks to a family artifact of the Fulbright''s.


    Vivian didn''t seem to care for anything other than her ice cream, but the two other girls seemed to realize the true purpose of these sumptuous meals.


    Cecilia smiled. "You must have guessed it by now, right? Many at the academy believe that only when they''re desperate will they learn how to improve the most. Of course, all these things are definitely worth the amount they are being sold for, but they''re mostly top end luxurious goods. Probably only the royal families can look down on this food."


    Amara rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Right. And to make matters worse, even if you realize your folly after paying for it once, how many can resist the temptation on the second day? Two weeks is enough time for them to fall for it multiple times, gutting their savings substantially."


    Cecilia seemed to finally hit it off with Amara as the two of them discussed the financial ''opportunities'' provided by the academy to ''make up'' for the student''s mistakes.


    "The outstanding students can directly earn their keep with just stipends?"


    "Right. The better you perform, the more you get. Of course, most students don''t get anything at all, and even have to pay the yearly fee at the end."


    Amara had been a little reserved against Cecilia, given her status. But since she wasmitted to assisting Evelyn as best as she could, the redhead felt the need to know as much as possible. Moreover, Cecilia had been more than weing, and it cleared off a lot of her previous anxiety against the girl.


    "And what is the criteria for ''outstanding''?"


    Cecilia smiled as she flicked one of her pigtails. "Of course, "best in ss", nothing less. There are quite a few different sses though. And your position is counted no matter if you best the others in a standard style or club style ss. It only needs to be recognized by the academy."


    "Oh"


    "And aside from that, you can also perform well inpetitions"


    Evelyn sighed as she kept one ear open to listen in on their conversation while the girls enjoyed their shortcake and ice cream, chatting away.


    She gingerly picked up a single clear blue bead from the bowl with her fingers. A careful look revealed what seemed to be a white snowke design inside the bead. Although it was small, it was undoubtedly beautiful to look at.


    Her probe skill did not prove to be very useful, but it still gave her some insight.


    [ Serenity Dew Drop ]


    Fresh dew formed near the serenityke, preserved and frozen. Contains some of theke''s aura.


    Effects: Temporarily enhances the rity of mind, relieves pain, and prevents headache.


    If more than a thousand drops are consumed by a single individual within a short period, it may have unexpected consequences as theke''s aura manifests within their body.


    "Unexpected consequences, huh..."

 Chapter 50: Splurging

    Chapter 50: Splurging


    "Unexpected consequences, huh Well, there''s only four hundred here, so it''s not nearly enough."


    She picked the golden puppy up in her arms before setting it on herp.


    "Well, why haven''t you dug in already? Want me to feed you?"


    Evelyn chuckled, slightly amused as she slipped the bead into Bree''s mouth.


    The little puppy seemed to gulp it down immediately before opening her mouth open wide, as if asking for more.


    The pink haired girl considered simply downing the whole bowl into Bree''s open mouth, but decided to be cautious.


    Who knows, it might turn out to be quite potent. Too much at once could cause substantial harm, even if the probe only stated a demarcation point of a thousand droplets. Her little Bree was quite small and weak at the moment, after all.


    The puppy happily gulped down one droplet after another, but the probe did not reveal any fluctuation in Bree''s status.


    Of course, Evelyn wasn''t too disappointed. Her reaction to the beads itself was perhaps the greatest ray of hope she had felt for this situation in the past two years.


    Moreover, she had felt a strong bond form between Bree and herself ever since that day on the royal carriage. And through that bond, she could feel that something within Bree was slowly improving from the moment sheid her eyes on the bowl of drops, even though the status said otherwise.


    <em>''Maybe Bree knew something about this, and was subconsciously attracted to it even though her mind isn''t fully there. Maybe I don''t have to gamble my life against that thing for now.''</em>


    Not only was that method full of risks to all their lives, it also had very low chances of sess. Inparison, it was a far better n to try out the ''unexpected effects'' of this thing that Bree had taken a sudden interest in.


    Of course, Evelyn did not have any extravagant hope of Breepletely going back to normal after a thousand of these droplets. Although she would obviously be ecstatic if that actually happened.


    She just hoped that, at the very least, Bree became able tomunicate with her, and became strong enough that Evelyn did not have to carefully protect her at all times. The current state of the little puppy was far too fragile, after all.


    "By the way, Amara, are you really going to join as a newbie at this point?"


    "Uh, no, I''m only here as Evelyn''s attendant. Same for Vivi, although she''ll be admitted as a studentter."


    Cecilia tilted her head in confusion. Didn''t Evelyn seem to care about these two sisters a lot? In that case, knowing the girl, there''s no way she would allow them to remain weak.


    Vivian''s future was secure, but if Amara never entered the academy, she would never learn a cultivation technique outside of extraordinary circumstances.


    After all, having it imparted onto someone required the original form array, and perhaps only the creator of the technique could make one. And unless one reached the absolute pinnacle of that technique, it was impossible to recreate the form array.


    Of course, some ancient families did have their own form arrays, but they were all strictly inferior to the ones at the academy. Imparting them onto their most gifted descendants was the same as limiting their future.


    After all, the better your cultivation technique was, the higher you could go.


    Evelyn knew what the girl was thinking, so she motioned for her to bring her ear closer.


    "I''ll tell you more about it when we''re alone, but just so you''re not curious for a whole two weeks, just know that she''ll not begging behind us by the time we leave, alright?"


    Cecilia''s eyes were wide open as she realized what Evelyn wanted to do. Even if she didn''t say it out loud, wasn''t it obvious enough?


    <em>''This little fox! Does she n to steal the academy''s form array or something?! No way, right?''</em>


    Still, this was not a ce where she could openly scold her for it. She could not even ask the girl if her guess was correct. That would have to wait untilter, when they''re alone.


    <em>''But for her to even hint this kind of thing to me''</em>


    Cecilia felt moved when she thought about how much trust Evelyn must have for her.


    <em>''Is this what they call cold outside but hot inside? Ah, it''s kinda cute, isn''t it?''</em>


    Of course, she didn''t know Evelyn could read the stability of her affection like an open book, or she would definitely throw a tantrum.


    At this moment, the servingdies from before finally returned and started collecting the empty tes and sses from those who had finished their meals. As for those who hadn''t, theirs would simply have to remain on the table till thedies came by for another round.


    Vivian didn''t seem to know that, though, and hurriedly gulped down the rest of her parfait in big mouthfuls when she saw the white aprondying her way.


    Evelyn tried her best to suppress her giggle when she looked at Vivian''s scrunched up face. Well, she couldn''t fault Cecilia for calling her a hamster, after all. Especially not with her cheeks stuffed full. Too bad that she doesn''t often eat due to her special physique.


    Even the servingdy smiled as she came to their table. Seeing how Evelyn was only halfway through a single bowl of serenity dewdrops, she even offered to cancel her order for the extra bowls, if she wanted.


    "No, please, I would still like to have them. Actually, how many would I be able to get, if I wanted to order more?"


    The servingdy looked at her dumbfounded for a moment before making an audible gulping sound.


    <em>''Is this some super rich youngdy? Could it be a princess? But this is the Lavinianpartment, right? And a Lavinian princess would definitely have purple hair!''</em>


    "Um, are you okay?"


    Thedy shook her head to clear her thoughts. "My apologies, miss, I got a little distracted. Um, to answer your question, this is a rare material, so the amount we have on board is limited. And we can''t sell you all of it, or we would have to strike it off the menu."


    "So how many can I get?"


    "I think around twenty bowls should be the limit, more or less. That should still leave enough for any future orders."


    "Okay, thank you. Please add that to my order. Twenty bowls, or more, if possible."


    Thedy was about to ask her again if she was sure to make such an absurd order, but then she saw the girl feed the serenity drop to the golden puppy on herp.


    Her scalp went numb.


    <em>''That''s 125 silver coins per drop, aaah! How can you feed it to a dog?!''</em>


    "Would you like advance payment?"


    The servingdy hurriedly waved her hands. No matter how rich this youngdy was, she couldn''t ept that kind ofrge amount before delivering the goods.


    "No no no, like I said, please pay when you get it! I''ll take you order now, thank you."


    Thedy hurriedly left after talking to the other three. Evelyn expected that they must get somemission from the sales, but she couldn''t be sure. Either way, since it was a useful thing, and she couldn''t be sure when or where she could acquire more... she might as well get it while she could.


    Noticing that her friend was looking at her a little strangely, the pink haired girl couldn''t help but ask.


    "What''s with that look, Cecilia?"


    The ash blonde chuckled. "Hm, I''m thinking, you really know how to splurge! Even I would think it over a few times before ordering so much expensive food. And to feed it to my puppy... well, you must really love it. I can''t imagine spending so much on a pet myself."


    Evelyn smiled. "She''s very dear to me, after all. No amount is too much. And for you to preach to me about splurging... seems silly from the girl who insisted on throwing away money earlier."


    Cecilia rolled her eyes. "That''s different. Spending it on my best friend differs greatly from throwing it away, alright?"


    When Evelyn actually thought it through, Cecilia actually had a point. Well, acknowledging when you are wrong is also a part of growing up, isn''t it?


    "Actually, when I think about it, it makes sense. I would also be a little angry if Amara or Vivian insisted too much against me spending on them."


    The ash blondeughed triumphantly.


    "Ahahaha It''s good that you get it! Now I won''t have to argue too much when your order finallyes."


    "That''s what you took out from what I said earlier?! Let me make this clear, you silly goose, I''m not letting you pay for the rest of it, alright? That''s an enormous amount of wealth that I''m spending because I have good reason to do so. You should not be the one to foot that cost."


    Cecilia couldn''t help but pout. Now that her friend was just a newbie, if she didn''t get to show off now, when would she? Given that Evelyn wasn''t any less outstanding than herself, she wouldn''t really need her muchter on, anyway.


    "Geez, and I thought we were over this already? Well, maybe you don''t understand, so I''ll tell you how much I earn. I''ll be getting a stipend of a hundred spirit stones per week, just by being a prefect. So, this is really not a big deal to me, got it?"


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but gape. The weekly stipend for a prefect is the same as what she got from the Knox family for a whole year of expenses?


    And she knew that they hadn''t been stingy at all, because the academy''s yearly fee was only a hundred gold coins, which was equivalent to just a single spirit stone.


    She had been given an amount equivalent to a hundred times her school''s fee as spending money, which was far more than what she really needed. But for the academy to give out that much every week to all of its prefects was just in absurd.


    How exactly do their finances work, even? They probably don''t even have that many students. Given the Lavinianpartment only contained around fifty in total, with twopartments, that''s just a hundred students per country, per year.


    That means the total number of students in the academy probably didn''t exceed around five thousand. If she''s being super generous, maybe even ten thousand, but that''s it.


    <em>''This must mean the fee is just there as a formality. Their actual ie muste from somewhere else. But Cecilia never mentioned this to me, meaning she doesn''t understand it herself. Strange.''</em>


    Lost in her thoughts, Evelyn even forgot to respond to Cecilia. And the girl triumphantly assumed victory in their argument.

 Chapter 51: Unaware

    Chapter 51: Unaware


    The reason that thepartments were equipped withfortable sofas instead of chairs or benches became obvious as night fell and all themps in the giant carriage artifact dimmed by themselves.


    Since the journey through the ''Wondend of Doom'' would take up almost two weeks, the students would have had a horrible time without proper rest. Hence, when the night fell the sofas could be copsed into beds, although it required a considerable amount of strength to do so.


    Cecilia had to assist the students in both the 12th and 13thpartments with their sleeping arrangements, as part of her duties as a prefect. But themoner students were docile and obedient, immediately following her instructions and making the whole process seamless.


    "They seem more scared of you than me, you know?"


    Evelyn knew it was true, because much like Aeron, Cecilia''s ash blonde hair and dark honey eyes easily allowed her to blend in withmoners if she wanted.


    "Well, I guess you can me my hair for standing out?"


    Cecilia turned her head to nce at her friend''s vibrant, beautiful salmon pink tresses, and sighed wistfully. " I think it''s beautiful."


    The pink haired girl smiled. "Oh, are you jealous?"


    Cecilia didn''t refute her immediately, thinking it through before shaking her head.


    "Hm I can''t really tell. Maybe? But probably not. I think I''m more envious of the fact that you''re so lucky withpanionship than anything else."


    Evelyn blinked. "You mean Vivi and Amara? Or Ruru and Bree?"


    The ash blonde snorted as she converted another sofa to a bed.


    "I mean your circus, yeah. They''re all so adorable, and they follow you around so obediently, aaah! I''m jealous!"


    The pink haired girl chuckled. "Fufu if you stop making fun of Vivi, you''ll get along well with them too, so what''s there to be jealous of?"


    Cecilia couldn''t help butugh. "Ahaha Guess that''s true. Except your little hamster keeps on biting me for no reason."


    The children in the 12thpartment didn''t strike a conversation with either of them throughout the process. Not that they could have without rudely interrupting the two of them as they chatted throughout the whole process.


    After the scare with the ape-like creature, all the ups and downs of the day had already gotten to most students. Not to mention most had also gorged themselves on the luxurious food, it was no wonder that they climbed in almost immediately after the beds were made.


    Of course, given that there were only eight sofas in eachpartment, many students would have to share the ''beds''. It wasn''t the mostfortable or ideal situation, obviously, but given the limited space inside the artifact, Evelyn thought the academy had already made the experience quite luxurious.


    In fact, more than the small amount of sleeping space, perhaps the students were more focused on the intermittent genocide of terrifying beasts in the forest outside. Although the sound was heavily muted, a heavy sh would still be enough to startle the more sensitive ones awake.


    And from the initial reaction of the students during the day, Evelyn thought they would quite traumatized after a while, but they adapted shockingly fast. Now they were watching thebat and ughter of the beasts as if watching a movie to sleep.


    After helping Cecilia open up all the beds in both thepartments she was responsible for, they finally returned to their own table.


    Cecilia stretched as she watched Evelyn being weed by her two ''pets'', both seeminglypeting for her affection.


    "Ahhh, finally back. Sorry I made you work, little Evey."


    The pink haired girl rolled her eyes. "Not like I was busy with anything else, and don''t call me that."


    The ash blonde smiled as she watched the little fox circle around her master''s legs while the golden puppy was held securely in her arms. She felt that it was a little pitiful, since Evelyn clearly favored the puppy far too much.


    "Ehehe I''ll just say thank you, then?"


    "You''re wee."


    Just as Evelyn handed Bree back to Amara and was about to start working on their own sleeping arrangement, however, Cecilia stopped her.


    "Hold on, I have a better idea."


    The pink haired girl blinked, confused.


    Cecilia tapped the heavy table between the two sofas. "Since the others have so generously huddled together to leave this whole ce to ourselves, why not make the most out of it? I say we move this table out from the center, and then we can join the two sofas without copsing."


    "Ah I guess we can try?"


    And so, the two of them moved the table out and to the side. Evelyn had to admit it was far heavier than she thought it would be, weighing almost five thousand kilograms.


    Although she could have barely moved it by herself, with two of them together, it became much easier.


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but huff once it was done. "What kind of stupidly heavy material is that, by the way?"


    Cecilia''s strength was a little higher than Evelyn, so she had an easier time, but she could tell why the tables remained stationary throughout the journey.


    "No idea, to be honest. I think it might actually be a part of the artifact."


    "Ah"


    Evelyn''s eyes shone as the devious thought of storing the tables in her inventory crossed her mind. Since she had over 133 spirit power, her inventory space had already grown to over 1300 square meters, and most of it was empty despite all her hoarding over the years.


    Of course, the area wasn''t as big as it seemed at first. The height of the space was the same as the length and the width, meaning that even if the t area was around 1300 meters square, it was actually just a cubic room with a height, length and width of just over 36 meters.


    If her math was right, that meant she could store just under fifty thousand cubic meters of stuff in her inventory before running out of space.


    Which was still more than enough to store all the tables in the entire chained carriage. And a lot more.


    Evelyn entertained herself a little when thinking of the faces of the academy professors when they found out all their tables went missing, but quickly shook that thought off as she helped Cecilia join the two sofas together.


    As soon as they were done, Vivian jumped into their newly made castle, followed by the two ''pets'' and then finally Amara and Cecilia.


    Evelyn sighed as she watched them have fun, thinking how wonderful it would be if she didn''t have so much to worry about and could just enjoy this time like a field trip.


    "Jump in?"


    As the pink haired girl climbed in, the difort on her face was far too obvious for Amara to not notice, even in the dim light of the moon.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Evelyn shook her head. "Nothing."


    In fact, aside from Ruru and Bree, this was her first time sharing a bed with someone else. Despite how affectionate Isabe looked, even she never shared a bed with her daughter. Evelyn went straight from her crib to her own small bed.


    Cecilia had wanted to sleep next to her friend, but Vivian refused to allow it. So the two Gilmore sisters ended up in the center, with Evelyn and Cecilia on either side.


    As the night became darker, Evelyn started to see stars slowly shine through the roof of thepartment. It had also gone transparent, just like the two sides.


    The pink haired girl was startled as she felt a hand sp her own, and looked up to see Amara''s already peacefully sleeping expression.


    She couldn''t help but smile. With her fluffy little fox snuggling into her belly, and being surrounded by her friends, this was perhaps the mostfortable she had felt in a long time.


    After her rebirth, she sometimes used to have nightmares of waking up on that conveyor belt again, only this time to find herself half crippled but somehow alive. In those almost lucid nightmares, she would always think ''so it was all a dream'', and the terror in her heart was so great that she found herself wondering how she managed to wake up alive the next day.


    But after Ruru came into her life, those nightmares had failed to perturb her as much. With the little fox snuggling into her belly, she could always feel aforting presence while asleep, and even if she found herself in that nightmare, she could snap herself awake.


    Of course, her sleep would be lost, and her mind would wander for the rest of the day, but at least it wasn''t as bad.


    However, with all her friends by her side, there was a strange feeling of safety she had never felt before.


    Perhaps the feeling differed because Ruru and Bree were ones she had to protect in her mind, while Amara and Cecilia were friends she considered more or less equal, despite their varying strengths.


    Regardless of where the feeling of security stemmed from, Evelyn held Bree close to her chest as she slowly drifted off to sleep,pletely unaware of the trouble heading her way.

 Chapter 52: What Punishment?

    Chapter 52: What Punishment?


    When Rufus had first set off for the academy, he had dreamed of days full of glory and adventure. Ever since he had been born, he had often received only praise. Except for the core royalty, he was superior to all other Terrans in terms of talent.


    As for those foreigners... how could they evenpare to the mighty Terran warriors?


    Even if they had equal stats and simr skills, the Terrans would alwayse out on top in frontalbat.


    After all, they were the only ones who trained their children to fight from the age of three. Even if it was only physical training, it ensured that they had a grasp ofbat skills far superior to their foreign peers.


    Perhaps it was this overconfidence that had led him to make a grave mistake today. And in one fell swoop, his face had been wiped not only in front of those Lavinian scum, but also his fellow Terrans.


    And to make matters worse, that dastardly Prince Craig even came to poke fun of him in front of themoners while he was serving his ''punishment''.


    To say his blood had boiled would be an understatement. However, in front of Prince Craig, what could he even do?


    But even as the night fell, Rufus found he could not get rid of his resentment at all, and his heart burned to seek vengeance.


    And so he headed for the Lavinianpartment once more. This time, however, his steps were no longer pompous and arrogant, but quiet and meek.


    His eyes darted around from time to time, making sure no one was awake. And it seemed luck was on his side tonight, because everyone he saw was sound asleep, including that bastard prince.


    As this was their first night after entering the forest, most students had been tired from all the ups and downs. From the next day onwards, it was likely that the sleep schedule of the students would start varying. After all, they were basically on an extended holiday till they reached the academy.


    There would never be another chance like this. He only had one shot a single opportunity. How could he let it slip?


    Rufus breathed heavily as his gazended on the peacefully sleeping pink haired girl. Although she lookedpletely defenseless, Rufus knew that his chances of being able to hurt her before she awakened weren''t great.


    Moreover, even if he managed to do it, expulsion would be the least of his worries.


    No, although he wanted her to suffer, he wouldn''t destroy his future just to hurt her.


    His gaze shifted to the golden puppy that the girl carefully held close to her chest. He had seen how gentle her gaze was when she looked at this thing. He knew she must treasure it greatly.


    Rufus had to make sure that she lost something she treasured, just like he lost his reputation today. All he had to do was make sure to be as silent and gentle as possible while taking the puppy from her embrace.


    Anyway, even if he ended up killing a pet, what was the worst punishment they could give him? Pay for its cost? He didn''tck that small amount of money.


    However, just as the boy was about to reach out, Evelyn''s eyes snapped open.


    <strong>[</strong> <strong>Green Mission: Protect Your Puppy! ]</strong>


    <strong>- </strong>Source: Worldly Threat


    <strong>-</strong> Clear Condition: Fulfill any < one > of the following conditions


    <strong> </strong>Prevent injury or death to ''Bree Devaughn'' for the next 24 hours.


    <strong></strong> Eliminate the immediate threat ''Rufus Stonehardt''.


    <strong>-</strong> Rewards:


    <strong></strong> <strong>Experience: 220</strong> points.


    <strong> </strong>Additional [Yellow Mission] rewards in case the second condition is fulfilled.


    <strong> </strong><strong>Soul Value</strong> <strong>+1</strong> points permanently.


    Before he could even realize what was going on, Rufus found the world spinning as pain exploded from his back along with a dull thump. The air was pushed out so quickly from his lungs that he couldn''t even scream, leaving only a silent wheeze and a whimper as his ribs cracked.


    As the world stopped spinning, Rufus realized that the pink haired girl was now straddling his chest, with her hands already wrapped around his neck.


    He wanted to beg her to let go, but realized that not only would the voice note out of his strangled throat, the girl''s eyes were also vacant as if she had lost her mind.


    <strong>[ </strong>Checking Status... <strong>]</strong>


    <strong>-</strong> Rufus Stonehardt: Level 14 [ Exp: 70 / 140 ]


    <strong>- </strong>Special Physique: Blessed Spirit


    <strong> </strong>Physique: 51


    <strong> </strong>Spirit Power: 53


    <strong></strong> Soul Value: 52


    <strong></strong> Vitality: 234


    <strong>[</strong> Enhancement (avable): Iron w <strong>]</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> Affection: Unknown <strong>]</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> Unable to view skills, higher level of affection required. <strong>]</strong>


    However, at this moment Cecilia had already arrived next to her friend, and was whispering calming words into her ears as she rubbed the pink haired girl''s back.


    "It''s alright. You can let him go. He can''t do anything. Evelyn It''s okay now"


    Of course, the effect of her words was limited to stopping her friend from snapping the boy''s neck. Evelyn did not seem to have any intention of letting him go at all.


    Cecilia did not get the chance to console her any further, because by now three more prefects had arrived at the scene.


    "Whew, I heard a loud boom and expected to see a fatty falling from the bed, but this scene is quite unexpected."


    Evelyn''s vacant gaze moved from Rufus and towards the girl who had spoken. She looked a little older than Cecilia, with her seaweed green hair tied in a high ponytail and faded blue eyes. Given that she had arrived from one of the frontpartments, she must be from Aquavahn.


    <strong>[</strong> Checking Status... <strong>]</strong>


    <strong>-</strong> E Hydrangea: Level 34 [ Exp: 1150 / 7000 ]


    <strong>- </strong>Special Physique: Blessed Spirit


    <strong> </strong>Physique: 165


    <strong></strong> Spirit Power: 174


    <strong></strong> Soul Value: 161


    <strong></strong> Vitality: 440


    <strong>[</strong> Enhancement (avable): Floral Whisper <strong>]</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> Affection: Unknown <strong>]</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> Unable to view skills, higher level of affection required. <strong>]</strong>


    Two boys that looked even older than this girl were also staring at her with a frown, but they had arrived from the opposite direction, meaning they must be Terrans.


    Contrary to her vacant look, Evelyn was very much inplete control of herself. However, her thoughts were moving in a perilous direction.


    <em>''The strongest among them seems to be that boy. They seem to be using some artifact to block my probing skill, but it''s fine. I can still use Lotus Throne''s Nirvana to take him down, and handle the rest myself. But''</em>


    As some time passed, Evelyn found herself calming down.


    <em>'' I probably can''t survive through this forest alone. Even the academy will have to be abandoned if I do this, and how can I be sure of protecting my friends then? He will have to dieter for trying to hurt my Bree, but I can only let him go for now.''</em>


    Rufus felt the grasp on his neck loosen, but he didn''t dare squeak out a single word.


    He knew that Prince Craig had already arrived, but his previous ridicule was still fresh on the boy''s mind. Who is to say he will protect him if this girl decides to kill him?


    As for the other prefect he had never seen? She didn''t seem to be in a hurry to rescue him, either.


    The boy''s eyes darted hopelessly from side to side before finally settling on the pink haired girl, but shepletely ignored his pleading look.


    "What will be his punishment for assaulting us?"


    Cecilia was silent. She didn''t have a good enough response to her friend''s question. The ash blonde knew that she had no say in what happened in the presence of so many senior prefects.


    Moreover, the moment that Prince Craig had arrived, Cecilia felt that things could go in a terrible direction at any time.


    As a favored student herself, Cecilia knew very well how much favoritism from the staff mattered when interpreting the rules. And Prince Craig was loved hundreds of times more than herself by the academy staff.


    In the Ancient Academy, talent reigned supreme, and Prince Craig had shown himself to be the most talented student of the academy in hundreds of years.


    Even if he killed her friend right now, he would probably only receive a p on the wrist if that.


    But contrary to her expectations, Prince Craig did not move an inch. Instead, it was the green haired girl who cleared her throat.


    "Well, can the little prefect testify what you saw?"


    Cecilia nodded. As long as Prince Craig stayed out of it, it was all good.


    "We were all sleeping together, and when I woke up, I saw him very close to our bed before being taken down by Evelyn."


    The green haired girl squinted her eyes as she tilted her head from side to side. After a while, she shook her head in disapproval.


    "The way you worded that is strange, right? Did you see him before or after your friend was straddling him?"


    The ash blonde knew her words had been caught.


    <em>''This is why I hate talking to people from Aquavahn!'' </em>


    They were notoriously good at finding loopholes in words. But directly telling them a lie was even more unlikely to go unnoticed.


    Prince Craig finally spoke at this moment, and the green-haired girl immediately backed out with a shrug.


    "Little girl, you let the boy go first, then we can talk about punishments."

 Chapter 53: Craigs Will

    Chapter 53: Craig''s Will


    Evelyn gritted her teeth before standing up. To dare make an attempt on Bree''s life, Rufus had no other punishment than death. Unfortunately, that would have to wait until she had a suitable opportunity.


    Rufus almost cried out in joy despite his broken ribs and aching back. <em>''I''m alive!''</em> was the only thought running through his mind.


    Prince Craig snorted as he saw the pathetic look on the boy''s face. How can a Terran behave like this? Not to mention, he even had such close ties to their royal family. It was absolutely disgraceful.


    "Rufus. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"


    The boy broke out of his daze as Prince Craig''s words rang in his mind. Although the tone of his voice was chilly, Rufus thought that perhaps at this time, even if the prince did not like him, he would side with a fellow Terran in front of outsiders.


    Besides no one saw what he did. All anyone saw was the pink haired girl''s retaliation!


    "P-Prince Craig, I was just feeling suffocated after cleaning the bathroom all day, and was taking a walk to refresh my mind. But who knew this crazy girl would attack me the moment I passed by!"


    Although his voice was slightly wheezy from pain, his words rang clear in thepartment.


    As themotion created by Evelyn while taking Rufus down was quite short, most of the students had simply remained asleep due to getting used to the sound of monsters fighting in the forest. Even Vivian and Bree hadn''t woken up, although Amara was now silently standing at Evelyn''s side.


    There were still a fewmoners who did get roused from their slumber, some from themotion and some from theter confrontation. So far, they had been staring meekly from their beds, but the way they looked at Evelyn changed greatly after hearing the Terran boy.


    If she''s so crazy, doesn''t that mean she can attack them at any moment too? Wouldn''t they just get squashed to death in that boy''s ce? But none of them dared to gossip or whisper. No one wanted to invite disaster, after all.


    However, as themoners were shaking in terror, the green haired female prefect snorted.


    "I guess that settles the truth of the matter, then. Right, Prince Craig?"


    Contrary to the shining eyes of Rufus, however, Prince Craig''s expression was dark as the bottom of a wok.


    As the young Terran boy turned around in confusion, Prince Craig''s reaction wasn''t the only one that made little sense to him. That biased prefect who had punished him earlier was also giving him a condescending look, as if he was nothing but a clown.


    "Stanley, drag him away and ask the chefs for a key to one of the empty storages inpartment neen. He''ll be locked in there until we get to the academy, the professors can decide his true punishment then."


    Stanley, who had been silently standing behind his prince all this time, bowed and swiftly made his way over to the young boy on the floor.


    The young Terran boy''s expression went from tion to terror in a matter of moments as Prince Craig''s sentence rang out, each word striking like a hammer to his head.


    "W-What, wait, why?! Didn''t I"


    Before he could speak any further, he was knocked out by Craig''s aide and dragged away.


    Prince Craig did not leave after them immediately, instead closing in on Evelyn before lifting her chin up with his index finger.


    He chuckled at her disgusted face.


    "Now, just because I''m letting you off this time, don''t think you can go around doing whatever you want in here, alright? This time Rufus was in the wrong, but your actions were also a bit overboard."


    Evelyn''s eyes remained cold as she pped his hand away, unable to bear his touch anymore.


    The older boy chuckled, as if more amused than offended.


    "I wonder if he keepsing back to bully you because you''re so cute? I have to say, you''ve managed to catch even my interest."


    Evelyn''s face twisted, and even Cecilia couldn''t help but frown in disgust.


    At this moment, the green haired prefect cleared her throat. "Prince Craig, I would request you to please not harass the students anymore. I''ve given you enough face already, haven''t I? I''ll have to file a formalint against you if you keep this up."


    The older boy did not respond to her at all,pletely ignoring both her words and existence. His gaze remained focused solely on the pink haired girl in front of him.


    "It''s a pity that you won''t be strong enough for thepanionship tournament by the time of my graduation. How about this, then, if you do manage to win, I shall take you as a wife. Can you imagine being a Terran Queen?"


    Although Evelyn wanted to spit on his face, she had a feeling that this boy''s words and his intentions weren''t quite in the same ce. Did he think he could fool her with just a few words?


    On the surface, he seemed to ''favor'' her, but the mission she received said something else entirely.


    <strong>[ Red Mission: Craig''s Will ]</strong>


    <strong>-</strong> Source: Worldly Threat


    <strong>-</strong> Clear Condition: Fulfil any <em>one</em> of the following conditions


    <strong></strong> Prevent injury or death from source <em>Craig Maenhardt</em> for the next two years.


    <strong>-</strong> Rewards:


    <strong></strong> <strong>Experience: 240,000</strong> points.


    <strong> Physique +10</strong> points permanently.


    <strong> Spirit Power +10</strong> points permanently.


    The green haired prefect from before stepped in between them, blocking Craig''s sight.


    "It''s not nice of you to ignore me, you know. And I think it''s way past the time you leave."


    Prince Craig''s expression was hard as stone. "Are you very interested in having your legs broken again, E?"


    E haughtily flicked her hair, almost hitting the girl behind her in the face.


    "I''ll have you know, every time my bones break, they grow back stronger! So, you may not be able to break them this time. Also, princess Arial told me that she will have you skinned alive the next time you show your face in front of her."


    Prince Craig''s expression fell, his tone bing chillingly cold.


    "That Aquan princess of yours is as insolent as ever. I suppose it''s not shocking that you would take after her manners as herckey. I guess I should have broken the legs of that little bitch instead, right?"


    E turned up her chin proudly. "As if you can? Keep dreaming."


    This stupid little prince didn''t even dare to squeak out a single word when the princess called him a toad, but he acts all high and mighty in front of those younger and weaker than him.


    But she knew that if she really said that, he might really explode, and E knew she wasn''t strong enough to handle him.


    The Terran prince sighed. "Why the hell are you here, anyway? You''re supposed to be inpartment ten, aren''t you?"


    The green haired girl smiled, although there was no sincerity anywhere on her face.


    "And Stanley is supposed to be in twelve, but I don''t see him there, do I? In fact, he seems to havepletely abandoned his duties, instead going around serving you like a toady. Last I heard, it was this little prefect who handled all the work in hispartments."


    Prince Craig chuckled, though his anger was still palpable despite his ''eased'' expression.


    Evelyn could tell he was the type to hold a grudge. And she knew that this green haired prefect was definitely going to suffer for standing up to him today.


    Maybe that was why she had initially backed out, hoping she wouldn''t need to step in.


    But the more she thought so, the more she couldn''t help be impressed. <em>''This E girl is really quite brave, huh.''</em>


    "Hey now, don''t go making baseless usations against my aide just because you''re an ignorant fool."


    Once they knew that there was a Lavinian prefect on board, neither Craig nor Stanley considered it their responsibility to take care of the Lavinianpartments.


    Anyway, they should have been informed that the little girl was promoted ahead of time, yet this little bitch wants to me this on Stanley?


    "I let you livest time despite your insolence, not because the professors came by, but because I took pity on you for being young and weak. Do you not appreciate that?"

 Chapter 54: Eula Hydrangea

    Chapter 54: E Hydrangea


    "I let you livest time despite your insolence, not because the professors came by, but because I took pity on you. Do you not appreciate that?"


    However, despite the oppressive aura from the prince, the green haired prefect remained obstinate.


    "You''re very proud of being able to defeat someone four years younger than you, right?"


    Craigughed, as if he hadpletely forgotten about his anger. But the more nonchnt he appeared, the worse Evelyn felt the oue would be for the green haired girl.


    "I did not defeat you, E. I crushed you without effort. There is a difference, and you best not forget that. Enjoy this trip, by the way, because the next time I see you in the academy I shall break both your arms and legs."


    Prince Craig did not allow her room for retort as he turned around and left.


    The green haired girl breathed a sigh of relief as she turned around.


    "Alright, my job here is done. You girls go back to sleep. He may be a douchebag, but he''s not the type to go back on his words. So, no need to worry."


    Just as she was about to leave, however, Evelyn reached out to hold her wrist. "Wait."


    The green haired girl blinked in surprise. Although the girl''s grip was gentle, she could tell that it wouldn''t be easy to break free if she wanted to do so.


    <em>''To be so strong at this age No wonder that bastard took an interest in her!''</em>


    Of course, her attitude towards the girl did not change even after knowing of her strength.


    Since there was a four year gap between them, E doubted that this girl would ever be in her directpetition.


    "What is it?"


    Evelyn let go of the girl''s wrist, her reluctant smile conveying both gratitude and regret.


    "I''m very grateful for your help, but I feel like you''re going to get into a lot of trouble now because of me. So"


    E frowned as she stepped forward to grab the pink haired girl''s cheeks, squeezing them roughly as she enjoyed the girl''s dumbfounded expression.


    "You tiny little brat! How old are you, huh? You dare to look down on me?!"


    If Vivian had been awake, she would surely have bitten a big chunk of flesh off of E''s face.


    The green haired prefect only let her go once she saw the younger girl''s eyes get slightly misty.


    Although Evelyn did rub her red cheeks, her reaction was far from E''s expectations. She didn''t get angry or indignant, instead choosing to simply ignore the entire incident.


    "I-I may be young, but I''m not that weak, and I''ll get stronger. Since you got into trouble with him because of me, you cannot keep me out of it, okay?"


    Of course, in addition to clearing her ''debt'', Evelyn also had the intention of keeping up with Craig''s actions better.


    Since E was in a simr position to Cecilia and was two years her senior, she must surely have better connections in the academy. She did not feelfortable beingpletely in the dark.


    Although the system could serve as a warning, there was no guarantee that she would receive an appropriate quest in time. Especially if the method of attack wasn''t direct, she didn''t even know if the right quest would show up.


    For example, she didn''t receive a quest to defend the Knox family when those thugs had attacked the mansion during the ceremony.


    There was no way to be sure, but Evelyn felt that perhaps she would only have gotten a quest once either herself or someone very close to her suffered a direct attack.


    The prefect looked a little conflicted before patting the younger girl on the head. "What''s your name?"


    "Evelyn Knox."


    "Alright, Evelyn. Aren''t you misunderstanding something? It''s not like I did this to help you or anything, you little idiot."


    The pink haired girl blinked.


    E sighed. "I just have a personal grudge against him. So, you don''t need to feel so indebted or guilty."


    Evelyn nodded. "Okay, that''s fine. But you still ended up helping me out. It''s all the same to me. I just want to keep in touch, isn''t that okay? I can''t rest assured without that. I promise not to trouble you too much!"


    E''s attitude eased slightly. Isn''t this girl just trying to stick to her because she protected her from Craig? What is this thing called again, puppy love?


    "Hmph. You should have just said so earlier if you felt scared and wanted toe to me. Sure, you can visit anytime. Bring along all your friends, too, if you like. The Aquans never reject guests, after all."


    Although E''s interpretation of her request wasn''t to Evelyn''s taste, she decided to allow it since it suited her purpose anyway.


    Seeing her nod, the green haired girl bid them goodnight and left as swiftly as she had arrived.


    Cecilia sighed as she ran a hand through her hair.


    "Looks like most of that story was wrong, but turns out the girl who got her legs broken was her, huh That guy''s so despicable. I find myself hating him more and more."


    Evelyn nodded. "Although she''s very prideful, it''s unlikely that she provoked the prince first. We should be more careful, too."


    The ash blonde girl bit her lip as she looked at her friend.


    "I''m more worried for you than anyone else, Evey. The way he looked at you was so wrong. Ugh, it''s disgusting just to think about it. That guy is like twice your age. That pervert!"


    Compared to her own peaceful first day, Evelyn''s was truly full of ups and downs. Cecilia couldn''t imagine how bad of an impression the girl must have of the academy by now.


    Evelyn just smiled as she motioned for Cecilia to get back to bed, and the ash blonde could only sigh and move on.


    Once it was just the two of them, Evelyn patted Amara''s shoulder. "Why are you standing here silently? Go back to sleep."


    The redhead bit her lip tightly, but she neither responded nor moved.


    Evelyn tapped the redhead''s cheek lightly with her palm. "What''s wrong? If you''re worried, don''t be. Everything''s fine now, so rx."


    Amara''s eyes darted from side to side as she avoided her friend''s gaze. "I-I I''m sorry, Evelyn, it''s just No, nevermind. I''ll go back to sleep."


    The feeling of helplessness she had felt when Craig had been bearing down on Evelyn was the same as that day when her Gilmore family was wiped out.


    She had huddled together with her sister and remained hidden as everyone else got ughtered.


    Amara wondered if she would still remain a coward when the day came that her closest friend was really about to lose her life.


    She had deluded herself into thinking she had changed. Wasn''t she just as weak now as she had been all those years ago?


    What difference did it make if she stopped a powerless little kid from bullying Evelyn? When it came to real threats that mattered, Amara knew she was utterly useless.


    <em>''Isn''t it better to just die together? I don''t want to bear this burden anymore I''m done being helpless but what can I do?''</em>


    Even if she rushed ahead and tried to protect her while being too weak to do so, Amara knew that would only make the situation worse.


    Evelyn was keenly aware of the dark clouds surrounding Amara''s heart. But it was not a problem with an instant solution.


    In fact, most of Amara''s issues stemmed from a single cause. And that was herck of confidence in her strength.


    And the solution was not to counsel her into believing herself to be stronger than she is. No, that would only hurt herter down the road. The real solution was to allow her to gain strength.


    The pink haired girl sighed.


    <em>''Don''t worry, Amara. For taking care of me all these years, the least I can do is not let your future remain bleak.''</em>

 Chapter 55: Eulas Misunderstanding

    Chapter 55: E''s Misunderstanding


    In stark contrast to the conflicts they faced that night, the next day was remarkably peaceful.


    The rest of the students seemed to mind their own business, Rufus was locked up in a storage container somewhere, and Prince Craig didn''te to look for them either. It couldn''t get any better, could it?


    Although the peace was slightly broken by Vivian''s groans about herself being bored. She had been alright for a day, but expecting the hyperactive little girl to just remain on the sofa for the entire trip was obviously too tall an order.


    Of course, Evelyn had stored plenty of small games in her inventory. She knew it was going to be a long trip without much to do, after all. But she decided that she might as well use this as an excuse to visit E first.


    It was more productive to establish a connection with a powerful senior who had plentiful connections than it was to sit here and y games.


    Besides, Evelyn believed in striking the iron while it was hot. E should still have some impression of her, but if she waited too long, approaching her would appear more and more deliberate.


    The worst thing was that the girl seemed to be under some sort of false impression, and Evelyn felt that if she went and said ''I just wanted to see you'' then it would justplicate things further.


    <em>''She probably thinks I''m a scared little girl who got attached to her because she ''rescued'' me. Which I will definitely have to fixter.''</em>


    Although E had definitely helped her out. Rufus was truly an idiot for trying to lie in front of her when she had just exposed the ws in Cecilia''s words moments before. Even Prince Craig couldn''t side with him after that.


    Even if E hadn''t stepped up to defend her from Craigter, she would still have been grateful just for that. And since she did go one step further, Evelyn felt it was too much of a pity to not befriend her.


    Although getting her enhancement would be great as well, Evelyn did not have high expectations after not getting even Vivian and Amara''s enhancements after so long.


    Since she was leaving, Evelyn couldn''t very well leave Bree alone after the scarest night. And once Ruru saw her master nestle the puppy in her arms, how could she be willing to stay behind?


    The little fox swiftly jumped onto her master''s left shoulder, her new favorite spot. It wasn''t as fluffy as the previous nest, but it allowed easy ess to master''s nape, which elicited very funny reactions when licked.


    When she had been a little smaller, Ruru often liked to climb right on top of her head and treat her hair like her own personal nest. However, now she was a little bigger, and her head was no longer big enough to remain afortable resting spot.


    Evelyn worried what she would do once Ruru grew even bigger. Perhaps it was time to start training her to not be so clingy all the time.


    Well, she was still small. Previously, she was so tiny that she couldfortably fit inside an adult''s palm. Now, if shey t on a regr sized palm, all of her limbs would dangle out.


    Despite being disobedient in small matters like this, Ruru actually had a very deep tacit understanding with her.


    Unlike a normal ''pet'' who would have instantly growled at or jumped anyone their master treated violently, Ruru had understood her thoughts at that crucial moment and remained hidden, ready to use the ''Lotus Throne''s Nirvana'' whenever Evelyn needed.


    Thankfully, she had refrained in the end, because that skill had the potential to be a double-edged sword. Especially if the opponent''s stats were unknown.


    The higher the difference between thebined soul power of the master beast duo and that of their opponent, the greater the bacsh Ruru will have to suffer.


    Of course, both herself and little Ruru had a ridiculously high amount of soul power, which was the foundation of her confidence even while facing an opponent many levels higher than herself.


    "I''lle too!"


    "Me too, me too!"


    The pink haired girl could only nod helplessly, but as Vivian tried to glomp onto her legs, she was ''ruthlessly'' denied and pushed away.


    "I think I''m carrying enough passengers already, Vivi. Have some mercy, please?"


    "A That''s not fair! Why am I always the one left out?!"


    Cecilia chuckled as she poked the little redhead''s cheek, making her growl threateningly.


    "Because the puppy and fox are cute and obedient, but little hamster is all ''I''ll huff and I''ll puff and I''ll bite your face off!''yikes! Almost got me. See, that''s what I was saying!"


    Evelyn rolled her eyes and ignored the two of them as Vivian tried to jump around and bite into Cecilia arms again.


    Since everyone else wasing with her, Evelyn couldn''t leave just Amara behind all alone either. Thankfully, they didn''t have any luggage to protect, as everything was already safely stored in her inventory.


    Seeing Evelyn nod, Amara shrugged and got off the sofa. Evelyn was d to see her not look as lethargic as she had been sincest night. The older redhead pulled Vivian away from Cecilia by her ears, ignoring her indignant screeching as the civilian students watched them in terror.


    Cecilia scratched her head. "Ugh, looks like our impression among the juniors keeps getting worse and worse."


    Evelyn was of course aware of it as well, but she didn''t think it mattered anyway. This was a world where strength mattered more than anything else. Riches and status came second. And reputation was a distant third, if that.


    "Leave them be, as long as they don''t bother us."


    Compartment twelve was surprisingly sparse, with only a few students on each table. And they soon found out why.


    The next ''room'' was jam-packed with students, each table surrounded by over twenty of them as they yed all kinds of games. Clearly, the students had made thispartment into some sort of game room.


    The green-haired girl was obviously far more diligent than the other three prefects Evelyn had met. Despite being stationed inpartment ten, she was standing in a corner onpartment eleven, since most of the students from the nearbypartments had ended up gathering here to y games.


    E blinked in surprise as she saw the colorful group of girls approaching her. "It''s you I didn''t think you woulde to see me so soon."


    Evelyn smiled, trying to appear as nonchnt as possible. "My friend was getting a little restless just sitting in her ce, so we decided to take a walk."


    The green-haired girl''s smile was yful, clearly not believing her excuse. "You could have gone the other way too, you know? It''s okay to admit you came to meet me."


    Evelyn scoffed. "The other way is contaminated by a toad. I''d rather stay away."


    "Ah. Makes sense I guess.".


    Despite her surface attitude, E was actually quite weing and generous, and even shared some delicacies she had brought with her from her home. Of course, seeing how the ce was already so crowded, they had to move to E''spartment before they could even talk.


    Vivian blinked curiously as she chewed on the blueish purple ''cookies'' that E had shared with them. "These taste quite simr to that parfait I had earlier, I mean, in terms of vor what was it called again?"


    "Ah, you must mean the Karpesian Parfait. Of course it tastes simr, since it contains the same fish scales as these cookies."


    The green-haired girl puffed out her chest, her tone filled with pride. "Theye from a school of fish found in the deep waters of the great ocean, and we''re the only ones who had managed tomercially hunt them for years. If you''ve ever eaten anything containing Karpesian scales, it was almost certainly supplied by the Aquans."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but smile. Compared to the way Rufus showed his ''pride'', which was by demeaning others, she much preferred E''s method.


    Looking at the pink haired girl smile while looking at her, E smirked. <em>''Hmph. Who''re you fooling? I knew she had a crush on me. Ahh, but I can''t me the poor girl. She''s so young, and prone to puppy love. And I ended up rescuing her too. Too bad, her love can never be fulfilled. How sad, ahhh, she''s so pitiful.''</em>

 Chapter 56: Blabbermouth

    Chapter 56: bbermouth


    Evelyn felt that there was something not quite right about the way E looked at her, but she couldn''t tell what was wrong either, so she could only shrug the strange feeling off.


    E''s table was surprisingly empty. Perhaps no one dared to associate with her, or they were more interested in ying with other children. In any case, it suited Evelyn just fine since it gave them more privacy.


    As they continued their conversation, E was surprised to discover that Evelyn had already been to Aquavahn before, though not for long.


    "You visited the port of Nemer?"


    Evelyn smiled as she remembered the day Bree had taken her to buy little Ruru. If not for that, would she have ever met her precious fox? It was perhaps the happiest day of her life.


    "Yep, my aunt took us there for my birthday."


    E''s eyes were open wide.


    "Wow she must be really strong. Like, ridiculously strong! I can''t imagine anyone being able to do that below level sixty no, maybe even seventy! That''s almost at the national guardian level! Do you know how strong she is?"


    Evelyn was starting to discover why Cecilia mentioned hating to talk to Aquans.


    <em>''If I say that she''s not strong or I don''t know, she''ll probably detect that as a lie, right? How do I get out of this? Bree is definitely strong, but not right now, and I don''t want to tell her the specifics ugh.''</em>


    " Let''s just say I''ve never met anyone stronger, maybe except the centipede?"


    E didn''t seem to detect anything wrong with her words as she nodded. "That''s amazing I''m curious though, since she took you there for your birthday, she must have gotten you an amazing gift, right? Don''t tell me it''s that cute little fox?"


    <em>''I definitely have to look into how this Aquan lie detection thing works. It''s a pity that there was nothing like that in her status.''</em>


    "How did you know Ruru is a spirit beast?"


    Anyway, she never had any intention of hiding Ruru''s status. Since they had openly purchased her, anyone who wanted to know would be able to find out. But she knew that E had definitely never looked into it. She didn''t even know her name beforest night.


    The green-haired girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Ahaha Although I can''t tell for sure, I had a feeling it was a spirit beast. Although it could have been a rare type of regr beast that I''ve never seen before, too. But after hearing about your trip to the port of Nemer and how your aunty could take you there on a round trip in a single day yeah, it kinda just clicked together."


    ""


    E stuck out her tongue. "Don''t worry! I won''t tell anyone. Ehehe."


    Evelyn took some joy in the fact that while she was keeping E busy, the other three girls had already munched through almost the entire bag of E''s precious cookies.


    The green-haired girl didn''t seem to care that she was being snubbed. "What about the little puppy, by the way? Is that also a spirit beast?"


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. <em>''Even if I tell her this is the one she was in so much admiration of earlier, she''ll probably think her lie detection is short-circuiting.''</em>


    "Do you think I have a spirit beast farm? Ruru is the only spirit beast my aunt got for me."


    E grinned sheepishly. "Ahhh I guess not. Our princess has a few, too. A crab, a snake, and a fish. But they''re kinda let''s just say that they''re not cute at all,pared to yours. Oh, by that, I mean"


    And as she bbered on and on, Evelyn soon discovered that this diligent-looking prefect was actually just a huge bag of bad habits.


    Not only did she like to dig into others'' secrets, she also loved spilling her own. To prevent her from poking and prodding around her own matters, all she had to do was not tell her to shut up.


    "So that''s what really happened?"


    E nodded, like a sage bestowing knowledge upon her disciples. "That''s right. The Terran King wasn''t satisfied with the fact that the Aquan Empress wanted to stay out of the war. Although he couldn''t do anything about it on the surface, he sent his son, that bastard Craig, to win over the Aquan princess with the intention of drawing us into the war."


    Evelyn tilted her head in confusion. Although she had heard of royalty sacrificing their children in a marriage to form alliances or prevent wars, she never thought it actually had that much impact.


    If their familial ties were that strong, would they sacrifice their children? And if their familial ties were weak, how much sway would those weak ties to discarded children actually hold over their decisions?


    "If they didn''t want to take part in a war, would marrying the princess really change anything?"


    E scowled, almost reaching over to pull the little girl''s soft-looking cheeks, but stopped herself in time. <em>''Oh no, that''s a bad idea. The poor girl already has a crush on me. I can''t be too affectionate!''</em>


    She cleared her throat. "Of course it will! You don''t know this, but princess Arial is the most beloved daughter of our Empress, and she dotes on her so heavily that you won''t believe it even if I told you."


    "Eh?"


    E couldn''t help but snort. "You''re doubting me, aren''t you? Let me tell you this, the Empress actually has a collection of over three hundred thousand dolls, portraits and statues in her pce, all in the image of her dearest daughter, our beloved princess Arial. As long as she hears of a talented artist or craftsmaning to Aquavahn, they must make her dearest daughter''s image for her, so she can ''appreciate her beauty all over again''!"


    ""


    <em>''Let''s hope I never have to meet this woman.''</em>


    E continued, unaware of the little girl''s scorn for her Empress. "Even the decision of not going to war was because of the princess in the first ce!"


    At this moment, the big bag of cookies had finally run out, and just as the three girls were about to guiltily hand it over, the green-haired prefect nonchntly took another big bag out of her spatial ne and mmed it on the table.


    "Don''t worry, these kinds of things may be expensive for outsiders, but our princess has mountains of them I can take for free! My ne is stuffed full of nothing but cookies, so eat as much as you want."


    For once, Evelyn had no idea whether she should be impressed or disgusted.<em> ''Why would the Aquan princess have a mountain of cookies? And why would this girl keep nothing but cookies in her spatial artifact?? More importantly''</em>


    "Didn''t you say earlier that the Aquan Empress didn''t want to go to war, and that''s why the Terran King sought his son''s marriage with your princess? What the heck is going on?"


    This time, E really did reach out and squeeze Evelyn''s cheek, although only briefly.


    "Little babies like you shouldn''t say bad words! Anyway, you''re putting the cart before the centipede!"


    E chuckled at her own joke. Evelyn felt she was a little pitiful, so she tried her best to make a convincing smile.


    "Hmph, let me tell you this, unlike the other four powers in the continent that operate mostly on their ego and whims, our Aquavahn makes most of their decisions based on the benefits it will bring. When ites to war, it''splicated enough that we actually had two factions in the empire."


    Evelyn blinked. "Aren''t all final decisions made by your Empress?"


    E scoffed. "Of course, for the major decisions that require her attention at least, but she still takes advice so that she remains informed and her decisions are well thought out. For decisions that are controversial, it''s normal for these advisors to split into factions and get into arguments."


    The pink-haired girl nodded as her eyes shone with enlightenment, making E puff out her chest with pride as she continued to prattle.


    If she knew that Evelyn was just acting to dig out as much as she could from this information gold mine, she would definitely squeeze the little girl''s cheeks till they swelled to twice their original size.


    "One side wants to reap immediate benefits from the war, and the other believes that destabilizing factors such as war are like slow poison. Even if it''s sweet at the moment, it will surely cause more harm than good."


    Evelyn pped her hands. "Wow, so wise!"

 Chapter 57: Toady Backstory

    Chapter 57: Toady Backstory


    The green-haired girl puffed up, as if the one being praised was herself.


    "Of course, Princess Arial, whom I have served my entire life, believes that war is not a game. She believes that though we may need to pick up arms when the timees, and we must surely be ready at that time, but now is not the time. Of course, as soon as Princess Arial spoke her mind to the Empress, the previous debate became moot."


    Evelyn pretended to be confused, frowning pitifully.


    "I don''t really get it Aren''t the Aquans still a part of the Earthbound Alliance?"


    E sighed. "Of course. But since the alliance is made up of three major powers, can they force us to go to a war they started when we don''t need to?"


    <em></em>


    <em>''She sure knows a lot! I''m guessing even the top echelons may only know so much. That princess of hers must really trust her quite a bit.''</em>


    The pink-haired girl scratched her head, still ''confused''.


    "Hm but if you disagree with it, don''t you have to leave the alliance then?"


    E turned her head around to ensure no other students were nearby before leaning in closer to the little girl.


    "Well, I''ll admit even I don''t know all the details, but I can ask the princesster. Anyway, what I do know is that Lumenzarha supported Terrazyme in their decision to go to war against Lavinian Empire, and by extension, the Thunderstep Alliance."


    Evelyn nodded. She had already guessed that much.


    "As the majority vote wins, the alliance''s decision was made in favour of the war. But since Aquavahn voted against it, we are not required to directly participate in any battle.


    Anyway, even they should know we''ll just leave the alliance if they force it, and although it will incur losses, they lose more than us. Can they afford it right as they are about to go to war? Of course not. So we''re in the war only in name. In a way, we remained neutral."


    The pink-haired girl looked ''enlightened'' as she smiled. "Alright, I think I get it now. So basically, the King must have known about how much the Empress dotes on her daughter, and thought that if he had her married to his son, she would change her decision?"


    E scoffed. "I have absolutely no idea what that papa toad thought, but his idea was absolutely trash. To begin with, our princess does not like men. And even if she liked men, she would not like that toad!"


    Evelyn blinked. <em>''Wow wouldn''t the princess be mad if she knew E is spreading that around? Or does everyone already know this?''</em>


    If it was already well known, then the Terran King was more of an idiot than she thought.


    Evelyn continued probing the green-haired prefect for more details regarding her empire as well as the nearby regions, but she made sure not to dig in too deep anymore.


    Although E was quite nave, she didn''t want to attract her suspicion for no reason, especially considering she had no intention of harming the girl. Why lose a friend?


    After a while, she moved on from the serious topics. "So, what''s the story behind the ''toad'' thing?"


    E chuckled, as if just remembering it brought her delight. "Heh, so, basically that bastard Craig kept pestering princess Ariel, and she finally had enough. So she challenged him to a duel where he would be barred from ever entering the Aquan Imperial Pce again if he lost."


    The pink-haired girl blinked. <em>''I wonder if they''ll still count that wager if Craig bes the King. Wouldn''t it be absurd to stop him from entering an allied country''s main pce?''</em>


    The green-haired girl giggled as she continued her story.


    "That moron was stupid enough to agree without discussing any terms, so the princess took him to our underwater arena where his stupid toadlike jumping ability is severely hampered."


    Evelyn blinked curiously. "Toadlike jumping ability?"


    "Ahh, I guess not many people know. Basically, he has the really strange skill which allows him to jump insanely fast through the air, like a frog. But he can only do it from solid ground, and he''s much slower under water too. Still, it''s easy to get caught off guard."


    The green-haired girl shook her head. "No, sorry, let me correct that. It''s more like, it''s very difficult to guard against. He''s got a grudge against you, so maybe one day in the future you may have to fight him, so don''t be an idiot at that time. Even if you somehow manage to catch up to his level, he''s still very, very strong!"


    The pink-haired girl nodded. "Don''t worry, E. I''ll remember it."


    It was an unexpected harvest to get to know one of Craig''s stronger skills, sure, but just knowing about it did little to change the vast difference in their levels.


    Even if she knew where a punch wasing from, it wouldn''t make a difference if it was too fast for her to dodge and too strong for her to block. She would still get hit just the same.


    This is why she had to do everything she could to get stronger as soon as possible. Improving her base stats and level meant that her ns would be more reliable, and her skills would be far more valuable.


    E smiled. "Right, back to the story! So, that bastard got tricked like a moron that he is. But of course, even if he fought fairly, I believe our princess wouldn''t lose."


    Evelyn could guess what happened next, and as expected, E went on an almost ten minute tirade recounting all manners of beatdowns and humiliations that Prince Craig suffered that day.


    It had to be said that Princess Arial was a total cheater and a bully. Not only did she arrange the arena in her favour, she also used her three spirit beasts as well as the national array topletely crush Prince Craig.


    And although she could have justpletely suppressed him to im her win, she toyed around with him instead, not even letting him surrender until she got bored of kicking him around.


    "That idiot had probably never suffered such a humiliating defeat in his life. And to end things with a fanfare, our princess used her transmutation curse as always. So just like all the other opponents she has defeated, he was also turned into a real, genuine toad for seven days and nights."


    No wonder he hated her so much! Even if E didn''t provoke him, she would still be his target just by being a close friend of princess Arial.


    But Evelyn had to admit, she wanted to meet this princess Arial herself. Not on bad terms, of course, but that shouldn''t be difficult, considering that E was already more or less on her side.


    Right?

 Chapter 58: Exiting the Forest

    Chapter 58: Exiting the Forest


    After making some more small talk with E, Evelyn and her friends finally returned to their ownpartment for rest.


    It had to be said, if the green-haired prefect was anything to go by, the Aquans were excellent hosts and knew how to entertain their guests well. E even gave them an extra bag of cookies as they left, and told them toe back anytime!


    No wonder they were so sessful as traders, and Aquavahn was considered the leadingmercial giant among the five major powers of the continent.


    As the night fell, the mission that had ended up alerting Evelyn of the dangerst night finally reachedpletion.


    Completed [ Green Mission: Protect Your Puppy! ]


    Prevent injury or death to ''Bree Devaughn'' for the next 24 hours. [Fulfilled!]


    - Rewards:


    Experience: +220 points.


    Evelyn Knox: Level 22 [Exp: 200 / 700] -> [Exp: 420 / 700]


    Soul Value +1 points permanently.


    Soul Value: [1303] -> [1304]


    Ruru gains +110 experience through Lotus Throne''s Shackles!


    Lotus Moon Spirit Fox (Ruru): Level 21 [Exp: 100 / 600] -> [210 / 600]


    Surprisingly enough, the next few days passed by quite peacefully.


    E came by from time to time to chat and make sure nothing was wrong, but never stayed for long. Through their frequent contact, Evelyn managed further her understanding of the Academy''s inner workings as well as her empire. At the same time, she also managed to deepen their mutual trust and friendship, earning another valuable ally.


    And thankfully, the dreaded day of Prince Craig''s arrival in theirpartment never came, though Evelyn still found it a little hard to believe even as the chained carriage came to a halt.


    As all the children exited theirpartments under the prefects'' instructions, they found themselves facing a long, narrow canyon running through an incredibly tall and jagged mountain range.


    Evelyn had once seen the map of this area, and she had to admit that just the ''natural'' defenses of the Ancient Academy were incredible. It was almost impossible to invade even with thebined might of all five great powers in the continent.


    The first line of defense was, of course, the perilous forest called the ''Wondend of Doom''. Even ignoring the ridiculously dangerous flora and fauna, it also had its own mysterious, illusory dangers. Even though it was only a stretch of two thousand miles, to actually pass through the forest required them to cover almost twenty thousand miles.


    It was ridiculous, especially considering that at no point in their journey did they feel like they were going through the same ce again. Nor did it feel like they were crawling through at a slower pace. It was as if even though it appeared to be smaller, it was genuinely thatrge.


    Otherwise there''s no way a creature as strong as that centipede would still be trapped in some illusion, right?


    And at the very center of this so-called ''Wondend of Doom'', there was this circr range of jagged, terrifying ck mountains. Aside from the single canyon protected by the sentinels, there was no other convenient point of entry. If anyone wanted to avoid the sentinels, they would have to climb the mountains.


    Then there was the constant roaring of thunder and shes of lightning as it struck at the mountain peaks mercilessly, over and over. It was no wonder that all these mountainsy bare with not a single tree or beast inhabiting them.


    But even as the students jumped in terror, the blue-robed rangers seemed to treat it as an everyday thing.


    The canyon itself was guarded by two tall, towering statues made of red and green stone. The red statue had the figure of what appeared to be a female warrior wielding a halberd, while the green statue appeared to be a male with a long staff.


    Shockingly enough, their weapons weren''t made of stone, but appeared to be actual weapons. To forge a halberd with its tip to base length being almost twenty meters Evelyn couldn''t imagine just what kind of talent the creator must have had.


    Moreover, if the stories she had heard were to be believed, these shiny weapons had withstood the test of time for thousands of years as well.


    As almost all the students finished alighting from theirpartments, the blue-robed rangers led them towards the canyon while Craig stayed behind to revert the carriage into its miniature form. At least that''s what Cecilia told her.


    Supposedly, it would take him at least two hours, so they would already be at the academy by the time he was done.


    "We''ll walk the rest of the way?"


    Cecilia nodded. "Well, yeah. With the sentinels blocking the way, anything above a certain power level will need to defeat them to cross this point, so the centipede can''t take the carriage any further. But the southern ancient city is not far, don''t worry."


    E was not far from their group, and Evelyn rolled her eyes as she could hear her answering almost all the questions that the curious students had, unlike the other prefects who just ignored them.


    "Why is there so much lightning raining down over there?"


    "This mountain range is actually called the ''Thunder Array'' in the academy. Anyone who tries to get past it needs to endure the repeated strikes of lightning while climbing the mountain. It actually doubles as a tempering ground, but you need to be really careful"


    "Are those statues real?"


    "Be more respectful! They are the ancient protectors of our academy. The Scarlet Valkyrie and the Emerald Auramancer."


    Of course, although E said so, Evelyn knew that the ancient sentinels did not really care if they were referred to with respect. In fact, themon consensus seemed to be that they weren''t living beings to begin with, but constructs.


    Those who believed they were living beings but just remained aloof referred to them with those names, while many simplified them into the Scarlet and Emerald Sentinels, or even the Red and Green Sentinels.


    Regardless of what they were called, however, it was their function and reliability that Evelyn found to be of great use.


    Once they were a few meters away from the chained carriage and the centipede, the pink-haired girl saw from the corner of her eyes that the Centipede had already unbound itself from the carriage.


    <em>''We''re closer to the sentinels now than the centipede if I''m gonna do this, now is the best time''</em>


    Although the risk was certainly there, Evelyn had carefully considered it for a long time, and there should be only a minimal chance of something going wrong.


    The might of these sentinels was already proven with time. Their only weakness seemed to be the fact that they would forever only defend this canyon, never venturing too far from it, not even to chase an attacker. So, she chose to believe in their strength.


    No one knew what happened. for one moment they were peacefully heading for the canyon, and the next moment there was an unholy screech from the direction of their carriage.


    Even the blue-robed rangers felt their blood run cold.

 Chapter 59: Not So Unexpected

    Chapter 59: Not So Unexpected


    As soon as themotion had started, many had crouched down on the ground, and Evelyn had done the same along with everyone in her group. It was an instinctual response for the others, but the pink haired girl firmly pressed her palms into the ground as she formed her spirit power into thin threads and sent them digging deep.


    Compared to the single point consumed in the spirit probe, she started losing two to three almost every second, and her spirit power pool drained at an rming rate.


    At the same time as the centipede screeched in rage, a glorious aura burst forth from the canyon''s entrance, as the two previously immobile statues seemingly disappeared from their spots.


    A thunderous boom echoed throughout the area as both Craig and the chained carriage were sent flying when the sentinels mmed down on the centipede.


    "NO! Prince Craig!"


    "Kyaa!"


    "They killed him!"


    But even as everyone else seemed to cry out in shock and horror, Evelyn was a little disappointed in her heart. Although she hoped that the annoying toad really died, she had noticed a golden shield had spawned to protect Craig at thest moment. Assuming that it had absorbed most of the impact before shattering, he might just have survived.


    Still, this should teach him a lesson. Not to mention it also took care of one of his trump cards.


    <em>''To think that bastard had something to block even this level of attack, huh. As expected of Terrazyme''s Crown Prince, I guess.''</em>


    However, he wasn''t important right now, so she focused her attention back on the sh.


    As the two sentinels tried to suppress the beast, the suffocation felt from just their aura was so strong that not to mention the students or the prefects, even the rangers couldn''t lift a finger.


    Thankfully, it was only their own fear freezing their bodies, and not an actual impact of the sentinels or the centipede''s aura. Otherwise almost everyone here might have be no more than a smear on the ground.


    Even Evelyn found it difficult to continue drilling into the ground with her spirit power threads, but she barely managed to persevere. However, this was the first time she was losing so much of her spirit power so quickly, and she couldn''t help but feel lightheaded.


    <em>''I can''t give up, I can''t! This might be my only chance to save Bree. I can''t rely on some unexpected oue!''</em>


    She could only bite her tongue and continue spreading her spirit power threads deep under the ground, watching with bated breath as the two sentinels seemingly poured more and more spirit power down their weapons in an effort to suppress the beast.


    But although it was being pressed down by the humongous staff and halberd powered by such a ridiculous amount of spirit power, the terrifying creature didn''t look deterred at all.


    A hiss that sent shivers down her spine echoed through her ears, and Evelyn felt as if the centipede was considering its next course of action.


    As its tentacles stretched out to dig into the ground, however, there was a faint shattering sound as the two sentinels started giving off a luminous glow. Evelyn could tell that their aura had skyrocketed in an instant, and even the centipede seemed shocked, hurriedly retrieving its tentacles.


    But perhaps the sentinels were intent on delivering punishment, as a green light enveloped the centipede, slowing it down just enough for a faint flickering red sh to pass through some of its tentacles that had failed to retreat inside its carapace in time.


    The screech that the creature let out this time was so grating and unbearable that many weaker students fainted directly. Bree was no better off, and even Vivian was bleeding from her ears.


    Evelyn could also feel her eardrums rupturing, but she couldn''t care less about it at this moment, because the moment the severed tentacles touched the ground, she had to make sure her spirit power threads would be right below it so she could take it into her inventory.


    The centipede had already escaped. Without the need to drag the chained carriage, its speed was shockingly fast as it disappeared in the blink of an eye. How could it risk taking more damage and losing decades of progress just to retrieve a few out of thousands of its tentacles?


    As for the sentinels, they too had started retreating to their positions at the canyon''s entrance, though at an almostughably slow pace.


    It appeared as if each of their movements would cost energy, and perhaps faster movements required exponentiallyrge amounts of energy. Assuming they used the same spirit power they fought with as their energy source, it was obvious why they would be thrifty.


    Evelyn believed them to be somewhat simr to intelligent robots. They could do everything except form their own thoughts, probably. Of course, there was no way to be sure. In any case, they clearly didn''t care about the disappearing tentacles either.


    As for the rangers and the students, they cane up with whatever exnation they like for themselves. They can just assume that the tentacles would disappear once cut off from the beast, or perhaps it had some way to retrieve its lost parts. Who knew what really happened?


    <em>''Well, I guess there must be some people at the academy who can figure it out once they hear about it, but so what? Even if they think it''s strange that the centipede attacked out of nowhere, or that the tentacles vanished, how would they know it was me?''</em>


    Not to mention they wouldn''t know about the absurd existence of her inventory, the tremors caused by the statues moving back had already erased the faint traces from her ''drilling''.


    Even if someone detected somethingter, there was no way to know who the real culprit was among so many students. Even if themoner students could be ruled out, that still left dozens of possible suspects.


    Everyone seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief as they realized they had somehow, miraculously survived witnessing a fight between the peak existences of the continent.


    "E-Evelyn, are you okay?"


    "You''re not hurt, are you?"


    Evelyn gave the two older girls a reassuring smile, making them sigh in relief as they continued fussing over Vivian next.


    The pink haired girl wondered what their reaction would be if they knew she was the one who had triggered the fight. Perhaps only Ruru would ever know, and Ruru can''t talk.


    So her secret is safe.

 Chapter 60: Glimpse

    Chapter 60: Glimpse


    Once the rangers had regained theirposure, they resumed leading the students towards the canyon.


    If it had been before, many would have marveled at the grand scene of the canyon opening up into a vast grasnd, as well as the tall, imposing city wall not far from them, but now most of them just wanted to safely get into the academy before anything else went wrong.


    Evelyn shared their sentiment, though not because she was terrified or anything like that. Although her probe had failed, as expected, it had managed to do its job of provoking the beast. In fact, it was far more effective than she imagined, but she couldn''t be bothered checking a gift horse''s mouth.


    Regardless, she had harvested more than she ever expected, and she couldn''t wait to get to a more private ce to start checking things out. Hopefully, her guess was right, and she should now be able to help Bree out of her predicament.


    In the end, even if her actions hadn''t led to anyone''s death, it still weighed heavily on her that she had ended up causing so much distress to both Vivian and Bree. Although she wished Craig had died, seeing how calm his aide looked now, Evelyn was sure he should be alive and well.


    <em>''How is it that this guy reacted so strongly at that time, but looks so rxed right now? He doesn''t seem concerned that Craig might be dead at all. It''s as if he was just acting earlier.''</em>


    But even if she wanted to dig into it further, she doubted that the guy would answer any of her questions. Plus, there''s no point in attracting more attention to herself at the moment.


    <em>''As long as Bree restores her strength and intelligence, nothing else matters. I can always take care of that bastard princeter.''</em>


    Not long after, their group finally passed through the ungated opening in the massive stone walls. Although there were two guards present, they didn''t seem to care about their group''s entry.


    The city itself was far more humble than its tall, grand walls suggested. Most of the houses were either just a single story or had just one additional floor, the shops were just small stalls and street vendors so far, and even the roads were far inferior in material to those in Moreen city.


    "Disappointed?"


    The pink-haired girl nodded. "A little. There doesn''t seem to be much here."


    Cecilia sighed. "That''s because it''s not too safe to build in this area. The sentinels may be strong, but sometimes beasts and threats they consider ''insignificant'' can pass through and cause havoc."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but feel slightly confused. "If the sentinels take care of most real threats, aren''t there many ways to deal with the small fries? At the very least, they could build a gate."


    The older girl could only shrug helplessly. "I don''t know, honestly. Anyway, this city is just a temporary resting spot between the forest and the academy. The other three cities are far better!"


    Evelyn nodded, though her interest was more in the academy itself than these cities. After all, since they had all been built by students who had decided to settle down in this area over the years. There was no taxation, government, or any central body controlling their development. How grand can they be, with everyone just doing whatever they want?


    These grand walls built for their protection were just the ancient academy''s charity projects.


    Of course, that didn''t mean that life in these cities was terrible. For one, the academy didn''t charge anyone for thend. They just had to take care of building their residence or shop themselves. Of course, the amount of area you can upy depends on your total ''contribution points''.


    And another huge advantage was the fact that almost every child capable of being cultivated into a ranger was guaranteed to be admitted to the academy, provided they could take care of their own expenses. This was because the academy didn''t need to limit their seats to ount for the trip through the ''Wondend of Doom''. The academy itself was more than big enough for the increased number of students.


    Perhaps the only major disadvantage of living here was that their livelihood mainly depended on hunting in the ''Wondend of Doom''. Needless to say, both the skill requirements and fatality rate were sky-high.


    However, this was also the best ce to grow for a talented ranger. Thebination of danger and resources, along with a proper safe ce to return to and rest, provided an ideal environment to level up.


    This was why many rangers from all over the continent came to stay here. As people who didn''t have the luxury of boarding the academy''s carriage, they of course had to face the dangers in the forest while traveling.


    Thankfully, the academy allowed them to apany their carriage on its once-a-year trip, provided they also acted as escorts. For free, of course.


    It freed the academy from having to send their own experts out every year, and it also gave the rangers a more reliable way to enter and exit this safe haven through the ''Wondend of Doom''. A win-win, unless something went wrong.


    Evelyn didn''t know just what kind of damage the academy''s precious artifact had suffered from the centipede''s attack, nor what kind of reaction the upper echelons will have after learning of it.


    Hopefully, it wasn''t too serious. She didn''t intend to hurt her own future ce for learning, after all. But of course, even if she could do it all over again, she would still make the same choice.


    It didn''t take too long for their group to arrive at the center of the city, where an ornate archway stood with a thin film of distorted light inside, flickering like a curtain in the wind.


    Evelyn''s eyes shone as she looked at it, wondering if she would learn how these kinds of things worked when at the academy.


    "It''s much smaller than the ones in Moreen city and port of Nemer, huh."


    This was the second time she came across a ''teleportation array''. And although she had always been curious about arrays and artifacts, she could never find any details on how to create them herself.


    Her best clue had been that Vivian had somehow managed to make that bracelet into a grade one artifact, but all of her own trials resulted in failure. Either Vivian managed to get it right by sheer luck, or Evelyn was missing something important.


    Cecilia smiled as they got into a single file line to enter the ''gate''. "Of course, those were all long-range portals. But those don''t work here. Except for a few of these short-range portals inside academy grounds, we have to either walk, fly, or rent a carriage."


    Manymoners were carefully listening to their conversation, and many of them were terrified at the prospect of going through such an unreliable-looking thing for the first time. One girl finally couldn''t hold it in anymore.


    "I-Is it really safe?"


    Cecilia nodded. "Totally safe. Less than one in ten thousand go missing after going through teleportation arrays."


    Of course, instead of assuring the poor students, her words only managed to scare them further.


    "I-I''m not going in!"


    "Me either!"


    "I wanna go home!"


    At this moment, some of the stronger rangers finally couldn''t hold it anymore. Not to mention that the beasts on their way were stronger than usual this year, they even ended up involved in a confrontation with the ''Thousand Eyed God''.


    The rangers didn''t even know how far the academy''s precious artifact had been sent flying, and their top student was also missing.


    If they had known this was what they were signing up for, none of them would have taken this mission.


    Hopefully, the academy didn''t me them for any of it, especially the artifact. If they were to pay for it, maybe even selling the next ten generations of their descendants into very wouldn''t be enough to rid themselves of that debt.


    But even if they were to be med, the rangers didn''t dare go inside the forest. How could they move away from the sentinels when it was still unknown if the ''Thousand Eyed God'' had left or not?


    Anyway, now that the students had already been led to the portal, their job was done. None of them wished to stay any longer, but the leader of the rangers also knew she couldn''t leave without pleting'' her responsibility cleanly.


    "Hey, you, you look like the oldest prefect here, right?"


    Stanley was stunned when the tall blue-robeddy suddenly pointed him out.


    "M-Me?"


    "Right. Listen up, brats! It takes at least six hours to get to the academy, non-stop, so I just suggest not being an idiot and just going through the portal. But if you really don''t want to, then this guy here will show you the way."


    Without waiting for anyone''s response, she turned around and left swiftly, and the other rangers hurriedly followed.


    Stanley was left staring nkly as dozens of students started gathering behind him, ready for him to lead the way.


    <em>''This would never happen if Prince Craig was here! It''s all because of that stupid King and his mad scheme!''</em>

 Chapter 61: Mister Chonkers

    Chapter 61: Mister Chonkers


    When they passed through the teleportation gate, Evelyn found herself facing a grand, white-marbled castle that seemed to be around thirteen stories high, with some of its towers and turrets extending about twice the height.


    As grand as the structure looked, however, Evelyn knew that it was only one of the Ancient Academy''s many buildings.


    But while the rest of the students were being led deeper into the academy grounds by the prefects, Cecilia dragged Evelyn and her friends out of the crowd and towards the white building instead.


    "You don''t need to go check your arrangements. I already did that~"


    Evelyn smiled. "Of course, thank you."


    "Mhm, anyway, it''s not really a surprise that your room would be in this White Lily Pce. All the ''Princess'' and ''Prince'' titled children from the ancient families always get to stay here, as per the olden rules."


    Evelyn along with her ''attendants'' and Cecilia all passed through the white marbled archway and entered the porch. This archway too didn''t have a gate, though, and Evelyn wondered if the academy really liked all outer boundary walls to be ''gateless'' for some reason.


    "You''re actually quite lucky, by the way. I heard they''re changing the policy next year so even a ''Princess'' of the ancient families won''t be guaranteed a special room in the White Lily Pce. This is probably thest time a fresh student can enter this building."


    Evelyn blinked in confusion. "Do they n to keep this ce empty, then? And do I have to move out next year?"


    Cecilia shook her head. "Of course not. I heard they n to switch to a merit-based system. Better performing students get better rooms, and so on. But this way, freshmen would have to spend at least a year or so to be able to qualify for entry in this ce."


    The ash-blonde grinned mischievously. "And how can my cute little Evey not be outstanding? You''ll definitely qualify for a room based on merit by the time this policy is enforced, don''t worry. And if you don''t, well, there''s more than enough space in mine."


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. Although she appreciated Cecilia''s openness, the girl was really too obsessed with teasing others every chance she got!


    As they were talking, they finally arrived at the ornate white doors lined with a teal blue pattern. There didn''t seem to be any gatekeepers or guards, and all Cecilia had to do was press her badge against the door for it to open.


    And a few seconds after they entered, it softly closed shut again. It was quite fortunate that Amara and Vivian were both her ''attendants'' and wouldn''t be required to stay separately, otherwise it was unlikely for them to get a room in this same building.


    "It''s on the first floor,e on, follow me."


    Evelyn silently followed behind Cecilia, marveling at the beautifully carved out floral designs on almost every surface of the pce. It was as if some sculptor had made it their mission to make sure every nook and cranny of this ce was covered in all kinds of flower patterns.


    Vivian was still resting on Amara''s shoulders ever since the centipede incident. And the redhead also seemed to have gone strangely silent.


    Evelyn had a hunch on what was going on, and it made her feel doubly guilty for doing it. These two girls were probably still suffering from the trauma of helplessly watching their family being ughtered.


    But if Evelyn didn''t want to go through the same, she had to take every chance she got.


    Her room wasn''t too far from the entrance of the building, and they arrived in front of the silver frame of the door soon enough.


    "Here I think this is the room assigned to you. Try tapping the door with your card."


    As the pink haired girl took out the metal identity te thing from her inventory again, the door to her room unlocked with a click, and the four of them readily strode in.


    "Wow it''s HUGE!"


    Vivian seemed to havepletely forgotten her earlier distress as she jumped down from her sister''s shoulders and started running around the hall, screaming in delight.


    Even the Knox mansion''s main hall was barely half asrge as the one in this ''apartment''.


    Shaking her head in amusement, Evelyn left Amara to watch over Vivian as she explored deeper inside with Cecilia.


    Cecilia hummed as she observed her surroundings carefully. "It''s a little better than mine, but not by much."


    It came as quite a surprise to her, since Evelyn assumed all rooms in the same building would be the same when it came to structures meant to house students.


    "Shouldn''t it be the same?"


    Cecilia shook her head. "No two rooms in the White Lily pce are ''the same'', Evelyn. They are all individually designed, as far as I know. Ah, here''s the kitchen. Empty, as expected. How stingy."


    Evelyn could see the girl''s disappointment, and couldn''t help but chuckle.


    "I can just get whatever I needter, right? It''s no big deal."


    The ash blonde almost screamed! How could her friend not understand what a big opportunity she had missed?!


    "It IS a big deal, Evelyn, you don''t understand! This ce is even more luxurious than the professor''s residences, so sometimes when there are many empty rooms, some of them move in here until they need to empty it for a future student. I know that weasel arts professor Ainsley was staying here, but that stingy bastard didn''t leave a single potato behind!"


    Evelyn chuckled. "Well, if he took what was his, we can''t reallyin, can we?"


    Cecilia pouted. "The professors are just rolling in dough, though, would it have killed him to forget about a few ultra-rare ingredients and artifacts?"


    The pink haired girl rolled her eyes. "As if that''s going to happen."


    Cecilia chuckled, looking quite smug. "Fufu, that''s where you''re wrong, you cute little thing, you. You saw my purse, right?"


    Evelyn blinked. "You mean that fat pig like thing?"


    The ash-blonde nodded. "Right. That''s Mister Chonkers!"


    "Ahahaha Mister Chonkers? You gave it a name?"


    Cecilia''s face bloomed red instantly. "AHHH! You don''t understand, Evelyn, Mister Chonkers is the name of the artifact! I didn''t name it that!"


    Now it was the pink-haired girl''s turn to be surprised. "That thing is an artifact?"


    "Right! And it''s a grade six!"


    Evelyn blinked, and then blinked again. Wasn''t her own precious space treasure grade five? How is that ugly, fat little thing considered better? Moreover, what could something like that even do?


    Cecilia puffed out her chest, as if knowing what she was thinking. "Don''t look down on Mister Chonkers, Evelyn. Although it doesn''t have many cool features, there''s only one thing it''s good at, and it''s very good at it."


    Evelyn looked thoughtful. "And what''s that? Don''t tell me it''s storing money?"


    "That''s right!"


    Evelyn was left speechless. Isn''t that just a regr old purse?


    The ash-blonde cleared her throat.


    "Ahem, it seems you don''t understand. Let me rephrase that. Mister Chonkers can store ALL the money. As long as it is just any kind of spirit material or precious metal, Mister Chonkers can hold it in his belly without limit!"


    Evelyn still looked suspicious, so Cecilia took out her precious purse from her ne and handed it over.


    "Take a look for yourself! The weight of the contents still remains on Mister Chonkers, so it''s not like a spatial treasure. This thing is very special!"


    Evelyn nodded as she tried to probe the shockingly heavy item. No wonder it had made such a huge sound when she mmed it on the table in the carriage.


    The results of her probe matched exactly what Cecilia had told her.


    <strong>[ Mister Chonkers: Grade 6 ]</strong>


    <strong></strong> Can store any kind of precious metal, such as Gold, Silver, tinum etc.


    <strong></strong> Can store any kind of Spirit Fragment, Stone, Crystal, or Core.


    - Note: Storing the item does not negate its weight.


    - Note: Only ten types of items can be stored at a time.


    - Note: Although there is no limit to the quantity of the items being stored, only a hundred items of the same type can be taken out at a time. The action can, however, be repeated till everything inside is removed.


    ""


    It was both amazing and useless at the same time. But that was only whenpared to her overpowered inventory. Compared to normal spatial treasures with very limited storage space, Evelyn could understand Cecilia''s excitement over the item.


    "So you got this thing for free?"


    Cecilia nodded, looking proud. "That''s right! And you know what the best part is?"


    Evelyn tilted her head. "No?"


    The ash-blonde flicked one of her twin tails haughtily. "The one staying in my room before I came along was Aurora! She''s one of the academy''s senior most staff, and only picks her students by herself, seemingly on a whim. So not only is Mister Chonkers an amazing grade six treasure I got for free, it came from Aurora!"


    <em>''Is that something simr to getting a something that previously belonged to a celebrity or something?''</em>


    Evelyn never really understood this kind of thing, nor had she been in a position to participate in such activities in her previous life. Still, she was happy to feel Cecilia''s enthusiasm.


    "And to top it all off, it even had a hundred spirit cores when I got it!"


    Evelyn was halfway through her nod as she froze.


    A hundred cores a hundred cores


    <em>''Let''s see one spirit core is a hundred spirit crystals and one spirit crystal is one hundred spirit stones. That means one MILLION spirit stones?! And she just kept it?''</em>


    Won''t that Aurorady absolutely MURDER Cecilia when she found out?!

 Chapter 62: Destinys Star

    Chapter 62: Destiny''s Star


    After finding out that the actual worth of the item was so astronomical, how could Evelyn rest easy letting her friend keep it when it could prove to be a disaster?


    She tugged at her friend''s sleeve, worry clear in her pink eyes. "I think a hundred spirit cores should be a significant sum even for the professors, right? That Aurorady is probably searching for it all over the ce. She''ll eventually realize that she might have forgotten it in her old room, and then when she finds out you may have it won''t that be bad?"


    Cecilia shook her head with a smirk, wondering if her friend knew how adorable she was being.


    "Nu-uh, that''s where you''re wrong, little Evey. I saw her just two days ago, and Aurora waszing around in front of that gloomyke like she always does. Snoring with her mouth open, ehehe. I wonder how many flies she catches every day."


    ""


    The ash-blonde blinked at Evelyn''s deadpan face. "What''s with that look?"


    Evelyn sighed.<em> ''Alright, I guess it''s fine to be a little immature. She''ll learn with time. But for now I should just convince her to return it to avoid a disaster.''</em>


    "Regardless of her nonchnt attitude, I still think you should return it, Cecilia, just to be safe. Since Aurora can easily find out you have her artifact, and we''re probably helpless against her, you shouldn''t be greedy. Especially since you openly showed it off earlier in the carriage, the likelihood of it being exposed is"


    A burst ofughter from her friend ended up interrupting Evelyn mid-speech, making her eyebrow twitch irritably.


    "Ahahaha, oh, I get it now. I forgot to tell you, I did try to return it, you know. Although I asked for a ten percent finder''s fee."


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but stare at her friend ck jawed. Would it have killed her to tell her that earlier?!


    "What''s that look? Ahem, anyway, she told me, and I quote...


    ''Treasure lost, treasure found. It''s a natural thing. Why do you have toe to me because you found one that I had lost? My destiny with it came to an end, and some day, so shall yours''. Anyway, all I got out of that is ''Finders, Keepers''


    ...so it''s mine."


    Evelyn could only nod reluctantly. "Well, although her statement sounds vaguely threatening, I guess it <em>is</em> yours now since she let you have it. Do all professors here talk like that, though?"


    Cecilia scoffed. "I would go crazy if that was the case. It''s just her. Aurora is also called the ''Destiny''s Star'' probably because all she talks about is destiny this, destiny that. h h h."


    The pink-haired girl blinked. "Is that really the reason she''s called ''Destiny''s Star''?"


    The ash-blonde girl burst intoughter once again, only calming down after Evelyn red at her for a solid minute.


    "Oh, don''t take it so seriously, I was just guessing. Actually, when you meet her, you''ll think she''s like ten years old based on her appearance, but actually she''s older than anyone else in the academy. Even the headmaster has to listen to her, from what I heard.


    "So no one really knows the story behind her title. I''ve skipped theke almost a dozen times to find out, but nothing so far. By the way, skipping theke is just her punishment method. It''s super, duper fun! I highly rmend giving it a try! In fact, let''s go together to annoy herter, ehehehe."


    Evelyn groaned, deciding to just ignore thest part.


    <em>''She always seems so much more mature in her letters, but the real thing is well, I guess I''ll get used to it. It''s like she''s gotten way more childish now than she was three years ago!''</em>


    "Heh, your reaction was hrious, though. Little Evey''s eyes went suuuper wide when she thought I stole the purse, ahahaha"


    The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Don''tugh!"


    "Sorry, sorry. By the way, speaking of her, Aurora actually told me something really strange that day. It''s been bothering me ever since, because she normally doesn''t take the initiative to say anything to me unless I pester her for at least an hour or two. I can''t make head or tails of it, though."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be curious. "What did she say?"


    Cecilia sighed. "She just said ''You chose well'', and then nothing else. No matter how I pestered her to exin, she kept ignoring me!"


    <em>''Hm I guess this professor really likes giving out cryptic messages, huh?''</em>


    But even if she tried, Evelyn couldn''t make much sense of such general, vague words either. "Sorry, all I can think is maybe she meant you made the right choice to try returning her purse, or she would have obliterated you or something. But that contradicts her earlier statement, doesn''t it? So I guess I really can''t help. And I doubt there''s anything we can do to her if she doesn''t want to say any more, right?"


    Seeing her friend shrug helplessly, Cecilia rolled her eyes. "Psh, you don''t know, Evelyn. Aurora doesn''t seem to get mad no matter what, so if there''s something you wanna ask, you can just keep on pestering her. Don''t do that to other professors though, or it''ll turn real bad real fast!


    "Oh, but if you really overdo it, she''ll send you flying into theke like a skipping stone. But she always protects you with a bubble, so it doesn''t really hurt. Like I said earlier, it''s actually quite fun, highly rmended! Anyway, don''t worry, now that I''m back, and even have ''reinforcements'', Aurora can kiss her peaceful days goodbye until she tells me what she meant!"


    Cecilia really likes to test people''s limits, doesn''t she?


    ==========


    Meanwhile, the ''never gets annoyed'' Aurora was frowning irritably as she watched the professors argue with the headmaster.


    Arguments flew from one side to the other, and the middle-aged man in the center just held his head with a frown.


    At this time, a staunch looking dark-skinned man in purple robes mmed his fist on the table, silencing the discussion. "Why are we wasting time like this now? I''ve always said we can''t rely on that beast to escort our students! Look what happened now Not to mention our heritage artifact is lost, even our most exemry student is missing! We should all be moving out into the forest <em>immediately</em>, not sit here arguing!"


    "Professor Jiang is right, headmaster! Even if you don''t want to order anyone to go, you shouldn''t forbid us from going by ourselves!"


    There were murmurs of affirmation all around the table, and the middle-aged man with dark hair seated at the head seat frowned deeper.


    "I have already dispatched a search team for the recovery of the Helion Chain. As for Craig well"


    Looking at the generally bold headmaster hesitating to speak, the rest of the staff couldn''t help but feel something wasn''t right.


    A gentle voice, calm as a peacefulke, echoed at this moment. "It was I who forbid the headmaster from seeking he who does not need to be sought."


    It took them a while to realize just who was speaking, and then everyone''s gaze snapped to the tiny tinum blonde little girl on the headmaster''s rightmost seat.


    "What does that mean, Lady Aurora?"


    "Right! We can''t just abandon him when he perished on a task assigned by us. Even if he''s already dead, we still need to retrieve the body to be sure!"


    Aurora simply closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat leisurely,pletely ignoring them.


    The headmaster sighed. <em>''I suppose I should be grateful she considered helping me out at all.''</em>


    "This matter is not open for discussion anymore. Please return to your posts. I shall keep you updated if there is any update on the situation."


    Although most of them were extremely dissatisfied, they could only grumble and leave the conference hall one by one. Anyway, unlike a particrly fearless student, none of them dared to directly defy Aurora''s will.


    Within a minute, only the tinum blonde little girl and the headmaster remained in the room.


    "I followed your instructions,dy Aurora, but are you sure this is the right thing to do? The Helion Chain"


    The little girl jumped down from her chair with a snort, ring at the headmaster from the corner of her eyes. "Greedy. Since our destiny with the Helion Chain ising to an end, there is no use in spending too much effort to find it. For even if we do, we shall not be able to keep it for too long."


    The headmaster gritted his teeth, but could only contain his anger. After all, he didn''t want to be seen ''skipping theke'' by the students, or he would never be able to show his face in front of anyone ever again.


    "Y-You... be more reasonable! There is no certain destiny in this world, everyone decides their fate by themselves, okay? This is a fact that our founders believed in, and has been proven through the test of time. Even if it is you saying it, I refuse to believe it!"


    Aurora moved towards the window, her gaze forlorn as she stared at the pink moon in the night sky.


    "Then remain an idiot, headmaster. That... is your destiny."

 Chapter 63: Malevolent Flesh

    Chapter 63: Malevolent Flesh


    Aurora ignored the sound of stomping feet as the headmaster stormed away in a fury. Her thoughts slightly scattered as her gaze remained fixated on the pink moon.


    "Even though I was created in hopes of earning your favor, you did not choose me. Yet she doesn''t even seem to know you exist, but you favor her so."


    Of course, she received no response. Just like the past hundreds of years.


    The tinum blonde turned her gaze away from the moon, and towards a white pce in the distance.


    "But even if she is chosen she can''t hope to win against the other two not alone, not in a million years."


    She closed her eyes with a sigh.


    "Let''s see if she can pass my test."


    ==========


    It was already quitete into the night, so Cecilia didn''t stay with her too long, and both of the Gilmore sisters had fallen asleep as well.


    Although there were three bedrooms, Amara and Vivian were used to sleeping together, and ended up taking only one of them. Evelyn thought this was quite good, because once Bree was ''restored'' and decided to stay, she could stay in the spare room at that time.


    The bedroom itself was pretty luxurious and spacious, and Evelyn would have spent some time exploring all the cabs, drawers and other furniture to familiarize herself, but that wasn''t her concern at the moment, because she had far more important things to do.


    After making sure both the Gilmore sisters were asleep, Evelyn put Bree down on the bed before taking a deep breath.


    "Alright let''s see if my guess was right!"


    Opening her inventory, she pulled out one of the cut off ''tentacles'' from the centipede, being careful not to make any skin contact with it. Once ity safely on the ground, she tried her best to curb her anxiety before using her probe.


    [ Malevolent Flesh (Contaminated) ]


    Warning: Grade 9 Poison!


    Poison Type: Corruptor


    Belonged to the ''Thousand Eyed God'', Ekaterina, before it was severed.


    Note: This item is immune to rot and contamination, and can be left alone for a long period of time without fear of deterioration.


    Each kilogram of flesh consumed may change one of the user''s stats by 1 point.


    [Poison Immunity], [Disease Immunity], and [Purification Aura] are all required to safely consume this item.


    The pink haired girl let out a breath of relief. "It''s as expected not only is the centipede''s flesh itself a corrupted thing, it is further contaminated by a deadly poison! This should be enough to trigger it, right?"


    Her heartbeat was slightly erratic as Evelyn considered it over and over again. If her guess was wrong, the consequences would be disastrous.


    "No let me check again"


    Evelyn knew it was pointless, because she''d done it hundreds of times over the past few years, but she still couldn''t help it. And as expected, along with Bree''s abysmal stats, the two things that gave her a ray of hope shone clear.


    [Qilin''s Tears] and [Raijuu''s Legacy].


    She didn''t know which one of them was an inherent part of Bree, and which one she had acquired as an inheritance. Presumably the Qilin''s ability should be inherent, while the Raijuu''s should be acquired. What mattered, though, was that based on her research, they were both said to have the power of purification.


    It wasn''t easy for her to get her hands on a vial of poison, being a child still in her parent''s home at that time, but Evelyn had managed to convince Cecilia to send her some. Of course, she couldn''t have had it sent as a food item, fearing that Vivian might eat it, which would be another level of disaster. So it was disguised as ink.


    But the results weren''t as good as she hoped.


    Evelyn thought that by introducing corrupted or otherwise poisonous substances to Bree, she would be able to stimte these bloodlines into activity, but her hopes were dashed because she simply didn''t have anything strong enough to actually get the job done.


    Both the Qilin and the Raijuu were at least Grade 7 beasts, growing into Grade 9 as they reached adulthood.


    Which meant that she might need ''Grade 7'' or higher poison. And there was no such thing in the open market.


    Even though she had taken the risk of mobilizing the third princess, even she couldn''t get her hands on such a thing. Of course, if the third princess asked the Emperor, it might not be too difficult for him to obtain. He might even already have some. But what reason would she give while asking the Emperor for poison?


    But when she saw the ''Thousand Eyed God'', it was as if fate had given her a way out. It satisfied every single one of her requirements, and she was sure that if there was any hope of stimting Bree''s bloodline, it should be good enough to use a body part from this beast.


    It should have been impossible, but somehow, she managed to pull it off. Evelyn thought her luck must have been incredible this time. Because even if everything else had gone ording to her n, if the centipede managed to retreat uninjured, she would have had to return empty handed.


    If she was right, Bree''s bloodline should definitely be stimted aftering into contact with this thing!


    "But what if I''m wrong?"


    It was impossible to not worry. After all, she was going to risk not her own, but Bree''s life!


    "N-No, I can''t be wrong this time. In any case, Bree has shown herself to be immune to toxic substances, she''ll be fine!"


    Evelyn convinced herself so, and carefully picked up her golden puppy before kissing its forehead.


    "Please, I need you! And, I''m sorry"


    She gently lowered the sleeping puppy onto the severed white tentacle, waiting with her heart almost about to jump out of her throat.


    For three excruciatingly long seconds, nothing happened.


    And then a gentle glow covered the little puppy''s form, seeping into the tentacle flesh, and not long after, sparks started bursting out of her body, disintegrating small portions of the tentacle.


    The steaming out from these ''evaporated'' parts seeped into the little puppy''s body. But the little puppy remained peacefully asleep.


    Just as Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that everything was going well, however, Bree''s eyes snapped open, and she let out a deafening, sonorous cry.

 Chapter 64: Anomalous State

    Chapter 64: Anomalous State


    Evelyn''s heart jumped, and she quickly covered herself in spirit power to grab her back, away from the tentacle, but managed to stop herself just in time when she noticed that instead of looking hurt, there was a sense of invigorationing from the puppy instead!


    "Y-YES!!!"


    If not for the almost perfect sound instion in the bedrooms, Amara and Vivian would surely have been startled awake by now, because being silent hadpletely left Evelyn''s mind as she cried her heart out.


    Only she knew how much relief was coursing through her being at this moment, because she had been dreading it ever since she had managed to acquire the tentacles from the centipede.


    She really put Bree''s life at risk today, knowing full well what she was doing. If something bad really happened, Evelyn didn''t know what she would have done.


    Thankfully, the protective glow around Bree''s body seemed to be getting stronger with time, and the arcs of lightning kept intensifying, vaporizing more and more of the tentacle with each strike.


    She tried using her probe skill in an attempt to keep track of her changes, but her spirit power was obliterated by Bree''s aura as soon as it got close.


    Shortly after, the seemingly huge tentacle that had been almost half a meter wide and three meters long was almostpletely obliterated, and the rate at which it was dissolving seemed to only be getting higher.


    "It looks like I''ll need more than one?"


    Each of these tentacles was a part of one of the strongest beings on the continent, and their value was, of course, indisputably high.


    Not to mention anything else, even if it was merely sold as a grade 9 poison, it would still be something capable of killing almost anyone.


    Of course, no matter how precious a grade nine material was, how could itpare to Bree''s life?


    Evelyn didn''t hesitate at all as she took out another tentacle from her inventory, and once that one too was almost gone, she reced it with another.


    It didn''t take long for all eight of them to bepletely vaporized, and a few seconds after nothing was left for them to purify, the auras around Bree''s body finally faded, and the previously glowing eyes of the little puppy briefly turned clear before she fainted once more.


    Evelyn hurriedly picked her up as she examined the little puppy closely. On the surface, she didn''t notice any abnormalities. And when she tried, her probe skill finally worked too, although Bree''s stats looked a little strange.


    <strong>[Checking status]</strong>


    <strong>- Bree Devaughn</strong>: <strong>Level 82</strong> [ Exp: 114,650 / 967,230 ]


    Hybrid Special Physique: <strong>Blessed Thunder Qilin</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> Anomalous state, currently unable to determine. <strong>]</strong>


    <strong>Physique</strong>: <strong>214</strong> / 1156


    <strong>Spirit</strong> Power: <strong>491</strong> / 786


    <strong>Soul</strong> Value: <strong>62</strong> / 779


    <strong>Vitality</strong>: <strong>1581</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> Enhancement (avable): Raijuu''s Blessing <strong>]</strong>


    <strong>[ Affection</strong>: <strong>Max ]</strong>


    <strong>[</strong> Unable to view skills until the anomalous state is removed. <strong>]</strong>


    The only stat that had beenpletely restored was vitality. No, not only was itpletely restored, it had even been boosted up from around 1200 to almost 1600!


    <em>''I think this might be because of her change in physique, right? A regr person would have an abysmal amount of vitality, while a spirit physique would have almost five times or more. This means that the change of her physique is at least to a better one, right?''</em>


    Except for her soul value, which was still quite low, everything else had recovered to a decent amount, greatly relieving Evelyn.


    And the next most prominent thing was, of course, her affection.


    During their time together as a master and a low intelligence pet, Bree''s affection had been firmly stuck at ''stable''. For it to skip directly past ''strong'' and go to a new level she had never seen before, Evelyn found it a little mind-boggling.


    After all, stable affection was already very high. It was what her parents had for her during her early childhood, and what Amara and Vivian had for her now.


    A puppy''s pure loyalty to its master was also in that same range. So it was nothing strange at that time, and there were far more worrying things concerning Bree for Evelyn to even care about it.


    But she had always believed affection to go from budding, to stable and finally strong. At thest stage, she could already obtain the other person''s enhancement.


    This was the first time she saw a ''max'' affection.


    Evelyn curiously opened up her yellow missions tab. For her to still not get Bree''s enhancement perhaps the mission window would have a hint.


    If it had beenpleted, it would have already popped out, but Evelyn had collected simply far too many iplete missions at this point. Almost every person she met who had a decent amount of strength, skill, or just a special physique meant a yellow mission would be issued.


    It would''ve been wonderful if they had been easy toplete, but unfortunately, they weren''t. Evelyn didn''t have the time to waste years building random people''s affection, and she couldn''t simply murder them either.


    The only viable option was to pletely defeat'' them, but she would have to get stronger first. Moreover, the term looked deceptively simple, but the condition was harder to fulfill than just killing the opponent.


    For example, she already had that moron Rufus at her mercy earlier, but he wasn''t consideredpletely defeated. Maybe only once she had wiped out even the most remote possibility of him ever mustering up resistance against her would that condition be fulfilled. But at that point, wasn''t it easier to just kill him?


    Shaking her head to clear that thought, Evelyn kept sifting through the clutter of yellow missions. After a while, she finally managed to find Bree''s.


    <strong>[ Yellow Mission, Target: Bree Devaughn ] [im!]</strong>


    -Source: Cmity


    -Clear Condition: Fulfill any one of the following:


    Kill (or) Completely defeat Bree


    Raise Bree''s affection to the maximum level<strong> [Fulfilled!] [Exceeded!]</strong>


    <strong>-Rewards:</strong>


    <strong>Experience</strong>:<strong> 1,000</strong> points <strong>+</strong> <strong>1,000</strong> points


    Acquire the [<strong>Raijuu''s Blessing</strong>]: Effect unknown until unlocked.


    <strong>Spirit</strong> Power permanently raised by <strong>+25</strong> points


    <strong>Vitality</strong> permanently raised by <strong>+50</strong> points


    "There''s a im button?! Then why the heck did this buggy little thing note up as apleted mission ugh, whatever"


    But as she tried to im the reward, however, she could only stare nkly.


    [ Unable to im reward, target in an anomalous state. ]


    It was as if someone had brought a piece of cake close to her lips, only to snatch it away at thest moment just as she wanted to take a bite.


    ''For a yellow mission, the reward is so much better than any other I''ve ever gotten, and to not be able to im it even when it has beenpleted is just''


    But even though she was frustrated, she felt more confused than anything else.


    ''It seems to be somehow all linked to her soul value, but I can''t be sure I can''t think of anything else, though. Maybe if I had a few more of these tentacles''


    Evelyn shook her head with some regret. Too bad the ''Thousand Eyed God'' was such a scaredy-cat, and ran away so quickly.


    Another major change she noticed was Bree''s physique.


    She remembered previously that it was that of a Blessed Spirit, just like herself, even though it wasn''t pure but hybrid. But it seems like stimting her had actually ended up changing it to something else entirely.


    Evelyn didn''t even know that was possible.


    Perhaps Bree was just a special case. Anyhow, she was now supposedly this ''Blessed Thunder Qilin'', whatever that was supposed to be.


    Both Raijuu and Qilin were known spirit beasts of great power, though they were hard to find. There were only two areas in the Old World where they had been previously spotted  the fairy spiritnd and Urz forest.


    Sadly, neither of these ces were anywhere close to either the academy or the Lavinian Empire. As for the ''Wondend of Doom'', though it was full of other powerful spirit beasts, the Qilin and Raijuu weren''t included.


    "But now that her physique changed and she''s still in this puppy form, does that mean she can''t ever turn back into a humanoid form?!"


    Just as Evelyn was about to panic, however, the little puppy stirred. Shortly after, she was enveloped in a gentle glow, and slowly but surely turned into a humanoid form.


    It''s just


    "NO WAY?!"

 Chapter 65: Good Puppy

    Chapter 65: Good Puppy


    Evelyn''s mouth was opened wide in shock as she stared at the three to four year old girl who was blinking back at her innocently.


    She hurriedly covered her with a bedsheet before examining her again. However, despite her different appearance, there was no change in her stats.


    She gingerly poked the little girl''s squishy cheek, and received a dazzling smile in return.


    <em>''Oh no oh no no, don''t tell me''</em>


    "Bree? Can you talk?"


    The little girl grinned. "Ahh Ahh!"


    Evelyn''s face was nk. <em>''No, even my luck can''t be this bad. Let me try again.''</em>


    "Ahem, how long will it take to restore yourself to full power, now that you''re like this?"


    The little blonde girl gave her a cute tilt of her head.


    "Ahh?"


    <em>''Well, I guess there''s no way of denying it, now.''</em>


    Evelyn''s smile was reluctant, but the little girl probably didn''t understand, and only smiled back happily.


    "Are you hungry?"


    "Ahh!"


    Looking at the golden haired little girl still nodding enthusiastically, Evelyn could only sigh and put aside her depression before taking out one of the regr dishes she had bought in the academy''s carriage earlier.


    And the girl turned her head away haughtily, as if disgusted by her offering.


    A bunch of question marks floated over Evelyn''s head. ''Well, it makes sense, she''s a spirit beast after all. I guess I misunderstood.''


    But as she put away her previous offering and didn''t take out anything else, the haughty little girl immediately turned distressed, her eyebrows scrunched together as she frowned.


    "Ahh!"


    She opened her tiny mouth wide and pointed at it with her finger.


    Even an idiot would know what she wanted.


    "It couldn''t be those dew drops, right?"


    Regardless, Evelyn had brought them for her in the first ce, so she simply took out a bowl and handed it over to the excited little girl.


    Unlike in her puppy form, where she had taken it one drop at a time, this time she greedily grabbed a fistful and shoved it into her mouth, chewing loudly before repeating the process until the bowl was empty.


    "M-Moh!"


    Evelyn watched her carefully, and didn''t notice any abnormalities. And once Bree asked for more, the pink haired girl couldn''t help but be delighted.<em> ''She can speak more clearly now? Great!''</em>


    And so, one by one, all twenty of the serenity dewdrop bowls were emptied, and Bree didn''t even burp.


    Instead of feeling a pinch from the five thousand gold loss, Evelyn instead felt ecstatic! Because at this moment, Bree''s expression had undergone another subtle change, just like the small one in the carriage.


    If it was anything like earlier, her thoughts should have cleared up even more.


    Compared to just a full physical restoration of her strength, restoring her mind was of even more critical importance.


    Because once she was fully aware, Bree should be able to figure out a solution for her situation herself. Her solution would probably be a much better one than whatever Evelyn coulde up with, because Bree should know a lot more about both her own situation as well as this world.


    "Bree! Can you talk to me now?"


    "Mhm!"


    Evelyn felt like sobbing from sheer delight, because both Bree''s response and her eyes were clear and concise. There was no hint of confusion orck of intelligence anywhere. But she barely managed to contain herself, except for her slightly trembling lips.


    "Bree can talk now, mama!"


    And her happiness turned to ashes.


    "W-What did you call me?"


    "Mama?"


    The little girl''s eyes turned distressed, quickly misting up as if feeling rejected by Evelyn''s response.


    <em>''N-No way don''t tell me shepletely lost her memories?! No! This can''t be happening!''</em>


    But in the end, she couldn''t leave her in distress, so she hugged the little girl close, both providing her with relief and preventing her from observing Evelyn''s increasingly gloomy expression.


    <em>''Her status is restored to this extent, she got back into a humanoid form, albeit much younger than before, and she can even talk now I should be happy She''s not going to die anytime soon, she can still restore her memoriester''</em>


    But no matter how many times she tried to convince herself, Evelyn couldn''t deny how she really felt.


    <em>''I''m so selfish My main goal with her has always been to make use of her to protect us''</em>


    Her eyes remained closed as Evelyn took a few deep breaths.


    <em>''No I can''t keep going on like this! What''s the point of all this if I just keep leeching off of others?! Bree has already done so much for me, so let me take care of her next. I have to get stronger by myself, and stop depending on others!''</em>


    During her time at the Knox mansion, there had been no way for her to get stronger by herself, so she had slowly adapted to the attitude of always relying on Bree or other external strength when it came to facing bigger threats.


    There was nothing wrong with it, at that time, but now that she was at the academy, Evelyn knew she shouldn''t keep that attitude anymore.


    "Mama why did you leave grandma?"


    Evelyn felt a headache every time she heard Bree call her ''mama'', but she could only endure it. As for her mother being called ''grandma''... forget it, although her reaction would surely be hrious.


    But going by Bree''s earlier reactions, refusing to be called ''mama'' would just make her cry.


    Anyway, no one was dumb enough to take it seriously even if they heard it, right?


    <em>''And if she is referring to my mother by ''grandma'' then it seems like her memories aren''t gone from just before her ''evolution'', but from when she suffered that bacsh, right?''</em>


    Regardless, since she was able to understand some things now, she couldn''t just wait for her to restore her memories.


    "We didn''t leave her, Bree, we came here to get stronger, so we can protect her."


    The little girl nodded, puffing out her chest with pride. "Bree''s super strong now! Bree can protect both! Let''s go back?"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but smile. Right,pared to the previously weak, fragile little puppy, Bree really was dozens, if not hundreds of times stronger now.


    "Well, Bree is very cute, and strong, but won''t Bree listen to me?"


    The little blonde nodded furiously, her golden locks flying haphazardly from sheer momentum. "Bree listen! Bree is good puppy!"


    Evelyn''s lips twitched. "No, Bree, you''re not a puppy anymore. You should say ''Bree is a good girl'', okay?"


    The little girl blinked her big green eyes in surprise, and then she smiled, bright and clear.


    "Bree can turn puppy, mama wanna see?"


    Evelyn had somewhat expected her to be able to do that after her transformation, but wasn''t sure if Bree could just change whenever she wanted, or if she even knew about it. It would certainly be a pleasant surprise if true.


    "Eh? You can?"


    Bree nodded proudly, and before Evelyn realized what was happening, there was a small golden little puppy on herp, just like the past few years. Except that this time, her eyes were sharper than ever, no longer as dumb as before.


    And just as quickly, she turned back into her toddler form, and Evelyn covered her with the sheet again, feeling a little happy.


    "Good girl."


    "Ehehehe Bree''s happy if mama''s happy."


    Evelyn felt her lips twitch.


    If Bree can change forms at will, that would mean less scrutiny from people at the academy even if she had to take her out of the room.


    Moreover, the transformation was fast as lightning!


    Still, there was no need to hide it from Amara and Vivian.


    ''But they can''t hear her call me mama! Bree would probably die from embarrassment once she recovers her memories if that happened. It''s one thing for just me to know, but another entirely if everyone else also knows''


    Looking at how obedient she was being, Evelyn couldn''t help but have an idea.


    "Listen, Bree, you can only call me mama when we''re alone, alright? It''s a special thing, just between us!"


    The little girl tilted her head in confusion. "Then what to call mama if big red and small red there?"


    Evelyn assumed that those were her ''titles'' for Amara and Vivian.


    "Just call me Evelyn!"


    "Lyn!"


    The pink-haired girl groaned. "Call me just Eve, then."


    "Eve!"


    "Good!"


    "Mama, Bree has gift for you!"


    Evelyn tilted her head, confused. "Eh? You do?"


    <em>''Could it be that she remembered something?!''</em>


    "Yes! Bree made something!"

 Chapter 66: Chaos Essence Bead

    Chapter 66: Chaos Essence Bead


    "Yes! Bree made something!"


    Evelyn was slightly disappointed, but didn''t let it get to her too much. Instead, her disappointment soon turned to curiosity.


    Bree had been a dumb little puppy for quite a while, and that had only changed just now. What could she possibly have made right under her eyes, without her noticing?


    "You made me a gift?"


    "Mhm!"


    Evelyn watched with consternation as Bree held her palm and bulged out her cheeks, again and again.


    <em>''S-She''s not going to spit on my palm, is she?''</em>


    Unfortunately, her guess turned out to be true. The little girl really did spit on her palm, and then dared to grin proudly!


    But Evelyn couldn''t get mad, because in addition to Bree''s saliva, there was also a shining cerulean blue bead the size of a ping pong ball in her palm.


    The pink-haired girl ignored the saliva on her hand as her gaze focused on the strange-looking thing.


    "Where did you get this from, Bree? Did you eat it when no one was looking?"


    The little girl''s face immediately turned aggrieved. Her ''mama''s'' reaction was far from the praise she had been expecting.


    "I-I did not! I made it myself Wuuu"


    Evelyn could only sigh and console her first. "Alright, alright, I don''t mean to scold you, calm down."


    It took a while before she managed to do it, but the little girl really did calm down and nodded obediently. "Un."


    Evelyn sighed. How can she hold it against her when she''s so cute?


    <em>''It''s okay, it''s not that different from when she licked my palm as a puppy.''</em>


    She turned her attention back to the blue bead, and the results from her probe skill left her stunned.


    <strong>[ Chaos Essence Bead ]</strong>


    A culmination of pure energy, fatal to anyone below level 30.


    Previously used to contain [Raijuu''s Legacy], small traces of lightning essence still linger within it.


    Contains the energy of a Grade 9 beast''s flesh and blood, purified using the Qilin''s bloodline.


    Effects of the primordial ability [Cmity] detected. May lead to either involuntary subjugation or harvest of ability. Extremely dangerous!


    Unknown effect upon consumption.


    Evelyn was silent for a while as she gathered her thoughts.


    <em>''So this is the ''unknown object'' that was inside Bree all this time Now that she''s evolved, it seems like whatever was inside it was either cleansed or absorbed. And the empty shell was filled with energy extracted from the tentacles and purified using the Qilin''s bloodline interesting''</em>


    Although this much was clear to her from the description alone, what she didn''t understand was how her own skill ''Cmity'' ended up being involved in this interaction.


    Evelyn hadn''t dared to make direct contact with the tentacles, so the source had to be from Bree herself. But she had stood aside, uninvolved, through the entire process. Which meant


    <em>''So I guess it wasn''t just a feeling I had.''</em>


    She had long since felt that there was some sort of connection between herself and Bree. One that hadn''t been there when they first met. Most importantly, she didn''t share the same feeling with anyone else, such as her parents, or her friends.


    <em>''So that day when we enthralled the third princess, Bree did end up creating a strange connection between us, huh. But I don''t know if this is a good thing or not.''</em>


    As for the warnings about [Cmity], of course they didn''t matter to Evelyn. After all, since the origin was herself, who would be subjugating who, and what could she even take from herself?


    <em>''No wait doesn''t that mean if I feed it to someone else, there''s a chance they will be another one of my thralls, just like the third princess?!''</em>


    But although that was possible, Evelyn soon shook her head. ''This thing far more useful than another thrall. I can''t waste it like that.''


    An item that contained enough energy to be fatal for anyone under level thirty was sure to provide her with a lot of experience once consumed. Moreover, the remnants of the Raijuu''s legacy might also prove to be of some benefit, even if the possibility wasn''t great.


    It was definitely worth taking a chance, even with the unknown effect.


    "Mama! Eat! Eat!"


    Evelyn rolled her eyes as squeezed the little girl''s cheek with her one clean hand. ''She probably has no idea that I might die if I eat that thing right now, does she?''


    It was no surprise, given that Bree herself was level 82, regardless of anything else, so she probably didn''t feel any threat from the bead. Moreover, she had produced it herself, hadn''t she?


    If Evelyn didn''t have the system, she would have surely eaten it based on her trust in Bree. Thankfully, her ever unreliable probe skill hadn''t failed her this time.


    Of course, there was no need to tell all of this to Bree. She would only feel guilty and distressed, thinking she had almost hurt her ''mama''.


    "I''ll eat itter, but you could have told me you were gonna spit it out, right?"


    Even in her human form, Bree''s big green puppy dog eyes were super effective.


    "Wuu mama never got mad when I lick her hand before!"


    Evelyn patted the little girl''s head. "That''s when you were a puppy, Bree"


    "Ehehehe I''m still puppy!"


    The pink-haired girl sighed. Who would have thought, instead of learning, her time at the academy would start with teaching? Hopefully, Amara would be able to take over this ''job'' for the most part, but she would still have to do her part as Bree''s ''mama''.


    " Listen, when you''re like this, you''re a girl. Learn from me, okay? You can''t keep doing things like before, or everyone will think I''m a bad mama who didn''t teach you anything!"


    The little girl immediately bared her teeth, growling. "I''ll bite them!"


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. "That''s not the point, Bree"


    "But they''re mean to you? I''ll bite all meanies!"


    She couldn''t help butugh.


    "Ahaha okay, fine. Let''s talk about this tomorrow, I''m a little sleepy."


    The little girl tilted her head in confusion, still full of energy.


    "Sleep?"


    Thinking about it, in her current condition, it was probably better to let Bree continue sleeping with her until she grew up or her memory returned. Anyway, she had gotten used to her and Ruru''spany in bed over the years.


    "Oh no! I forgot I still had Ruru locked out!"

 Chapter 67: Dire Straits

    Chapter 67: Dire Straits


    Rushing to the door, she opened it to let the aggrieved little fox inside.


    "Ahhh, I''m sorry, Ruru."


    The pink fox looked gloomy as she strode in, her ears drooped low and eyes misty. Ruru couldn''t believe that her master had locked her out while leaving with that stupid little puppy. She couldn''t believe she had to swallow such grievances!


    Evelyn sighed. There was of course a reason she had done things the way she did.


    The ''Thousand Eyed God'' was perhaps the most powerful being she had seen so far in this world.


    Of course, she had met that ''Lord Chronos'', who was probably even stronger than the strongest beings in this world. Even if that wasn''t the case, which was unlikely, Evelyn didn''t think he could be any weaker than the so-called ''supreme beings'' in this world.


    Although her awe of the centipede had thus been greatly reduced, it didn''t mean she was unaware of her own powerlessness in front of its strength. If something had gone even slightly wrong, losing her life would be almost guaranteed.


    Suffice to say, she wasn''t just risking Bree''s life, but her own as well.


    But the reason she had kept Ruru out of the room wasn''t just because she wanted to keep the little fox away from harm.


    The real reason she had kept her out was because of her ability, the ''Lotus Throne''s Golden Wheel''.


    ording to the ability''s description, she expected that even if something really went wrong with her then there might just be some hope for survival, however slim it was. But that was only if Ruru didn''t suffer along with her at the same time.


    However, listening to the little fox''s aggrieved yip yip yap yap now, she could only regret her overly cautious decision.


    The little fox didn''t seem to realize that Bree was the same little puppy as before, and remained cautious about her as sheined to her master.


    "I''m sorry, Ruru...e here... Master won''t keep you away anymore, alright?"


    Only after she had pampered the little fox for almost half an hour with petting and belly rubs did she let go of her grievances, and Evelyn introduced her to the ''new'' friend.


    "This is Bree. The same little puppy you''re always ying with!"


    Although Ruru had a tacit understanding of her intentions in most circumstances, she couldn''t exactly read her mind.


    Evelyn sighed. "Bree, turn back to a puppy for now, okay?"


    And as the little girl happily did so, Evelyn thought it was actually better this way, since she didn''t have any clothing her size, after all.


    <em>''I''ll have to remember to borrow some of Vivian''s clothes, thenter I can ask Cecilia to go with me to one of those city markets, and get her new ones with a better fit.''</em>


    The little fox was still staring at Bree with its jaw agape and eyes wide, and Evelyn couldn''t help but chuckle.


    "Ruru is surprisingly stupid, huh. Wasn''t the little puppy the only one who went into the room with me? Who else could she be?"


    The pink fox snapped out of her daze and once against started yipping and yapping aggrievedly. At the same time, her caution for Bree disappeared. In any case, they had stayed together for many years now, and she knew the little puppy very well.


    But in her mind, Ruru couldn''t help but be envious. She was obviously so much stronger than that little puppy! Why did she not get a human form before her? The world was not fair at all.


    Evelyn didn''t know of her fox''s inner thoughts, but even if she knew, she would only chuckle in amusement. After all, although some spirit beasts could indeed transform after reaching a certain level, most could not.


    Even the ''Thousand Eyed God'', who was one of the strongest spirit beasts in the continent, was not known to have a humanoid form.


    <em>''It''s not surprising for Bree, though. She''s probably only half spirit beast? I''m not sure at this point, honestly.''</em>


    <em>''Anyway, Qilin are considered exceptions among spirit beasts in both their gentler nature and the ability to have a human form regardless of level. Most people don''t think this information is reliable, but knowing Bree, it''s probably true.''</em>


    That would make her future visit to the Serenity Lake much easier, as long as she could figure out a way to actually get there. Perhaps only that ce could give her the means to really restore Bree to her former self.


    Although it was true that thest few bowls of the dewdrops failed to produce any further effects, so she couldn''t bepletely sure if going there would be of actual help or not. But it''s not like she had a better clue at the moment.


    <em>''Anyway, that''s for the future. For now, I''m happy with what I have here. I just need to get that cultivation technique from the academy, and we can get started on increasing our strength! I have to hurry before the mes of war reach my home''</em>


    Evelyn''s thoughts turned a little groggy, and she realized that both of her ''pets'' had already cuddled to sleep.


    Anyway, it all went much better than she expected, even though she had ''failed'' to really restore Bree to her former self. At the very least, she didn''t have to worry about her so much now, and could focus on getting stronger herself.


    She felt awash with both a sense of relief and exhaustion, and drifted off to sleep with Bree still in her arms. Her little fox curled against her belly.


    ==========


    Meanwhile, the Terran Prince was in dire straits as he clutched his bleeding belly. Forget about sleep, he didn''t even n to blink his eyes tonight, for the fear of death rang true in his heart.


    "I can''t believe I almost died!"


    Although he had managed to escape alive from the sh of the ''Thousand Eyed God'' and the two sentinels thanks to his father''s gift, Craig was still injured and flung deep into the ''Wondend of Doom''.


    Even in his peak condition, getting out of this ce alive alone depended on his luck. And his luck was clearly not doing him any favors right now.


    Craig didn''t even know why the centipede had turned alert just before he was about to make a move.


    It was as if something had poked it at that very moment, making all his ns spiral out of control, but Craig couldn''t dwell on it for too long at that time.


    His kingdom had been observing this beast for a long time now, and he knew that if the ''Thousand Eyed God'' detected a threat it couldn''t easily crush, its first move would always be to flee.


    So he made a split-second decision to make his move earlier, and it almost cost his life!


    Thankfully, he still managed to barely escape not just from the sh, but also from the beast he had encountered earlier.


    Although it was probably still searching for him, and bound to find him sooner orter.


    "I hope the helperse over sooner, or else I''ll be in some deep trouble"

 Chapter 68: Badge Design

    Chapter 68: Badge Design


    The next day, Evelyn borrowed some of Vivian''s clothes to get Bree dressed, and then exined her ''existence'' to the two of them.


    Amara didn''t have much difficulty epting it, given that she had already seen an adult Bree turn into a dumb little puppy right in front of her eyes, and then stay that way for years.


    What she found strange was how she turned into a little girl who seems to have forgotten everything about herself. But perhaps Evelyn was probably as clueless about her situation as anyone else. It was best to not cause her distress by asking unnecessary questions.


    After all, to her, Bree was just a friendly adult she liked. But for Evelyn, that was her only aunt. The pink-haired girl surely cared about Bree a lot more than herself.


    As for Vivian, although she was shocked that the puppy could turn into a little girl now, she was more focused on celebrating finally having a same-age ymate.


    Evelyn smiled as she watched Vivian chase Bree around in circles in the ''living room'' of their ''apartment''.


    "I''m surprised they''re getting along well. I thought Vivian will take some getting used to, at least."


    Amara shrugged. "You''re not wrong. Vivi usually finds it hard to connect with other people, as you can see from her response to your friend. And this is especially so if she feels that they''re trying to steal away either of us from her.


    "I think she''s getting along well now because she never saw the puppy as a threat, and they already got along well. Since Bree is that puppy in human form, those kinds of insecure feelings never ended up manifesting."


    Evelyn nodded. "I thought so too."


    Her gaze turned a little worried. "By the way, will you be alright taking care of the two of them alone? It may take me a while to figure something out for you."


    Amara smiled. "Don''t worry. We''ll be here for you, whenever you return."


    Of course, the reason they had to stay inside wasn''t because Evelyn herself wanted to prevent them from leaving. It was because the attendants were not allowed to roam freely in the academy.


    They were allowed to enter the academy on the basis that they would stay in their master''s quarters and take care of their needs. However, during their stay at the academy, they are not to interfere with any other students or cause any disturbances or disruptions.


    Of course, if there were too many ''attendants'' and bodyguards running around along with each of the ''privileged'' students, that would make the peaceful academy turn chaotic and crowded. Such a rule came to exist only to fix this issue.


    Hence, if a non-student was caught in the academy grounds without any proper justification, their attendant position would be revoked, and they would have to be sent back home.


    Which didn''t sound that bad, until they realized that they would be imprisoned in the dungeons until the next ''Grand Expedition''. Which could mean up to one year of detention.


    And now the situation was even worse, because with the academy''s ''Helion Chain'' going missing, who knew when the next expedition would take ce?


    Of course, it''s not that they couldn''t leave the room at all. As long as they had a ''valid justification'', they could exin themselves even if a professor or staff member ended up ''catching'' them.


    These valid reasons included ''I just arrived, I''m going to my room now'', ''I''m leaving for the forbidden city to purchase essentials'' and so on.


    And going out without their master to simply roam and rx was also fine, as long as the ce they went to wasn''t in the academy grounds. Which basically meant leaving for one of the cities.


    ''Anyway, they won''t have to bear with it for long. Vivian will be a student herself soon enough, and I can try figuring something out for Amara as well.''


    Until that happened, however, the only one she was allowed to bring along with her everywhere was Ruru. As her personal spirit beast, she was considered a part of her strength ording to the academy rules, and hence not only allowed to follow her, but almost required to do so.


    ording to Cecilia, if a professor knew she had a tamed beast but didn''t bring them with her everywhere, she would get scolded instead. And if such an ''offense'' was repeated many times, it could lead to a deduction in her scores for the ''Beast Taming'' ss.


    At this time, there was an enthusiastic knock on the door, signaling Cecilia''s arrival.


    "Let''s go, Evelyn! Let''s go get your badge!"


    ==========


    The ce they were headed to was called the ''Contribution Office'' by students, although its official name was ''The Hall of Merits''.


    Cecilia held her hand to lead her in, while the pink fox on her shoulder looked around in wonder at the tapestry hanging on the walls. Of course, Ruru''s curiosity stemmed from the strange depictions of ''foxes'' on some of the tapestries.


    Unfortunately, Cecilia didn''t seem to know much about it.


    "Well, how can I know who made it and stuff? The art students here don''t mark their artworks so obviously, only leaving behind a spirit mark. You can only tell who made it by touching it. Anyway, they''re nothing special."


    Of course, since Ruru was interested in the object, Evelyn thought it might be worth it to use her probe.


    Unfortunately, the one point of spirit power ended up being wasted, because it turned out to be just a normal painting by an older art student. But Evelyn didn''t regret it. Maybe one day she''ll stumble across something worthwhile this way, who knows? And it only took her a few minutes to recover a single point of spirit power anyway.


    "Ignore those useless things. Listen, Evelyn! When you''re getting your badge, make sure that you pick one you like, okay? Because it''s gonna stay with you forever."


    Cecilia''s voice was slightly regretful as she rubbed her own uncaringly picked golden sun badge.


    "Ahem, anyway. Even after you leave the academy, you should keep it safe, otherwise you will have to go through a lot of trouble if you want toe back to meet a professor or something."


    Evelyn nodded. It was basically a fancy ID card that she would use both as a student and as an alumnuster down the road.


    "I got it."


    Shortly after, they reached a counter where three purple-robed staffone male and two femalewere handling the students'' requests.


    Thankfully, the male staff member was idle, so Evelyn didn''t have to wait and went straight to him to get her badge.


    His attitude was neither cold nor warm, swiftly going through the procedures to hand her a document.


    "Pick a design you like, and then tell me which color you want it in. Once you''ve decided, you can mark it down using ink or spirit power and submit it. If you wish, you may take your time till the end of the day."


    "Thank you."


    Of course, Evelyn wouldn''t waste an entire day just deciding what kind of design she wanted on her badge. It was worth a few minutes of thought, at most.


    There were dozens of options on the page, ranging from circr, hexagonal, and shield-shaped basic designs to more borate weapon, item, and even animal designs.


    Unfortunately, there was no puppy or fox-shaped option, or she would have picked that up in a heartbeat.

 Chapter 69: A Lifelong Decision

    Chapter 69: A Lifelong Decision


    Although it would apany her for many years toe, Evelyn didn''t ponder too deeply on the design of her badge.


    It wasn''t because she couldn''t be bothered, but because she felt like she already had a good idea of what she wanted in her mind.


    Cecilia expected Evelyn to pick a pink badge of some kind. Maybe a pink bow and arrow badge, since she remembered the girl mentioning archery in her letters a few times.


    And it had to be pink because well, wouldn''t it match her well? Not to mention her hair and eye colorwhich she had no choice inwasn''t her precious grade 5 belt also iid with pink gems?


    But her actual choice was a little different from Cecilia''s expectations.


    "This one, and for the color, please make it purple."


    The man took her document and told her to wait as he left the counter to presumably get her badge.


    Cecilia couldn''t help but voice her doubts. "I thought you would go for pink! Why purple?"


    Evelyn chuckled as she patted little Ruru on her shoulder. "Doesn''t it match well?"


    Although the little fox had grown a bit over the past three years, she was still able tofortably rest on her shoulder, albeit just barely.


    Perhaps it won''t be long before she had to actually follow her around on foot.


    Cecilia blinked as she stared at the pink fox. With its purple eyes as well as the gem on its forehead, she had to admit that thebination looked good along with her pink fur. Evelyn was probably going for the same look.


    At this point, the man returned and handed over a circr purple badge, and Cecilia was a bit disappointed that Evelyn made the same mistake as her despite all the warnings. It was still the same boring circr shape!


    But only Evelyn knew what it meant for her. Perhaps if not for that coin being ignored by everyone else by a fluke during the survival test, she would not be here today despite getting a second chance.


    It was not that she was nostalgic about that thing, but she wanted this badge to serve as a reminder to never rely on just luck again. Had that man''s stepnded even a couple of inches here and there, her trap would have beenpletely useless, and she would have been mauled to death within minutes if not seconds.


    Her gloomy thoughts were cleared as she smiled at how proud little Ruru looked at her choice.


    ''Master chose purple because of me! This is clear proof that master loves me more than that dumb puppy! Wouldn''t she pick green, otherwise? Hmph, I knew it. Master loves me the most!''


    "Please take good care of your badge, dear student. In case you end up losing it, issuing a new one will cost ten spirit crystals."


    Evelyn blinked. "I think I heard it wrong. Ten spirit stones, right?"


    "No, it''s ten spirit crystals."


    The man didn''t seem embarrassed at all, even though to Evelyn it was like someone asking for a thousand dors for a bottle of water.


    One spirit crystal was worth a hundred spirit stones, each of which was worth a hundred gold. And the academy''s yearly fee was only a hundred gold.


    Evelyn shuddered.<em> ''How can it cost a thousand times of the yearly fee to rece a badge we get for free now? That means there''s little difference between losing the badge and being expelled!''</em>


    The man ignored her shock at the amount, apparently quite used to it, and handed her a thin purple booklet.


    "These are all the basic rules and regtions you need to follow while at the academy, as well as the functions of your badge.


    "Within three days, you are required to submit your choice of subjects ording to the guidelines mentioned within, failing which you will be put into whichever sses have the least students are avable.


    "In case you have any questions or doubts, you cane here at any time the sun is up and we will clear it."


    Evelyn nodded. "Okay, thank you!"


    After exiting the building, Cecilia excitedly led her around to show off the various pces, each with its own unique design.


    The one they were facing now was a gloomy looking fortresspletely made out of giant ck stone bs.


    Compared to the borate designs she had seen previously, this one seemed to be made more for practical purposes, andpletely ignored the aesthetics.


    "This one is the ''Maker''s Mansion''! It looks quite ugly, but actually this is the one building that contains all three of the most sought-after subjects!"


    Evelyn felt quite curious. "Oh?"


    "Unfortunately, you can only pick one of them ording to the rules, and stick with it for the rest of your life. Although there is a way to switch, it''s more bad than good."


    The pink haired girl gazed at the dark stone walls thoughtfully. "Maker''s Mansion huh I''m guessing from the looks and name that it has something to do with artifact making?"


    Cecilia nodded. "Not wrong, but to be precise, it is home to the ''Creation'' arts. This means that the subjects of ''Artifact Formation'', ''Apothecary'', and ''Design'' are all taught here.


    "Even the higher-level subjects which require you to have perfect grades in the basic ones first, such as Alchemy and Enchantment, are all taught here."


    Evelyn felt a little dissatisfied when she thought about having to make a choice between the subjects she actually wanted. "I can really only pick one? What if I change my mind a few yearster?"


    Cecilia nodded. "Right, only one. No changing mind. You''ll be stuck with it for the next seven to nine years, yeah. No, actually, you''ll technically be stuck with it for the rest of your life. This is why you''re given three days to make the decision, because it''s important."


    Evelyn sighed. Although she had been keenly interested in the formation of artifacts for as long as she had known of their existence, there were also many other things in this world she wanted to know and do.


    If she could, she would definitely want to pursue both alchemy as well as artifact formation. As for ''Design'', she had no idea what it actually entailed, so she could only ask.


    After all, although she was sure she would still go with artifact formation, it was better to know what her options were before making the final choice.


    "And what exactly is taught in this ''Design'' course?"


    Cecilia frowned, feeling a little awkward. Although she was a prefect, there was a limit to her knowledge, especially about the subjects she herself wasn''t enrolled in.


    "It''s ugh, I don''t know how to exin it well. Basically, it branches outter to things such as Array Formation, Enchantment, and so on. So, um, like imbuing things with properties that they should not have. Get it?"


    Evelyn nodded. "I think so and which one of them did you pick, Cecilia?"


    The ash blonde chuckled. "What else? Apothecary, obviously!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but blink. "Why ''obviously''? Is it so clearly better than the others, or do you just prefer that?"


    Cecilia smiled. "Both. After mastering this course, I canter learn alchemy, and be an alchemist! Fufu, not only does it sound good, it gives the highest amount of contribution points!"


    The pink haired girl tilted her head curiously. "Didn''t you mention in one of your letters that contribution points are based on merit? Why then is it dependent on the subject, then?"


    Cecilia cleared her throat. "That''s true, but there''s more to it than just that! The things you create in the Maker''s Mansion are all made using the academy''s materials, and naturally belong to the academy. But the effort you put into making them is rewarded with contribution points, and how much you get depend on how valuable the item you made is."


    Evelyn nodded. It made some sense for this to be the case, although perhaps she would be reluctant to part with her creation if it was something unique.


    "So are the most valuable items produced using alchemy? Wouldn''t artifact formation be much better?"


    After all, Evelyn knew how precious artifacts were.


    Cecilia shook her head. "Let me ask you this, Evelyn do you think some twelve year old can make even a grade one artifact, let alone an eight year old?"


    "Um Vivian made one when she was three years old, you know?"


    The ash blonde gave her a nk look. " What?"


    Evelyn tilted her head. "Don''t tell me I never told you?"


    But when she thought about it, other than the Gilmore sisters and herself, no one really knew about Vivian''s deeds.


    No even Amara might not know that what Vivian made was an artifact! After all, she did not have a probe skill like Evelyn.


    Cecilia rolled her eyes. "Would I look so shocked if I already knew? Anyway you''re not joking, are you?"

 Chapter 70: A Familiar Face?

    Chapter 70: A ''Familiar'' Face?


    "You''re not joking, are you?"


    Evelyn shook her head. In any case, she knew Cecilia wouldn''t do anything to hurt Vivian, so there was no harm in letting her know. "It''s true."


    The ash blonde seemed a little lost for a while before sighing.


    "Then Vivian is an exception. If she can reliably produce a grade one artifact every few weeks, then yeah, she''d gain more contribution points than a regr alchemy student who''s focusing on pills and the like."


    Evelyn nodded. "I see"


    Cecilia felt that her friend might think the artifact formation ss was the better choice for the wrong reasons, so she couldn''t help but remind her again.


    "But Evelyn, you know, artifact formation heavily relies on luck! I wouldn''t suggest you go there. Even if Vivian is an exception among exceptions, she might still not earn more contribution in the artifact formation ss than alchemy, because most of the time the artifact formation fails, while in alchemy you can seed reliably once you have the art of it down!"


    Evelyn smiled. "Don''t worry, I''ll consider it carefully before choosing. "And, by the way, what is this ''way'' of switching subjects you mentioned earlier? Wouldn''t it be better to try it out and switch if it doesn''t suit me?"


    Cecilia bit her lip. "Well, I can tell you if you wanna know, but I''ll really beat you up if you even think about trying it! Still wanna know?"


    Evelyn blinked. "Um, okay, I''m even more curious now, ahaha"


    The ash blonde rolled her eyes. "So suppose for example you''re learning artifact formation, but want to switch to being an apothecary. Then you get your current professor to expel you from their ss, and then somehow get the other one to ept you into theirs!"


    Evelyn tilted her head curiously. "Isn''t it just getting them to agree with a transfer?"


    Cecilia scoffed. "No no no, you don''t understand, Evelyn! There''s no such thing as ''transfer'' in the Maker''s Mansion. All the professors believe their subjects require a lifetime of dedication to master, and there''s always more to explore.


    "You CAN get expelled, if you really mess up, but no professor here will ept an expelled student except for the one who expelled you in the first ce. So in the end you''ll just end up losing time and experience in the subject you ended up going back to anyway."


    Evelyn nodded. "I get it, don''t worry, I won''t mess around... Anyway, where''s the ce where we get our cultivation techniques?"


    Cecilia frowned slightly, remembering her previous conjecture of Evelyn intending to steal one of the cultivation techniques.


    "I-It''s in the Tower of Solitude, but you know"


    " Mhm?"


    Cecilia didn''t dare to voice her own doubts. But she still hoped she was wrong.


    "No, nevermind. Anyway, there''s no need to go there now. It''s apulsory course anyway, so there''s nothing to see."


    Evelyn nodded. "If you say so. When will we get our cultivation techniques, though?"


    Cecilia sighed. "Well, everyone gets three days to pick their subjects, and then the next day the ones who failed to make a choice are informed of their allotted subjects, along with those whose first subject of choice couldn''t be given."


    The pink haired girl blinked. "What does that mean? ''Couldn''t be given''? So there''s a chance that even if I pick something I want, I may get something else entirely?"


    Cecilia nodded. "Basically, if everyone wants to pick alchemy, wouldn''t it be a mess? The professors decide the maximum number of students they want, and the rest are given another subject. That''s why they always ask you for a second preference when you apply for a popr one."


    <em>''Well, that makes sense, hopefully I won''t get shoved into something I don''t want, though.'' </em>


    "I see"


    Seeing her friend nod, Cecilia smiled. "Yeah, so the sses will start on the fifth day, and at the end of the day should be when you get your cultivation technique."


    Even though she had been looking forward to it all this time, there was barely anything Evelyn knew about the process. "Does everyone get the same thing?"


    Cecilia shook her head. "I can''t tell you much, um, but no. You''ll see for yourself when you get there."


    Evelyn nodded. "I see I''ll look forward to it."


    Cecilia sighed. She wasn''t concerned about the suitability of Evelyn''s future cultivation technique, or its grade. She just hoped that she didn''t do anything to put herself in danger.


    "Be careful"


    ==========


    After looking around all the sses and deciding on her choice of subjects, Evelyn decided that it was time to change Bree''s clothing from Vivian''s hand-me-downs. If she put it off forter, it was likely that she would be too busy to take care of it once sses started.


    Of course, instead of aimlessly wandering around, Evelyn would rather have someone more familiar with the area show her where to go.


    The pink haired girl debated with herself for a while whether or not she should let Cecilia know about Bree''s ''true form'', and in the end decided that it was better for her to do so.


    The headache of keeping it hidden from her trusted friend when she visited their room so often was too much effort for too little trouble, anyway. It''s not like Cecilia would leak it to anyone if Evelyn asked her to keep it a secret.


    "I''m still a bit stunned That cute little puppy of yours turns out to be your daughter"


    " She''s not my daughter, Cecilia"


    "And who''s her dad, anyway?"


    Evelyn sighed. She knew Cecilia was teasing her intentionally.


    "Like I said this is my aunt Bree I told you about earlier. I don''t know how she turned out like this, but she''s slowly recovering, so I just have to take care of her until then."


    Of course, Evelyn hadn''t told Cecilia all of her secrets. Only what she needed to know to help her out without being suspicious or causing her too much trouble.


    "Hm I believe you?"


    "Why do you sound so unsure about it? Anyway, just help me get some clothes for her, will you?"


    ==========


    Despite numerous protests from Vivian, Amara declined her invitation toe along for their ''shopping trip''.


    Evelyn had a faint premonition that Amara wanted to be more ''independent'' in the future, and was thus saving up for Vivian''s future expenses. Shopping when she didn''t need to would be quite undesirable under such circumstances.


    She didn''t know why Amara would start having such thoughts. After all, the feeling she always got from the girl before was of someone who wished to form a partnership with her, and grow together.


    <em>''Maybe herck of strength was too much of a blow to her, and she doesn''t see us as ''equals'' anymore But there''s little I can do about it for now. Maybe once I get my hands on a cultivation technique I can change her mind.''</em>


    If possible, Evelyn wished to keep Amara by her side, regardless of how much of a burden the girl thought she was bing.


    After all, she was a resourceful assistant if nothing else, and most importantly, Evelyn feltfortable around her. They had already developed somewhat of a sibling dynamic in their years together.


    Bree swiveled her head around curiously as they reached the teleportation gate for their destination. Normally, it would cost them one spirit stone, but the prefects didn''t need to pay for using the portals, including theirpanions.


    Evelyn wouldn''t insist on paying for something she could get for free. She wasn''t an idiot, after all.


    "So we''re going to the northern forbidden city?"


    Cecilia nodded. "That''s right, it is the one with the best market for beauty products, clothing and such. But if you want to buy weapons or artifacts, then you go to the eastern forbidden city."


    The area within the thunder array was referred to as the ''academy zone'' by the outside world, but the people within the zone itself did not call it that.


    "I''m curious. Why are they all called the ''forbidden'' cities?"


    The ash blonde shrugged. "Well, I''m not sure myself, but I heard that the name stems from the fact that the long range teleportation portals are ''forbidden'' inside the thunder array. So these are probably the only cities of this scale that don''t have such a thing, even for the highest of echelons. This could all be wrong, though."


    Evelyn nodded, and as they stepped through the portal, the city that came into view was clearly on an entirely different levelpared to the one she saw when she first arrived in the ''academy zone''.


    "Wow it seems a lot different from that other city, huh?"


    Cecilia smiled as she led them through the streets, seemingly quite familiar with the route. "Of course. The southern forbidden city barely has anything. It''s just a stopping point for entering and exiting the ''Wondend of Doom'', more or less. The other three cities are much better inparison."


    The pink haired girl nodded. "So, do you have a specific ce in mind, or should we look around?"


    Cecilia grinned. "I have the perfect ce in mind! Forget about inside the academy zone, even while I was at the Fulbright family, I''d never seen such quality before! Trust me, it''s on a whole another levelpared to anything you can find in the Lavinian Empire!"


    Evelyn''s attention turned away from Cecilia as she felt Bree clutch her hand, and when she looked down, she saw the girl staring at a man not far from their location, who was also staring back in their direction.


    Except he wasn''t looking at Bree, no his eyes were set firmly on Evelyn herself.


    The pink haired girl furrowed her brows as she saw the man shake his head before leaving.


    "Do you know him, Bree?"

 Chapter 71: Genies Shop

    Chapter 71: Genie''s Shop


    "Do you know him, Bree?"


    The golden haired little girl bit her lip and thought about it for a while before shaking her head. "Um, I don''t think so?"


    Although Bree couldn''t remember her life before bing a puppy, she vaguely felt that she had known Evelyn and her friends longer than that. She could feel that she cared for them deep down.


    It was that strange feeling of ''I should know this'' that struck her when she saw that man, but no matter how she tried, she couldn''t pinpoint any feeling she had for him. Maybe she really didn''t know him before?


    Had Bree already recovered her memories, however, she would have recognized where she had seen the man before, and why she didn''t feel anything for him. It was because, to her, he was simply too insignificant at that time. Someone she could easily destroy on a whim.


    He was the man she had almost killed if not for Elder Floris, back during Evelyn''s ceremony. The same one who hadter attacked the Knox mansion, but failed to cause any damage due to the ''timely arrival'' of the third princess.


    And the very same man who had then fled the Lavinian empire, trying to avoid retaliation from the royal family.


    Evelyn didn''t feel assured at all, but since Bree couldn''t recall anything, she could only put the matter aside for now. If the girl didn''t recognize his face, at least he shouldn''t have much to do with her.


    Cecilia also paused her overly enthusiastic introduction to her favorite garment shop in confusion. "If she recognizes him, isn''t it better to just go and ask? He couldn''t have gone far, right? We can still catch up if we go now"


    Evelyn shook her head. "No way. Whether or not she knew him, we don''t know if he was her enemy or friend. And I doubt we''re strong enough to handle him if he''s not friendly."


    Cecilia smirked as she pretended to flex her muscles. "I''m quite strong?"


    The pink haired girl smiled, amused. "Yes, yes. You''re very strong. But there''s still no point in taking that risk when we don''t even know his level. So let''s get what we''re here for first, alright?"


    Cecilia scratched her head sheepishly. "Uhh I guess you''re right."


    ==========


    Meanwhile, ise was scampering through the streets and alleys swiftly, his eyes darting left and right with vignce as he silently slid into a dark corner and waited with bated breath.


    Only after almost half an hour passed by did he let out a sigh of relief. <em>''Looks like I managed to lose them.''</em>


    "Shit! I wonder who it was to have managed to chase me all the way here!"


    It had already been years since he escaped Moreen city when his n failed and he entered the crosshairs of the royal family. The closest ce he felt was safe enough at that point was deep inside the ''Wondend of Doom'', the so-called ''forbidden zone'' of the Ancient Academy.


    Despite how foreboding and ominous the name of the ce was, it actually wasn''t that difficult for him toe here.


    The most difficult part had been bribing the rangers into letting him go along with them in the academy''s expedition. Of course, it would be a one way trip to hell if he wanted toe alone, without the expedition.


    As the one who managed numerous legal and illegal ''businesses'' in Moreen city, ise was loaded enough that he could spend his entire lifefortably in any ce that epted spirit stones.


    At first, he had stayed in the southern forbidden city, but decided to move to the more luxurious northern city two years ago.


    And he had been able to live in peace ever since. Some part of him even started to enjoy this life away from all the ughter and scheming he had long been used to, but he couldn''t get rid of that little vengeful thought in his heart.


    All those years of effort had gone down the drain in a single day, all because of that bastard leader of the Justice Envoys! Although he seemed to be passing his time pointlessly, in reality he was just waiting for the right moment to strike.


    From what he heard, those rats were now safely hiding while the city continued to plunge into deeper and deeper turmoil because of the war.


    Perhaps everyone really did forget about him by now, and he could safely continue biding his time. Or so he thought.


    Just before, he clearly felt something wrong, as if someone he dreaded deep down in his heart was gazing at him from the shadows. But no matter how he looked around, he couldn''t find a single trace of anyone like that.


    Recalling who it could be to give him such a feeling was impractical, since he had faced death many times in his life, and there were many people he dreaded meeting. The top ranked rangers, the powerhouses of the continent, those secluded cultivators, the old monsters at the academy how could he know which one it was without any clues?


    The only strange thing he noticed was a girl who seemed remarkably simr to the description of the Knox family''s genius child. But she could easily be someone else, too.


    Even if she really was her, though, ise couldn''t bring himself to care about her at that moment. His first priority always was and always will be his own life.


    So he escaped, and managed to ''lose'' his ''pursuer'' somehow.


    "But even if I got lucky this time, they''re bound to find me if I stay here"


    ise wracked his brain for a while before gritting his teeth. "Screw it! I might as well risk it in the forest. As long as I silently camp it out for a while, they should finishbing through this area and think that I was either never here or have already escaped, then I cane back."


    ==========


    When Evelyn first saw it, the shop that Cecilia brought her to didn''t look as grand and luxurious as she had made it seem.


    The words ''Genie''s Garish Garments'' marked the gate at end of the alleyway, seemingly hidden away from the general public but quite weing to those who managed to discover it all the same.


    Although the choice of wording eluded her. Why would anyone advertise the clothes they''re trying to sell as garish of all things?


    Perhaps the one who opened it really didn''t want to receive too many ''customers''.


    And to make matters worse, the shop''s door was closed.


    Cecilia knocked on it twice before an elderlydy''s voice finally responded from within.


    "Who is it?!"


    "It''s me, Cecilia! I wanna buy some clothes, granny!"


    After almost two minutes of silence, the door finally clicked open, and Evelyn couldn''t help but stare.


    The elderlydy who had opened the door was probably the shortest ''adult'' she had seen in her life. Even if she didn''t take her hunched back into consideration, Evelyn didn''t think thedy would reach even three feet!


    "Ah, Cecilia, I see you have a friend with you, huh?"


    As they followed thedy inside the shop, Evelyn was startled to discover that it was even more ''barren'' than she expected. And after the closed door and obscure shop location, Evelyn''s expectations hadn''t exactly been very high.


    There were barely two to three dozen articles of clothing on disy, and none of them seemed to be small enough to fit Bree. Evelyn couldn''t help but be a little disappointed, though she didn''t voice her thoughts.


    As she continued to curiously look around the shop, Evelyn was quite pleasantly surprised when she discovered that most of the clothes here had special properties when she probed them with her skill.


    Attribute Enhancement: +5 Physique while equipped.


    Special Property: Self-cleaning [Level 1]  Dust and grime will be easier to shake out of the item, while finding it harder totch onto it at the same time.


    Special Property: Self-repair [Level 1]  When the amount of damage to the item does not exceed one percent, it can slowly mend itself back to perfect condition, provided that no material is missing.


    Common enchantments that provided some self-cleaning and self-repair properties were to be expected, however, she didn''t think suchmon looking clothes could evene with attribute enhancements!


    Even if it was all less than ten attribute points, since anyone could wear them, wouldn''t these clothes technically make regr people much stronger?


    The market for these things was definitely bigger than the supply. It was no wonder that the olddy didn''t care if someone managed to find her shop or not.


    Cecilia and the olddy were clearly well acquainted with each other, and instead of talking straight about business, the olddy seemed more intent on inquiring about her rtionship with the pink haired girl.


    "Your best friend?"


    Cecilia nodded, puffing out her chest with pride. "That''s right, granny, this is my best, no, my bestest friend!"


    The olddy appeared to be both shocked and impressed. "I didn''t know you had friends, Cecilia. Why else would you alwayse to bother an olddy like me? Oh Don''t tell me that pen pal you kept bragging about wasn''t a figment of your imagination?!"


    The ash blonde sputtered, indignant. "Y-You never believed me?! Why would I even lie?!"


    The olddy smiled kindly as she patted Cecilia''s hand to cate the agitated girl. "I never said you lied. I just thought you made her up. Anyway, that''s her, right?"


    Cecilia huffed. "That''s right! Her name is Evelyn, and she''s definitely a real person!"

 Chapter 72: Unlucky Soul

    Chapter 72: Unlucky Soul


    As the olddy and Cecilia continued to argue back and forth, Evelyn couldn''t help but chuckle at their interaction. If she hadn''t actually been here in person, Cecilia''s words wouldn''t help her case at all. And if this is how she usually talked no wonder the olddy didn''t believe her.


    The olddy finally seemed to have had enough, and raised her hands in surrender. "Alright, fine, I get it. You definitely have lots of friends. Now stop wasting my time and tell me what you''re here for, will you?"


    The ash blonde decided to ignore the olddy''s teasing and patted Bree''s head. "Granny, this is the girl who needs some new clothes. Do you have the time to do it now, or should wee backter?"


    The olddy hummed in thought for a while before nodding. "Well, I nned to take the day off to rest, but since you''re already here, I might as well move these rusty joints of mine a little, ahaha. And Evelyn, was it? I have to thank you for being friends with this lonely little soul. How about this not only the little girl, I''ll make some clothes for you as well."


    Evelyn smiled, somewhat embarrassed. "Um, thank you."


    She had only intended to purchase some clothes, but somehow Cecilia had dragged her to a ce where selling items to the customers was also a form of favor. Still, Evelyn wouldn''tin, as long as the quality of the products met her expectations it might actually be better this way.


    Cecilia looked shocked. "Wow, granny, I didn''t know you could also be generous! I thought I would have to pester you just to get one set, but you actually agreed to make two? How about making one for me as well, while you''re at it?"


    The olddy rolled her eyes. "Dream on, little girl Write down your name on the waitlist, and wait until next Thursday."


    Cecilia pouted. "Eh? Didn''t you say you were going to make these because of me? Howe I myself don''t get anything?"


    The hunched back olddy sighed. "I was thanking her for being your friend because it means you''ll pester me less, you brat! Now let me get back to work, or I''m gonna hang you upside down from the ceiling again."


    Cecilia immediately snapped her mouth shut.


    Evelyn already knew that the olddy had to be quite strong. Although she didn''t know exactly what the level of this supposed seamstress was, she had to be considerably stronger than Evelyn for her probe skill to not work.


    How well that tranted into her skill in making clothes remained to be seen, however.


    The olddy led her to a row of shelves containing bolts of cloth that varied in both material and color. "You can pick whichever one you like, but don''t take too long."


    Evelyn''s eyes sifted through the bolts of clothing for a while before she decided on a reddish orange fabric that would probably look really cute on Bree. The material was neither too silky nor coarse, and should be quitefortable on the skin too.


    She did use her probe skill on the fabric itself, and verified that the special property didn''te from the material itself. <em>''So that means she has them go through some process to imbue them with those stats, right? Although I''ll probably learn this stuff in the academyter, it''ll be great if I can watch''</em>


    "Oh, Riverdale cotton, huh, good choice" The olddy nodded and took out the roll of fabric that the pink haired girl had picked and left for what Evelyn assumed was her workshop deeper inside the shop.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be a little confused. "Um, Cecilia, she won''t take too long, right? Are we supposed to wait here?"


    Cecilia smirked. "Of course not. Why don''t we go watch her work? I bet you''ll find it interesting too."


    The pink haired girl blinked, surprised. "Won''t it bother her while working? I don''t wanna get scolded."


    The ash blonde giggled. "Nah, I do it all the time whenever I''m here. She doesn''t care. And you can even learn a trick or two, if you look close enough."


    Evelyn couldn''t really help her curiosity in the end, and decided that since she had nothing better to do, she might as well go and see how these special clothes were made.


    After going past the shop''s inner door to enter the ''workshop'', they saw that the olddy had already cut out the fabric into smaller pieces, and only the sewing process was left.


    She didn''t use normal thread though, instead, there was a pot of silvery liquid beside her workbench into which she poured her spirit power. Long and thin silvery threads extended from within the pot, and the olddy motioned with her hands to weave them through the clothing seamlessly.


    Evelyn was quite curious about what the material was, but going by how intricate and fragile the spirit threads looked, the pink haired girl was sure that trying to use her probe to find out would be a bad idea. What if she used tried to do it and inadvertently interrupted the process, thus rming the olddy? It just wasn''t worth it.


    But there was no harm in asking her friend. "Do you know what that thing is called?"


    Although the pink haired girl hadn''t actually been expecting an answer, surprisingly enough, her friend actually nodded. "Un, it''s silver lion blood. Very good for imbuing."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be slightly surprised, because it looked more like molten metal than blood. "Is that so? I thought it was silver in liquid form"


    Cecilia giggled. "No, silly, the non-living things that can hold spirit power long enough for the imbuement process are all super expensive. Even though Granny Genie can probably make them, it''s not something to casually make on a whim. For regr clothes, it''s much cheaper to use beast blood of a suitable grade."


    The pink haired girl nodded. She thought it must be simr to how although the precious metals had the highest conductivity, it wasn''t always the best idea to use them everywhere. Sometimes sturdier and cheaper alternatives were the better choice. "Oh makes sense, I guess."


    Cecilia smirked as she leaned in closer to Evelyn to whisper in her ear. "Oh yeah, these silver lions are actually considered ''livestock'' by the academy, you know? Our academy even rears them in a specialized area. I was shocked when I first saw it during the beast taming ss, you know? They look so ferocious, but they''re just like cows!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be slightly curious. "Isn''t there a spirit beast called ''Golden Lion'', though? Are those two somehow rted?"


    The ash blonde shrugged. "Who knows? But you shouldn''t be too careless around them when you go to the beast taming ss, because they CAN bite your head off, if you let them."


    Evelyn tilted her head. "Do you mean that literally, or is it like ''it will hurt a lot if they bite you''?"


    Cecilia smiled grimly. "Let me just say this they''re six feet tall, and they stand on four legs. They look ferocious, but act gentle to lull you into a false sense of security after the initial disbelief passes. And when you least expect it, CHOMP, your head is gone! Although no student has ever died from their bites during ss because of the professors, someone always ends up getting humiliated every year!"


    Evelyn chuckled. "Got it. I''ll be careful."


    They continued to focus on observing the ''seamstress'' weave the thin threads of silver lion''s blood through the pieces of fabric for the next few minutes.


    Evelyn thought it must require very precise control over spirit power. It was quite simr to the spirit rope creation trick she had learned on her own, but fine tuned a hundred times over.


    It wasn''t like she could learn anything from just observing it once, though. Except maybe the fact that spirit power can indeed be manipted without direct contact with the body.


    But even that wasn''t a guarantee, because the olddy could also be forming a spirit power thread so thin that she couldn''t even see it to connect the visible and thicker threads to her hands.


    Although the process took a while,pared to more than an hour of wait she had been expecting, the olddy was still remarkably fast, finishing it in barely fifteen minutes.


    At the end of it, a beautiful reddish orange sundressy on the table. Bree was already staring at it starry eyed, knowing that it was for her from their conversation.


    Evelyn hadn''t noticed before, but upon a closer look she realized that whatever technique the olddy used directly weaved the cloth threads together to join them. Not only did it give the clothing a cleaner look, it also improved its overall resilience against pulling and stretching.


    And as Cecilia had already told her, this also confirmed that the silver lion''s blood wasn''t actually there to connect the cloth despite being used like a thread, but for putting the ''special properties'' that she had seen before.


    The olddy handed over the freshly made sundress to an excited Bree, who immediately hugged it close to her chest, making the elderly seamstress chuckle. "Well I made the one for the little girl as you wanted. Now"


    A series of loud knocks ended up interrupting the olddy mid sentence, and as she got up and stormed to the gate in annoyance, Evelyn couldn''t help but pity the unlucky soul on the other side.

 Chapter 73: Its him?

    Chapter 73: It''s him?


    While the olddy went to ''greet'' the surprise visitor, Evelyn took this time to check the properties of Bree''s dress.


    [ Dawn''s Glow Sundress: Grade 2 ]


    Attribute Enhancement: +18 Physique while equipped.


    Special Property: Self-cleaning [Level 2]  Dust and grime will be easier to shake out of the item, while finding it harder totch onto it at the same time. Stains will slowly fade away after some time.


    Special Property: Self-repair [Level 2]  When the amount of damage to the item does not exceed ten percent, it can slowly mend itself back to perfect condition, provided that no material is missing.


    Compared to the clothes she had examined on the shelf when she first entered the shop, the difference in quality between them was like night and day. Not to mention the attribute difference, even the second level of self-repair and cleaning properties looked much more practical than the first.


    If it was going to be damaged, how many times would it even be less than one percent? The special property was just for show at level one. The same went for cleaning. Wouldn''t it need to be washed anyway if it couldn''t get rid of stains on its own?


    ''Since this is just grade two shouldn''t it be possible to make much better items, with far better properties? But this already looks like one of the better shops here, and I don''t think there are many ces in the continent that would be far better, either.''


    Whenever she had found something unreasonable in this world, Evelyn had always assumed that she simply knew too little, and thus wasn''t able to see through it.


    However, as she grew to know more, she realized that there were some things that seemed to be artificially manipted to be much worse than they should be.


    ''Since artifacts do in fact go as high as grade nine, shouldn''t everything else, as well? Too bad I can''t delve too deep into this theory myself, since I''ve already picked the artifact ss.''


    Of course, Evelyn didn''t regret doing so. She believed that her choice was the most practical, since all the others were restricted in some way, while artifact creation allowed her to achieve all her goals.


    If she can make high grade wearable artifactster, wouldn''t that be the same or even better than any high grade clothing? The design field thus seemed a little too overspecialized to her, with little to nothing to gain unless all she wanted was to earn money.


    She did have some wish to learn apothecary and alchemy, but that can be der.


    Evelyn''s n was to use her time at the academy to propel herself forward as much as she could in terms of strength, in the shortest possible duration.


    Once she was at an eptable level to be able to defend herself and her loved ones from immediate threats, only then would she have the luxury to think about other things. It wouldn''t be toote to learn about apothecary and alchemy then.


    ''Still, given that there are so few products on sale, and the olddy ended up making something almost ten times better for us'' Evelyn didn''t think she would receive this level of treatment if it hadn''t been for Cecilia.


    Going by the shopkeeper''s attitude, it couldn''t be easy getting a custom dress of this quality without any connections.


    Evelyn had thought that whoever was at the door had nothing to do with her, so she didn''t go over to even look, but her musings were interrupted when she vaguely heard a ''familiar'' voice.


    A ruthless glint shed through her eyes. ''It''s that bastard!''


    And as expected, the young boy arguing with the old seamstress was the very same one who had repeatedly been a thorn in her eyes while on her way to the academy. The bastard who tried to hurt Bree!


    He was also apanied by a taller boy who appeared to be around fourteen to fifteen years old.


    The olddy was already starting to look irritated. "Like I said, you brats shoulde by three dayster. It''s been months since I took more than a single day off in a week! I deserve these few, so don''t waste my time."


    The boy sputtered as he pointed his finger at the three girls standing not far behind the olddy. "L-Look, don''t you already have people in there? Just adding a couple more orders won''t hurt, right?"


    Instead of helping his case, however, it only made the olddy''s attitude worse. "Do I need you to teach me what I should and shouldn''t do?"


    The taller boy seemed to realize that arguing with her would get him nowhere, so he motioned Rufus to move away for a while.


    Once the boy was farther away, he put away his stubborn expression and began to plead earnestly. "Madam Genie, I''m sorry I was so rude earlier! It''s not that I want to bother you on your day off, it''s just that my cousin is about to start his sses soon, and I promised him to show him around, can''t you please give me some face, just this once?"


    The olddy rolled her eyes. Youngsters these days even dared to talk about ''face'' without having spent a single day building a reputation for themselves first. "What does that have to do with me? Show him around all you want. This is a free city, after all."


    The boy waved his hands hurriedly. "N-No, I mean, I kinda bragged to him about how amazing your clothes are, and how my grandma and you used to be good friends"


    Seeing how her expression softened a little at the mention of his grandmother, the boy immediately realized what he needed to do. "Please, Madam Genie, can''t you do me this little favor? Grandma always said if I really need any help, I can seek you out"


    Just as she was about to agree, however, Evelyn interrupted their conversation. "Why, if it isn''t Rufus!"


    The boy who had moved away on his cousin''s instructions jumped in fright as he heard her voice.


    The olddy looked startled. "You know him?"


    Evelyn didn''t bother hiding her hostility at all. "Of course I know, he did try to assault me, after all."


    The young boy sputtered as he pointed at her indignantly. "What did I even do in the end?! But you Y-You almost killed me!"


    The pink haired girl rolled her eyes. "Am I not even allowed to retaliate if someone tries to assault me during my sleep?"


    Rufus could feel his face burning red with shame as even his cousin and the olddy gave him inquiring looks. "I wasn''t even going to touch you!"


    Evelyn''s smile was cold, wondering just what innovative excuse he coulde up with, if he could even do it in the first ce. "Then what were you going to do?"


    The young boy lowered his hand as he felt lost for words. "I-I just.. just"


    "Just what?"


    He had already denied wanting to touch her, but Rufus couldn''t really admit he just wanted to kill her pet either, could he? So what reason did he have for approaching her that night? He really couldn''t think of anything.


    "I-I was just looking"


    Of course, Evelyn didn''t believe him at all. "Why?"


    Rufus knew he had been seen through, and his face turned gloomy.


    Not to mention him, his older cousin''s face was also incredibly dark as he red at the pink haired girl.


    Just what was her intention of bringing up such a topic just when the olddy was about to let him in?


    Wasn''t it just to dissuade her from doing so, just to insult him?


    And as expected, not only did the olddy reject him, this time the tone of her voice brooked no arguments. "Well, you two can leave for today."


    The older boy nodded to the old seamstress, knowing that staying any more would just attract more ridicule. "If Madam Genie is busy, then, we of course won''t be rude enough to keep bothering you, unlike some people."


    He gave a not so subtle nce in Evelyn''s direction before turning around to leave.


    Rufus also grumbled under his breath and followed after his cousin.


    ==========


    As the two boys gloomily strode away from the shop, Rufus couldn''t believe that he had been humiliated once more.


    Just what did this girl have against him, to dishonor him in front of anyone and everyone? First it was in front of his friends, then the Terran Prince, and now even his oldest cousin!


    Meeting her was like a nightmare he just couldn''t seem to wake up from. Even today, when he had finally managed to recover some of his excitement for the start of his academy life, that pink haired bitch just couldn''t seem to leave him alone!


    "Is she the one you talked about before?"


    Rufus gritted his teeth in anger. "Yeah She''s humiliated me over and over again. You can see, I didn''t do anything at all just now, and she still came over to ruin things for me!"


    The older boy frowned grimly. There was no mistaking just how malicious that pink haired girl was towards his little cousin. "Hmph, I see how it is. Whether her intention is to attract your attention this way out of some twisted crush, or if she holds a grudge against you because you''re a Terran, we can''t let this matter slide. If we do, what of our family''s pride?"

 Chapter 74: Only One Way

    Chapter 74: Only One Way


    Rufus of course agreed with his cousin wholeheartedly. That pink haired girl was like his unlucky star. Every time he saw her, it brought him misfortune. If his older cousin could help him get rid of her, wouldn''t that be great?


    The young boy suppressed the excitement in his heart, wondering just how his cousin nned to deal with that annoyance. "What should we do then? Can I help?"


    The taller boy frowned as he gave his younger cousin a cold look. They had already exited the quiet alley in which that obscure garment shop had been located, so shouldn''t he have enough sense to not discuss such things so openly?


    Rufus seemed to get the hint, and kept his mouth shut until they left the city''s busy streets and entered a deserted alley once more.


    The older boy nodded as he made sure no one was around before turning to his cousin. "Are you an idiot, Rufus? Did you think we should set up an ambush somewhere in the city and teach her a lesson today itself?"


    Rufus couldn''t deny that he had such thoughts.


    His cousin sighed in disappointment. "That would be extremely foolish and nave, little cousin. Even if we manage to hurt her, can we just kill her? Do you think the academy won''t investigate the death of one of their students within one of the forbidden cities?"


    Rufus frowned. Thinking about it, was it really worth it to ruin his future just for that girl?


    Although he had suffered a blow to his reputation among his friends and fellow Terrans, Rufus still believed he had a bright future. Why would he want to ruin that?


    But when he thought about letting go of his grudge it was impossible. "I-I can''t just forgive her"


    The older boy sighed. "Idiot. Who told you to do that? Didn''t I say earlier that we can''t let her go unpunished? But if we just set up a crude ambush, we''ll reveal our tracks far too easily, and our punishment won''t be light at all."


    Seeing how Rufus nodded in understanding, his cousin couldn''t help but smirk. "Only if we make our move in a way that it cannot be med on us can we be assured of a wless victory."


    "But if we let her leave the city and go back to the academy won''t it be even harder to hurt her in there?"


    The older boy nodded. "Of course, ambushing her will be the height of foolishness. You never know when a professor is looking from afar, with all those high turrets and towers in numerous pces."


    Rufus couldn''t help but be dumbfounded. Howe his cousin kept denying both sides of his argument? "I don''t understand at all"


    The taller boy couldn''t help but click his tongue. "Do we have to act like some bandits by setting up an ambush? There are hundreds of ways to hurt someone, little cousin. Have you not heard how many students have been gravely injured while practicing alchemical reactions, or trying to tame a beast far beyond their level?"


    Rufus opened his mouth in shock. "Y-You mean, we''ll stage an ident?"


    His cousin shook his head. "For now, we lie low and do nothing. Just keep me updated on what sses she takes, and where she''s at usually at certain times. It''s best if you have a good excuse for keeping an eye on her, too."


    Rufus blinked in confusion. "A good excuse like what?"


    The older boy frowned and thought about it for a while before smiling. "How about this Since your impression on her is already negative, you make it seem like you were ''bullying'' her because you had a crush on her. Doesn''t it make sense then that you look at her more often?"


    Rufus couldn''t imagine the scene at all, and sputtered indignantly at the mere thought. "W-WHAT?! How can I ugh, I don''t think"


    The older boy cut off his excuse coldly. "Then don''t think. Just do it."


    "But"


    There was a condescending sneer on the older boy''s face, his eyes dark. "Do you want to take revenge on her first, or do you want to preserve your so called dignity? It''s not even a great shame. A yearter, who will me you for an unreasonable crush on a girl they had already forgotten about?"


    Rufus felt his eyes light up. Does that mean they would be able to deal with her permanently?!


    The older boy seemed to understand what Rufus was thinking, and nodded calmly. "Once we have her routine figured out, we can make a n."


    Rufus grinned as he thought about the sweet feeling of revenge when that girl finally suffered the consequences of going against him over and over. For such a future, it was alright to bear with it a little more for now. "O-Oh I understand. Then, don''t worry, cousin. I''ll do it!"


    ==========


    Once she had finally managed to chase the two boys away, the olddy closed the door and locked it with a sigh. Although she had great respect for the boy''s grandmother, and they could be considered good friends, that did not carry on over to him.


    Not to mention a grandson, even her son or daughter would not get any extra respect from her. Though she could consider helping them out, but that was only if she felt like it.


    After all, they were all their own separate individuals. How could she know if they weren''tpletely different from their grandmother? If she ended up miscing her trust in such a way, the only one to suffer would be herself.


    And what of the boy''s grandma? Even if she respected her, did she owe her a life debt? Since that wasn''t so, why must she coddle her descendants just because they used to be friends all those decades ago?


    She had already given up enough for her when she gave up the pursuit of the man she loved because her friend happened to fall for him as well. In the end, she had failed to find anyone else with whom she could happily spend the rest of her life together, and ended up as a poor old lonely soul.


    Perhaps the brightest of her days were lit by this insolent little girl who had taken a liking to frequently barging into her shop in thest two years.


    But of course, their rtionship was more like friends than anything else, despite Cecilia calling her granny.


    The old seamstress shook her head, putting those thoughts behind her as she focused back on the present.


    "Now, where were we? Oh yes, for your dress why don''t you let me decide?"


    Evelyn blinked, and then nodded. Anyway, she didn''t really mind, unless the cost was exorbitant. She doubted Cecilia would let her get swindled though.


    In the worst case, even if Evelyn never wanted to wear it, she could just keep the dress in her inventory or give it to someone elseter.


    The olddy picked out a noble blue colored cloth bolt this time. Evelyn saw that she didn''t use scissors or instruments to cut the cloth, directly using spirit power.


    This time, instead of using the silver lion''s blood, she directly applied spirit power to the cut out pieces.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be a little confused. ''Is she not going to put any special property on mine, then?''


    But even when the dress looked finished, the olddy didn''t hand it over. Instead, she turned it inside out before taking out a bottle of ink and a quill feather from her desk.


    The ink was also the same shade of blue, so Evelyn could only tell what she was drawing based on her strokes.


    Her expression couldn''t help but turn a little strange. ''Is she drawing a cat?''


    After finishing her invisible drawing on the inside of the dress, the olddy turned it over again, and then handed it to her with a satisfied smile. "Seems like I got into a good rhythm this time, you''re quite lucky. I think it turned out pretty good. Take a look, are you satisfied?"


    Evelyn just smiled and nodded. Of course, even if she wasn''t satisfied, would she offend Cecilia''s acquaintance for such a reason?


    But of course, not to mention the appearance of the dress, even the stats left her with no room toin.


    [ Kittykat Blue Halter Dress: Grade 2 ]


    Attribute Enhancement: +25 Physique while equipped.


    Special Property: Self-cleaning [Level 2]  Dust and grime will be easier to shake out of the item, while finding it harder totch onto it at the same time. Stains will slowly fade away after some time.


    Special Property: Self-repair [Level 2]  When the amount of damage to the item does not exceed ten percent, it can slowly mend itself back to perfect condition, provided that no material is missing.


    "Ahh"


    As expected, both of the dresses she got today were exceptionally good, but Evelyn was a little worried about the cost. "How much do I owe you, Madam Genie?"


    The olddy chuckled. "Just call me granny like Cecilia does, and I can''t really ept double payment for the same goods, can I?"


    The pink haired girl blinked in confusion. Not to mention herself, even Cecilia hadn''t made a move to pay, right? "I don''t understand, granny what double payment?"


    Cecilia patted her shoulder mischievously. "Fufufu Evey dear, I forgot to tell you that I keep a tab with granny here."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but roll her eyes. "Cecilia!"


    The ash blonde stuck out her tongue. "Sorry, but Cecilia payment service has a strict no refunds policy."

 Chapter 75: Weak Against Children?

    Chapter 75: Weak Against Children?


    Evelyn had already seen how stubborn Cecilia could be, and knew that arguing with her would be simply pointless.


    She could only sigh helplessly. "At least tell me how much it costs?"


    The ash blonde waved her hand with a smirk. "Ah Mister Chonkers is too fat, and I''m too rich to care about such things! How can you expect me to remember?"


    The olddy chuckled. Her impression of Cecilia''s pink haired friend was quite good so far, despite the whole fiasco with the two boys earlier. She decided to help her out this time. "Why are you being such a brat, Cecilia? Listen, Evelyn, this little idiot struck the lottery somehow, so you don''t have to care about it, but when you''re buying simr things in the future, something of this quality costs around 300 to 800 spirit stones, depending on whom you''re getting it from."


    Evelyn nodded. Although it was ridiculously expensivepared to ''regr clothing'', but when she considered it as a low grade artifact, the price seemed much more reasonable.


    Bree, currently being just a senseless little child, had already changed into her new clothes right in the middle of the store. Thankfully it was just the few of them around, so she probably won''t be too mortified when she recalls this moment in the future.


    "MoUm, Eve! How do I look?"


    Evelyn smiled as she watched Bree bounce around in glee. "Very cute."


    The little girl grinned. "You also wear it!"


    Evelyn shook her head. There didn''t seem to be any changing room in this ce, and she didn''t feelfortable using the olddy''s ce to change clothes anyway. "Uh, maybeter"


    "Aww"


    The pink haired girl rolled her eyes at their disappointed reactions. "I''ll show you what it looks like when we get back, okay?"


    ==========


    Having already aplished what they came for, Evelyn and Cecilia didn''t stay to bother the olddy too long, and headed back towards the short range teleportation gate that would lead them back to the White Lily Pce.


    "You won''t be getting too much free time once the sses start, so feel free to rx as much as you want these few days."


    Evelyn nodded. "What about you, Cecilia? You seem quite free. Is the load lighter after the first year?"


    Cecilia scratched her head sheepishly. "Oh, these are holidays for us upper years as well, don''t worry. Our sses also resume on the same day as yours start. Though technically I should be using this time to advance my cultivation."


    The pink haired girl furrowed her brows. "I''m not being too much a nuisance, am I?"


    Cecilia shook her head. "Not at all! I feel your arrival here brought a breath of fresh life into my dull routine, instead. I''ll be more efficient when I do cultivate now!"


    Evelyn sighed in relief. "That''s good. But how busy are our days going to be,ter?"


    If she really didn''t get any free time at all, it might actually derail some of her ns a little.


    Cecilia hummed in thought. "How much time you spend in ss every day depends heavily on your professors, but even if you do get a lot of so-called free time, you should be spending it either training or cultivating anyway, otherwise you''ll keep falling behind others. So keep that in mind, I guess."


    Evelyn nodded. ''So if my luck isn''t too bad, it should still be manageable. As long as I can take out around six hours a day, it should be enough for a trip to the forest and back.''


    Cecilia was unaware of her friend''s ridiculous ns, and continued advising her earnestly as they walked. "Evey, I know you''re like, super talented, more so than myself, but don''t underestimate the people here, alright? The professors are generally old monsters, and the students they favor can easily get boosted to far above your level. We don''t know what kind of means they have, after all."


    The pink haired girl blinked in surprise. "Teachers picking favorites? Is it normal for this kind of thing to happen here, or is it just a few of them?"


    Cecilia smiled. "Of course, everyone has their favorites. But don''t let it bother you. I''m sure someone will definitely take a liking to you, since you''re so cute and talented."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but chuckle. "Fufu maybe if you were a professor, I wouldn''t have to worry about much."


    At this time, an elderly man with a leashed dog type beastpanion walked past them, and the beast snorted derisively at Bree. ''Inferior mutt! Look at you walking around naked. No leash, no cor!''


    As the only one who could somewhat understand what it was saying, Bree almost immediately exploded. But when she growled and wanted to pounce on the dog, Evelyn managed to catch her just in time.


    Thankfully, the old man didn''t seem to notice the interaction between his dog and the little girl, and soon disappeared from their sight.


    Evelyn squeezed the little girl''s cheeks. "Naughty! What if you had gotten bit by that thing?"


    Bree snorted angrily. "Hmph, it may be bigger than me, but it''s weak, too weak! Bree is strong now, much stronger than that thing!"


    The pink haired girl rolled her eyes. "Alright, Bree is strong, but don''t go attacking anyone unless I tell you to, okay?"


    "Um, okay?"


    Evelyn thought that would be the end of it, since Bree was an obedient ''child'' after all. But as they walked past a shop that had various beastpanion essories on disy, it seemed to have immediately caught Bree''s attention.


    "I want that!"


    Evelyn didn''t mind buying Bree anything, as long as it wasn''t absurdly expensive or harmful, but when her eyesnded on the thing that the girl was pointing at, her expression couldn''t help but turn weird.


    It was a doggy cor.


    "You don''t need that, Bree, how about we get you a ne instead?"


    "No! Please mommy, I want that! That thing from earlier looked at me so smug because his master gave him that!"


    Evelyn had a headache as she thought about how to cate the little girl, and Cecilia''s amused giggles weren''t helping at all. "Uh Didn''t I buy you this dress? It''s much better than a cor."


    Bree pouted, but didn''t argue with her anymore.


    But looking at the sulky little girl, Evelyn could only sigh helplessly. "Fine. Let''s get you that cor."


    The shopkeeper weed them warmly, and didn''t find anything strange at first.


    And then Evelyn started trying out various cors on Bree''s neck to see which ones would look good.


    The middle aged man could only stare nkly. ''What the hell is going on? Don''t they know this is a beast essory?''


    "Uh, miss, you know that thing is quite useless on humans. Its calming effect only works on beasts."


    Evelyn nodded, having already known as much.


    The shopkeeper felt a little helpless, thinking that perhaps this little girl was just too young to understand it properly. "We have a strict no refunds policy in our store, miss, so if you buy it then you can''t return itter."


    Evelyn rolled her eyes as she recalled that this was the second time she was hearing about a ''no refunds policy'' here. Though the first one was from Cecilia. Did she look like an impulsive buyer?


    "We understand. Don''t worry, shopkeeper."


    Once Bree took a liking to a purplish blue cor and Evelyn decided that it looked quite alright, they paid the shopkeeper and left.


    Cecilia couldn''t help but tease her friend. "Fufu the shopkeeper looked so reluctant to sell that to you. He probably thought you were a pervert."


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. "He was clearly just worried I''lle back to return itter for a refund."


    The ash blonde chuckled. "Still, I have to say you''re so stubborn against me, but melt so easily when ites to Bree I''m a little jealous."


    Evelyn sighed. Howe Cecilia was sometimes so dependable, and yet still so immature? "Seriously? She''s just a baby right now"


    Cecilia seemed to realize something as her eyes lit up. "Ahh, so you''re weak against children?"


    Evelyn shrugged. More than being weak against children, she felt that she had a soft spot for Bree in particr.


    After all, she was probably the one who had sacrificed the most for both Evelyn and her family, so how could she not have a good feeling for her? Evelyn''s heart wasn''t made of stone.


    Cecilia seemed to take her silence as her being shy. "Ehehe Don''t be embarrassed. You should use this chance to practice your parenting skills so that you''ll be a good mother in the future, you know?"


    Evelyn scoffed. "I have no interest in such things, Cecilia, and don''t n on"


    She wanted to say ''ever being a mother'', but considering how Bree usually called her ''mommy'' in private, she didn''t want to mention such a thing and end up triggering a response from Bree that would just embarrass her further in front of Cecilia.


    The ash blonde thought that maybe she was considering ''being a mother'' in her mind, and couldn''t help but be a little startled. ''Little Evelyn had been so against epting that she could ever be interested in a ''boyfriend'', but it turns out she''s quite interested in being a mother!''


    But considering how easily she had given into Bree''s demands, she''ll probably suffer a lot once she had a child of her own. Hopefully, her husband can share her burden.


    Cecilia didn''t know why she felt a little ufortable at the thought.

 Chapter 76: Disobedient Professors

    Chapter 76: Disobedient Professors


    It didn''t take long before it was already the day of the deadline to submit their choice of ss.


    Evelyn didn''t know if Cecilia really didn''t have anything to do, or if she just wanted to make sure everything went off without a hitch on her side, but she showed up at her door today as well, just like she had done so every morning since she started living in this White Lily Pce.


    "Good morning, Evelyn~! Are you ready to submit your choices?"


    The pink haired girl nodded as they exited the White Lily Pce and headed towards the Hall of Merits.


    Cecilia bit her lip and hesitated for a while, recalling the choice Evelyn had told her she intended to make earlier. She knew she shouldn''t push her friend too much, but in the end she couldn''t help but ask what was on her mind. "Is it still the same as before?"


    Evelyn nodded. "Right. I''m still going with the artifact formation."


    It was not that the artifact formation ss was unpopr. In fact, within the maker''s mansion, the artifact formation ss received the most students in the first year, even exceeding alchemy!


    But the demographic of the students in these sses differed greatly.


    This was because most of the students who ended up picking the artifact formations ss weremoners who didn''t know any better.


    After all, wasn''t it a no brainer when they considered how expensive and amazing the artifacts were whenpared to pills and potions? Why would they go with anything else?


    Unfortunately, reality would p them in the face soon after, as they would fail to create even a single grade one artifact in an entire year.


    It was still fine while they used the academy''s resources to learn, but once each of their failures started costing them money once they left the academy, wouldn''t their future be truly bleak?


    So it was no wonder that almost everyone who picked this ss ended up regretting it deeply, and they made no secret of their regret, to the point where even Cecilia had heard dozens of students moan and groan about how they would happily sell half their soul just to switch to design or apothecary.


    The ash blonde decided to make onest effort to steer her friend off of the harsh path she intended to take. "I mean, there''s still some time. It''s not toote yet! Once you really apply for artifact formation, there''s no going back!"


    Evelyn knew why Cecilia was so ''against it'', but she had only made her choice after careful thought. Even if she couldn''t bear the consequencester, she would me no one but herself. "Don''t worry about it so much, Cecilia. I won''t regret the choice I made."


    Cecilia could only groan tiredly as she watched them get closer to the hall of merits with dread.


    The pink haired girl sighed, deciding to try and cheer her up a little. "Since my best friend is already going to be a master in alchemy, won''t she be able to help me with any pills and potions I need anyway?"


    Cecilia''s earlier disapproval immediately disappeared as a smile bloomed on her face. "Ehehehe, when you think of it that way, it makes sense! Don''t worry, no matter what you need in the future, as long as I can make it, I''ll do it for you for free! No, even if I can''t make it, I''ll help you get it!"


    Evelyn chuckled. "Fufu Alright. Then, in exchange, how about I make you an artifact perfectly suited for you?"


    The ash blonde stared at her in surprise. "Ehh, are you so confident, Evelyn?"


    Although there was no way for her to be really sure, Evelyn decided that the added pressure from such a mitment'' would only motivate her to grow faster, so she made the promise without hesitation. "Of course, just look forward to it."


    Cecilia smiled. "I will, then. You better not forget!"


    After arriving at the hall of merits, Evelyn''s submission was promptly processed, and she was informed of her ss timing as well as the names of her professors.


    Evelyn sighed in disappointment as they headed back to the White Lily Pce. ''There''s no ''Aurora'' among the list of my professors. Shame, she was the one I was most curious about after Cecilia mentioned her. But I guess it''s not strange, considering she''s supposedly one of the oldest and strongest ones here, probably.''


    On the other hand, Cecilia felt a lot more rxed after Evelyn''s choices were made final. Perhaps she really had been worrying a bit too much.


    Anyway, despite all her warnings, she believed that Evelyn would do well in whatever field she picked. After all, it was her belief in her talent that drew her to befriend her in the beginning, and that belief had never once been shaken.


    Cecilia did sometimes wonder if she was too arrogant. After all, in all these years, only Evelyn had managed to meet her ''minimum'' requirements to bing friends. Which was to have the same or higher level of talent aspared to herself, and also be someone pleasant to be around.


    Of course, once she did befriend Evelyn, her sincerity to the pink haired girl was as genuine as can be. Even ifter her friend couldn''t bloom fully in terms of talent, they would still remain friends forever. Although there would always be a thorn in Cecilia''s heart if she could never see Evelyn''s talents realized.


    Cecilia hoped that she would shine as brightly in the sky as the moon and the stars, but who can tell what the future holds?


    ==========


    That night, two dark, cloaked figures stealthily headed out from the southern forbidden city and entered the canyon protected by the sentinels. If anyone had spotted them, they would surelymend them for their daring to enter that horrific ce when it was already dark.


    Even one of the cloaked figures was having her own doubts about their venture. "Are you sure this is a good idea, professor Dane?"


    The taller figure snorted in contempt. "Hmph. The headmaster may use the academy''s resources as he pleases, I don''t have anyints about that. But can he prevent us from doing things on our own?"


    Hispanion shook her head. "I''m not saying we''re in the wrong. Not putting enough effort to recover the Helion Chain as well as our student it pisses me off as well. But we''ll be breaking the rules if we really go against the headmaster''s orders, right?"


    The man''s voice remained nonchnt. "So?"


    The woman couldn''t help but get a little nervous as she looked around, making sure they weren''t being followed before speaking. "I mean when students break the rules, their punishment is decided by the professors, but if we professors break the rules, the one to decide our ''punishment'' wouldn''t it be Aurora?"


    The man nodded. "Of course, but so what? Since when has she cared for anyone or anything but herself, anyway? All she does is stare at thatke, day and night. I don''t even know why she meddled in this matter to begin with."


    The female professor also agreed with his statement, and felt a lot calmer when she thought about it. "Right she probably won''t care"


    The man smiled as they finally crossed the valley protected by the two sentinels. "Anyway, we''re just going to try our luck and see if we can find either the Helion Chain or Craig before dawn. There''s no punishment even if someone finds out. Let''s just"


    Just as they had stepped barely a foot into the ''Wondend of Doom'', however, they felt a presence behind them that sent chills down their spines.


    With the two sentinels standing guard, it definitely couldn''t be an enemy, but for a moment they really wished it was.


    The two of them turned around stiffly, and as expected, a petite tinum blonde haired girl was staring at them coldly.


    "M-Miss Aurora"


    "W-What a coincidence. Professor Dane and I were just taking a stroll"


    There was no sneer on her face, nor did use a condescending tone of voice, yet, her words somehow made the two professors feel like lesser beings. "Is this a ce youe to rx often?"


    The two of them stared at each other, perplexed. With their level, it really wasn''t hard for them to survive in this forest, or they wouldn''t so confidently go out to look for Craig and the Helion Chain by themselves.


    But to call the ''Wondend of Doom'' a nice ce to take a stroll was really too big of a stretch.


    Seeing how they remained silent, Aurora tilted her head, as if curious. "Are you dissatisfied with the academy''s instructions?"


    The two professors gulped. When Aurora remained silent and aloof, the professors would often express their dissatisfaction with her, but when she really confronted them How could they face her on equal terms, knowing that they hadn''t even been born when she was already at the peak of her strength?


    The two of them shook their heads hurriedly in denial. "N-No"


    Their behavior was quite simr to the daring students who could badmouth their professors behind their back, but once their deeds were discovered, they became as meek as a mouse, apologizing endlessly.


    Aurora frowned, and the two professors felt like things were about to get worse. "Would you like to fight and see if the two of you together canst for more than ten seconds against me? If you can, I''ll let you go."

 Chapter 77: Not a Cheater

    Chapter 77: Not a Cheater


    The next morning was supposed to be the start of a new life for Evelyn, and it was indeed quite exciting, but not in a way she expected.


    ''Beast Taming'' was not aplicated subject in itself, but that is not to say that it was easy, either. How well someone performed here depended greatly on their innate aptitude as well as how well the professor was able to impart the ''art'' to them.


    Although she already had a spirit beastpanion, Evelyn was not exempt from going through the same process of trying to bond with the ''stray'' beasts while the professor scored them.


    And thereiny the problem. The professor who had introduced himself as ''Beast Master Dane'' was clearly in a bad mood, and was intent on taking it out on the students.


    "Trash, absolutely trash! Seems like this year''s batch is just full of talentless idiots like you, isn''t it?"


    It was supposed to be just a preliminary test to check their aptitude, based on which the professor will adapt their teaching methodology, but somehow it had be a tform for roasting the ''talentless'' children instead.


    Evelyn didn''t know just what had put the red haired man in such a bad mood, she just hoped that he wasn''t so irrational while scoring them for the exams as he was today.


    "Next!"


    Even on this wide open ground, the children were all huddled together in fear as they dreaded receiving the professor''s harsh criticism.


    It was no wonder, since most of them were just barely eight years old, after all. And the giant bird-like beast standing beside the red haired man didn''t help at all. None of them dared to step forward anymore.


    "Why are you guys dallying?! You, the pink haired girl! Come on up!"


    Since she was singled out already, Evelyn could only grit her teeth and step out from the crowd of quivering students.


    The red haired man sneered as he looked at her up and down. A spirit physique, quite well raised, but nothing he hadn''t seen before. Three others hade up before her, and they were all equally disappointing. "Took you long enough! Anyway, show me what you got."


    Evelyn nodded as she stepped in front of the bird beast. Although the professor was clearly biased, she was still determined to try her best.


    She had already probed the stats of the bird beast earlier, and it wasn''t anything special, nor did it have any exceptional abilities. It was a simple beast that was used as a mount to cover long distances, with looks that were quite simr to an ostrich from her first world.


    The only problem was that its low intelligence meant it took a long time for it to ''recognize'' a master. And its nature was inherently violent against strangers, which made it a very difficult assignment for newbies like them.


    The professor had shown them some basic steps for how they should do things, despite his unprofessional behavior. But that was only for regr beasts, and not this one in particr.


    The normal method for beast taming was to approach the target with an offering of food. Once it epted their offering, they could then move on to a gentle approach to show their ''friendliness'', and then follow it up with a few simple instructions. Another method was to simply subjugate it using pure strength until it showed signs of submission.


    The reason that most of the students suffered was because not only was this beast more violent than the norm, the professor had also already overfed it. It simply disdained any food offerings from the students.


    Of course, the poor children did not know this. Evelyn only discovered it since its status showed the debuff ''Overfed''.


    Evelyn fully intended to use the strength method, since the bird beast wasn''t particrly strong anyway. Most other students were too weak to attempt this, but she was confident, having already seen its stats.


    But as she got closer, Evelyn realized that it was actually far more receptive of her than the other students. Instead of showing disdain or any signs of attack, it even approached her on its own, circling around her curiously as it made some loud chirping noises.


    "Wow, how did she do that?"


    "Is it because she didn''t try to give him food?"


    "But didn''t the professor say we should do that?"


    The students also discovered that something wasn''t quite right, but they knew too little to make anything of it.


    But the professor''s face waspletely dark. "What the hell are you using? External stimnts are strictly prohibited in this course! What will you even learn if you use such things?! Get out of my sight!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but furrow her brows, feeling wronged. "I''m not using any ''external stimnt''! I just"


    The red haired man snorted. "Bullshit! Even I could feel a calming aura around you when you came close. Now fuck off, and nevere back to my ss. If you dare stay any longer, I''ll toss you out myself."


    The pink haired girl bit her lip, but could only follow the professor''s instructions to leave the area regardless of her grievances.


    As she passed by the students, she heard them muttering about how they didn''t expect she was cheating, and that it was no wonder then that the beast reacted differently to her. She had to hold little Ruru tightly to avoid her from jumping into the crowd and making a mess, but it only made her feel worse.


    Evelyn''s eyes were red as she walked all the way back to the White Lily Pce, hugging her little fox close as little Ruru tried her best to console her master by gently licking her palm, but it didn''t help much.


    As she stood in front of the tall, intricate gates, she couldn''t bring herself to go in and face her friends at all.


    What would she tell Vivian and Amara if they asked why she was back so soon, that she got expelled from a ss on the first day?


    The pink haired girl bit her lip and turned away. "I''ll have to ask Cecilia what to do about this but she said she''ll only be back by evening today I don''t believe that the academy doesn''t have any provisions to protect the students from this kind of unfair treatment! No, even if it doesn''t, at the very least I have to prove that he was wrong!"


    Evelyn wandered around aimlessly as she waited for the time for her second ss, hoping that it didn''t go as bad as the first.


    Before long, however, she came across a strange, eerie lookingke.


    Evelyn didn''t know what made her have such a strange feeling, but she felt like if she tried to dive in to explore its depths, she might never be able toe back. "Is this the one Cecilia mentioned, where Aurora usually rests?"


    "''Rests'' is not the right word."


    "EH?!"


    The pink haired girl held her hammering heart as she turned to stare at the little girl who had suddenly appeared behind her. "A-Are you Aurora?"


    The tinum blonde nodded. "Mhm our first meeting came earlier than expected."


    Evelyn tilted her head curiously, having no idea what she was talking about. Aurora wasn''t on the list of her ''teachers'' in this term, was she?


    Aurora gave her a curious look, as if she was trying to figure something out. "Why are you here, little girl?"


    Evelyn felt her lips twitch as she stared at the tinum blonde, who was barely any taller than herself.


    It is to be noted that Evelyn is only eight years old and is very much bound to grow!


    How can she call anyone else a little girl with a straight face?


    Before Evelyn could respond, Aurora hummed as she walked closer to her.


    "This is the time for your beast taming ss, is it not? Are you skipping?"


    As she got within arm''s reach, Evelyn suddenly had the feeling that she''ll probably experience one of those punishments that Cecilia mentioned if she didn''t exin her situation well enough.


    And so she did, leaving nothing out, including all the injustice she felt at professor Dane''s assumption of her cheating when she clearly hadn''t.


    Even after hearing her exnation, however, Aurora''s expression didn''t change much.


    Aurora moved closer to her and sniffed Evelyn''s neck, making the girl stiffen in shock.


    "Mhm, if it really is an external stimnt, it has to be grade ten or higher for me to not be able to detect it even now"


    Evelyn rolled her eyes as she got out of her shock in exasperation. "I''m clearly not using any!"


    The tinum blonde nodded. "I know. However, it''s true indeed that you have a soothing aura around you, which caused professor Dane to make such a blunder."


    The pink haired girl frowned. "What? You''re saying it was my fault?"


    Aurora smiled. "Is it the fault of the outstanding for the ipetent to be unable toprehend their talent?"

 Chapter 78: Punishment

    Chapter 78: Punishment


    Evelyn tilted her head in confusion, not quite getting what particr ''talent'' of hers could help her in calming beasts. "My talent?"


    The only thing she could think of was her ''Cmity'' skill, but she never thought it worked as some sort of passive aura. Rather, from what she had seen so far, it only really showed its true effects when she had already ''conquered'' the target in some way.


    Aurora nodded. "Simply put, you were born with an exceptionally strong soul."


    Evelyn of course was well aware of this fact. After all, she had allotted these stats herself.


    The tinum blonde continued, her tone still neutral. "Just as a great difference in spirit power inspires subconscious reverence, a great difference in soul value leads to a sense of trust and calm in the weaker beings It is professor Dane''s ipetence that he did not consider such things before passing a rushed judgment."


    Evelyn nodded. ''So that''s how it is I never knew the stat differences had such effects! But since this is so, doesn''t that easily prove that I didn''t cheat?''


    She had intended to ask Cecilia about this once the girl returned, but if she could get a response from Aurora, it would surely be much better. "Then can that expulsion be canceled?"


    Aurora shook her head. "Even if I reinstate your position in Dane''s ss, he will likely hold a grudge against you, and you will continue to suffer under his unreasonable behavior."


    The pink haired girl bit her lip. "Then"


    Aurora gave her a confused look. "Why would you even want to go back? Ruru is far superior to any spirit beast he can ever hope to teach you to tame. His ss is simply a waste of time for you."


    Evelyn obviously had no intention to waste any of her time, but could she just decide not to attendpulsory courses?


    Moreover, although the courses might bepulsory, attending the sses was not. She simply intended to get the gist of it before deciding if she could excel on her own, and then allot her time more efficiently.


    For the beast taming ss, it was basically free contribution points for her, especially now that she knew of her ''innate'' ability thanks to her stronger soul.


    Aurora sighed. "Fine then I''ll take care of professor Dane."


    Evelyn blinked. "O-Oh, thank you Um, also, he made it seem like I was cheating, can you please have this matter rified, or"


    The tinum blonde gave her a confused look. "Didn''t I say I will handle it?"


    "O-Okay."


    Aurora nodded. "So since you''re my student now, be sure toe here on time every morning from tomorrow, too."


    "Eh?"


    Why can''t she remember this ever being mentioned?!


    ==========


    Although Evelyn was shocked by suddenly bing Aurora''s student, she couldn''t help but be secretly delighted.


    Because she already knew Aurora was one of the senior-most professors in the academy, wasn''t it much better to rece that stupid beast mastery ss with whatever it was that she intended to teach?


    And she had also shown herself to be quite reasonable and kind.


    Unfortunately, it seemed like Aurora was quite ''fiery'' in personality despite her calm appearance. She took her directly to professor Dane for her first ''lesson''.


    The red haired man was still ''teaching'' the students how to tame the giant bird-like beast, unaware of the approaching disaster.


    Professor Dane bolted upright in shock the moment he saw the tinum blonde appear.


    It was not wrong to say thatst night had been his life''s most humiliating moment.


    Even though he had known Aurora was strong, to think that he waspletely helpless against her even whenbined with another colleague made him feel extremely unwilling.


    He knew she must have some secret, some sort of technique that allowed her to suppress them like that. No matter how great she was, it shouldn''t be possible for her to wipe the floor with them like that!


    That humiliation was what had caused him to be so irritable today, but he never thought even that woulde back to bite him so soon. At this moment, Dane really wished he had controlled himself better.


    Not to mention the thrashing he received the previous day, the mere fact that the ''expelled'' student was following her along could only mean bad news.


    He tried to greet her, but couldn''t get a word out at all.


    "I heard that you used my student of cheating?"


    The children murmured to each other, wondering who this other girl who had been brought back by the ''cheater'' was supposed to be. Was she one year senior? How nave do they have to be to think they can confront a professor?


    Professor Dane''s eyes almost fell out of their sockets in shock. "Y-Your student?!"


    Hadn''t she never taken a student in hundreds of years? Was she going to do it now just to spite him?!


    Aurora didn''t care about his shock at all. "Answer the question."


    "I-I" The red haired man gulped as he realized that even if she cheated, pointing it out at this moment, when Aurora was so confrontational, would be like hitting his head against a wall.


    It was better to back down slightly, and hope that Aurora wasn''t too domineering and unreasonable. "I didn''t know she was Lady Aurora''s student, please forgive me."


    Aurora shook her head in disappointment. Had he been truly repentant of his actions even once, she might have considered letting him off ''lightly''. "Hmph. To not even be able to detect that it was her innate ability, and use her of cheating you''re too ipetent to remain a professor at my academy!"


    It was as if lightning had struck him out of nowhere. Professor Dane never thought that his bad day could turn into a nightmare. "I-I''ve been a loyal professor here for"


    Aurora didn''t listen to his exnation at all, and wrapped him up in a translucent bubble of spirit power before flinging him ''out''.


    He disappeared into the sky in the blink of an eye, his terrified and enraged scream fading into their ears as the students watched nkly.


    Even Evelyn felt her worldview had been broadened. ''R-Right, there''s no need to argue when you''re strong enough to do that, I guess''


    ==========


    Evelyn didn''tment on Aurora''s way of handling things, after all, she didn''t really have much say on it as a student. But to think that not only was her name cleared, professor Dane also received such a heavy punishment!


    She had expected him to be reprimanded at most, and even that felt ''unlikely''. Was he even alive? More importantly, what would happen to the ''Beast Taming'' ss now?


    Aurora huffed. "Who knows how many talents he has wasted in all those years?"


    Evelyn just smiled as she watched the rest of her ''ssmates'' stay huddled away together in fear and apprehension.


    Aurora wasn''tpletely oblivious to the confusion she had created, and cleared her throat a little awkwardly. "Children, you may head to your spiritualbat ss now. A new professor will be here from tomorrow to take this subject, you may follow your previous schedule."


    Evelyn''s eyes shone in excitement. ''Spiritualbat ss! ording to Cecilia, this is when we get our cultivation techniques, right?''


    ==========


    "Aurora you WHORE! You absolutely unreasonable BITCH! If I don''t kill you one day, I''ll never be able to live with myself!"


    The cry of despair seemed to echo through the area, and Craig felt his jaw drop as he recognized the voice. ''I-It''s not an illusion, is it? But wait why the hell would Professor Dane say that?!''


    Regardless, given his dire straits, finding professor Dane would surely be a great boon at the moment.


    So Craig bravely ventured out of the cave he had been hiding in, and found the furious red haired man kicking and cursing at trees in a rage.


    Professor Dane looked terrible. Not only was hepletely naked from head to toe, his whole skin was charred ck, as if he had been roasted alive.


    "P-Professor?"


    The red haired man turned around stiffly to find Craig staring at him in shock. "Y-You''re still alive?"


    Craig felt his lips twitch. "Barely, but yeah. What happened to you, professor?"


    "Aurora that bitch is what happened! Fine, she can expel me from the academy, I get that, but who gave her the right to fling me through the thunder array like that?!"


    He almost broke a nearby tree in half with a thunderous kick. "All my artifacts were obliterated! And the rest of my belongings are still in the academy! What the fuck am I supposed to do now, make my way through the wondend of doom naked? Does she want me to die?!"


    After he was done venting, the two men stared at each other nkly as they suddenly realized something.


    Unfortunately, the realization came toote, as heavy booms echoed through the area, signaling the approach of some very unwee guests.

 Chapter 79: Make a Choice

    Chapter 79: Make a Choice


    The beast that burst through the bushes at that moment was covered in tough-looking green scales despite looking like a bear, and Craig barely caught a glimpse before the creature mmed into professor Dane''s body.


    Of course, even though professor Dane waspletely naked and had lost all of his artifacts, his spirit power and level were still there, though in an exhausted state after passing through the thunder array.


    The two of them understood that fighting in this ce would only lead them to doom. They had to get rid of this beast as soon as possible to escape and hide!


    To the beasts in the wondend of doom, the humans who were foolish enough to wander into their territory were simply the perfect tonics for enhancing their strength.


    After all, consuming their opponents while they were still alive meant that almost a tenth of the prey''s power could be theirs! Over time, it was no wonder that the beasts in this forest had grown so strong.


    "Craig! If you have some offensive artifacts I can use, now would be a great time to take them out!"


    The Terran Prince didn''t hesitate at all as he took out a glowing red longsword from his spatial artifact and threw it towards the professor.


    Unfortunately, the scaly bear creature seemed to have sensed it, and waved his massive paw to flick the sword far away before Dane could even get close.


    "Shit!"


    ==========


    Back at the academy, as they headed towards the ''Tower of Solitude'', Evelyn couldn''t help but get a little nervous. ''How long is she going to stay with us? Isn''t she supposed to be a loner?''


    If Aurora didn''t leave while she picked out her cultivation technique, the risk of getting caught increased greatly!


    Evelyn could only bite her lip and hope for the best.


    When the white bearded old man saw Aurora leading the students towards his tower, he couldn''t help but raise his brows in surprise as he sped his hands respectfully. "Lady Aurora, greetings. What brings you here today?"


    Some of the children giggled at the scene of the old man treating a ''little girl'' so respectfully, though they understood that Aurora was probably an old monster herself, it still looked funny.


    The tinum blonde gave him a brief nod in greeting before pointing at the pink haired girl behind her. "This is my disciple, Evelyn. She''ll be picking her cultivation technique today, so I came along."


    The two teachers apparently had much milder tempers than professor Dane, and didn''t pay any mind to the children''s murmurs and giggles.


    The old man couldn''t help but frown. "Eh? Lady Aurora, the ''Tower of Solitude'' only allows one person to enter at a time. I''m sure you''re well aware of that?"


    Aurora didn''t respond to him at all, and simply gave Evelyn a nod. "Come."


    The pink haired girl felt a little awkward as she held Aurora''s hand and walked into the tower, not daring to look at the rapidly darkening face of the white bearded old man.


    Aurora was of course well aware of the tower''s functions, as well as the actual restrictions of the ce.


    The reason they only allowed a single student to enter at a time was to make sure that the guardian of the tower could monitor them properly and make sure they didn''t damage or steal any of the cultivation arrays.


    Of course, the children weren''t allowed to bring in any spatial treasures either. They could only browse around the thousands of cultivation techniques and pick one they like, not even knowing its grade, name, or function.


    This meant that their choice would be based entirely on instinct or luck.


    Not to mention anything else, Aurora didn''t even ask Evelyn to put away her spatial belt! No wonder the old man outside looked so furious.


    The ''Tower of Solitude'' looked like a tall, circr building from the outside, but it was actually just a single story on the inside from what she could see. The singr path split into seven, each with shelves on both sides with neatly stacked cultivation array disks.


    The fact that they all looked identical, and that each of those seven paths kept on dividing as they went along further, Evelyn knew even she would feel overwhelmed even if she could see the cultivation technique''s name and grade with her system.


    [Status Check ]


    Lizard''s Tail Technique: Grade 3


    Able to dig into the world source to harvest experience at a slow trickle.


    Combat Abilities: Lizard''s Tail


    Nonbat Abilities: Cold Blood


    At first, she thought she had stumbled upon something pretty good even with the first technique she probed, but discovered the truth soon enough. Lizard''s Tail was just a trash technique!


    [Status Check ]


    Brigade of Nightmares: Grade 5


    Able to dig into the world source to harvest experience at a moderate trickle.


    Combat Abilities: Nightmare


    Nonbat Abilities: Midnight Phantasm


    The more she looked around, the more she discovered that nearly all of the cultivation techniques looked ''good'' in terms of their abilities. Of course, she could only see the technique names, and not their descriptions.


    Evelyn could only differentiate between them based on their grades.


    Curiously enough, Aurora kept leading her deeper into the tower until they reached one of the less prominent corners. "Pick one from here, if you like."


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but give her ''mentor'' a grateful nod. "Thank you, Aurora"


    Because she knew that this ce had perhaps the best techniques in the tower, and she would probably never be able to find it on her own.


    Students only had fifteen minutes to find one they liked, after all. It''s not like she could look at each and every one to


    "Take as much time as you like. It''s an important decision, after all."


    Evelyn felt her lips twitch. ''Well, it''s good for me''


    So she probed the cultivation arrays in the area one by one, and as expected, they were all at least grade seven, or higher!


    Every subsequent one she checked made her heart beat faster as she almost made up her mind, but Evelyn managed to keep herself in check, she knew she had to be patient!


    [Status Check ]


    Thundering Fury: Grade 8


    Able to dig into the world source to harvest experience rapidly.


    Combat Abilities: Lightning''s Call


    Nonbat Abilities: Ultra Instinct


    Just by looking at the abilities, she could tell that it was a technique based around fast movement and lethal strikes! Evelyn fancied such a style very much, to be able to take down an opponent before they could respond, and to dismantle their ns in an instant! And it was even a grade eight!


    Unfortunately, not longter, she found a total of three arrays of a higher grade, making her give up on the lightning technique.


    [Status Check ]


    Eternal Ember: Grade 9


    Able to dig into the world source to harvest experience rapidly.


    Combat Abilities: Ashes to Ashes


    Nonbat Abilities: Eternal Agony


    ''Based on their acquirable ability, Vivian and Amara should be very suitable to practice this technique, right?'' But Evelyn wasn''tpletely sure if her hunch was right. After all, without seeing the descriptions or observing the ability in question, she was just basing it all off on their names alone.


    The ability she could acquire from Amara was Burn-me-not, which should be rted to fire at the very least, right? And the one she could acquire from Vivian was even more obvious, named ''Pyromaniac'', what else could it be?


    If she could get ''Eternal Ember'' for them, their future was set to be boundless!


    But of course, her ownpatibility with Eternal Ember was about as good as it was with any other technique here. There was no reason she couldn''t use it, but there was no reason to pick it over another of the same grade.


    The next array disk brought her a great surprise, because it was the first high grade ''support type'' cultivation technique she had seen in this ce!


    [Status Check ]


    Arcane Archive: Grade 9


    Able to dig into the world source to harvest experience rapidly.


    Combat Abilities: The Great Arcane


    Nonbat Abilities: Master Codex


    Unfortunately, the ability names did not make it obvious what it was supposed to do. Just the name of the cultivation technique made her think that it was somehow rted to knowledge. ''Maybe it would fit well with Amara?''


    And then thest one of grade nine, with which she had the highest patibility'' with, presumably


    [Status Check ]


    Searing Soul: Grade 9


    Able to dig into the world source to harvest experience rapidly.


    Combat Abilities: Soul Avatar


    Nonbat Abilities: Soul Dominion


    There was no other reason for her to think so except the fact that both the abilities as well as the technique name itself contained the word ''soul''. As her most prominent stat, Evelyn was sure that if she could use it to her full advantage, she would be able to bring down much stronger opponents with little effort!

 Chapter 80: Little Tricks Wont Work

    Chapter 80: Little Tricks Won''t Work


    Aurora seemed quite surprised when she saw Evelyn take an immediate interest in the array disc containing the ''Searing Soul'' cultivation technique.


    She thought that she would have to at least nudge her in the right direction, or maybe even tell her outright for her to make the right choice, but this girl''s instincts and luck were both incredibly good!


    The tinum blonde was already familiar with all the cultivation techniques in the tower of solitude, and it wouldn''t be wrong to say that ''Searing Soul'' was the one that suited this little girl the most.


    After all, to be the chosen of the Lotus Throne, a child had to be born with over a thousand points in soul value. It was an absurdly impossible requirement, which was why the academy had no hopes of such a person ever being born naturally.


    Of course, as Aurora grew up, she realized that her creators were simply greedy. Greedy for knowledge, for power, and perhaps most of all, for having an actual right to speak in this world, on par with the other two thrones.


    ''Which is a foolish notion. If simply being picked by the Lotus Throne meant anything, would this little girl be so vulnerable? As long as the other twoe to know of her existence, she''s doomed. Even I can crush her effortlessly''


    Given that the two current thrones seemed to hate each other so much, there was no way they would allow a third one to grow when they could so easily prevent it.


    But although she already knew all of this, along with the fact that this was the most suitable technique for the pink-haired girl, Aurora did not reveal it to Evelyn.


    Instead, the tinum blonde tilted her head curiously. "Are you interested in this one?"


    Evelyn thought that the teachers must have some way of knowing which array disc contained which technique even without activating it. After all, it wouldn''t make sense for Aurora to be able to find all the best ones otherwise, right?


    Of course, she had no intention of revealing her innate ability to see the status of both objects and people. The pink-haired girl smiled. "I just feel like this might be the right one for me?"


    Aurora didn''t probe her any further, simply giving her a nod. "Alright. Go with your ''feelings'' then. Remember, you can only keep the array for six months at most, after which you will have to return it to the elder in the tower of solitude."


    Evelyn kept nodding along as Aurora exined a few more minor details on how to use the array discs. Apparently, the higher the grade of the cultivation technique array, the more spirit stones it needed to be activated.


    Of course, with Cecilia''s ''Mister Chonkers'', there was no need to worry about any funds for now.


    Aurora''s presence in the tower of solitude had definitely brought her a great deal of benefits. Evelyn didn''t know if she would have been able to find a suitable high-grade technique within fifteen minutes if she had been alone.


    And to make matters worse, among these tens of thousands of techniques, she could only realistically check a hundred and thirty or so, since each time she used her probe skill, it consumed one point of spirit power.


    But at the same time, Aurora''s help also made some mattersplicated.


    Evelyn had bet on the fact that she would be allowed inside the tower of solitude alone without a spatial artifact to steal a few of the discs inside. Even if they were discovered to be missingter, who could be sure who the thief was?


    Of course, the best case scenario would have been if she found a technique that was suitable for both herself and Amara, but that was quite unlikely.


    In the worst case, she could still let Amara learn the cultivation technique she got for herself, but that would mean greatly limiting her future growth. In that case, wouldn''t it be better to simply wait a while longer and see if she could find another way?


    Evelyn knew she shouldn''t be too ''greedy'', but looking at Aurora''s attitude so far, perhaps it wasn''t impossible.


    The pink-haired girl made up her mind as she sped her hands together. "Miss Aurora, although I know we''ve only known each other for a while, and you''ve already shown me a great deal of favor, can you please let me borrow another array disc for my friend? She is"


    Aurora didn''t bother listening to the rest of her exnation as she waved her hand nonchntly. "Take what you like. You can give it back to meter, I''ll make it so it''s withdrawn under my name."


    "H-Huh?" Evelyn blinked, shocked that the tinum blonde had agreed so straightforwardly. After all, Cecilia had made it clear that the Academy guarded their cultivation array discs with great zeal, and it was strictly forbidden to allow an outsider to even touch them.


    Aurora smiled. "You silly, naughty little child. How old is the academy? Whatever little tricks you can think of, someone has probably already tried before. As long as an array disc is no longer inside the tower, the elder in charge will know. And when you get out of the tower, the elder will use a technique that would make it so only you can use the array disc."


    Evelyn immediately felt deted. She wasn''t surprised that Aurora could see through her ''naughty'' thoughts of stealing the disc after she had made such a request. But she was disappointed and terrified at knowing that her n might really have backfired if Aurora hadn''t been here.


    If the elder in charge knew immediately when a disc went missing, and she was the only one in the tower at that time She would definitely be investigated very thoroughly.


    Although she might still be able to get off scot-free, since they probably won''t be able to find her inventory, but it would be impossible to use that stolen array to teach anything to Amara after that. She would never be able to escape the academy''s scrutiny then, rendering it all pointless, and making her life multiple times more difficult.


    Evelyn gave her teacher a sincere bow. "Thank you, miss Aurora, I''ll"


    Aurora didn''t bother responding to her gratitude, and cut her off by grabbing her hand and proceeding to drag her out.


    The pink-haired girl quickly pulled in the array discs into her inventory in a panic, and breathed a sigh of relief only after she managed to do so. Thankfully, her spatial treasure hadn''t been confiscated as it should have been, or her ability to store items without it would have been exposed.


    Although she felt grateful for her help, and Aurora seemed quite casual when dealing with most things, Evelyn couldn''t help but feel uneasy deep down in her heart.


    Among so many students, why had this mysterious teacher taken an interest only in her?


    Evelyn didn''t believe that there hadn''t been any exceptionally outstanding talents in the hundreds or even thousands of years of the academy''s history. If Aurora hadn''t taken any ''students'' in all that time, just what was it about herself that changed her mind?


    ==========


    After getting out of the tower of solitude, Evelyn had wanted to immediately return to the White Lily Pce to celebrate with her friends and get started on learning their cultivation techniques.


    After all, this was their first step to a brighter future.


    Unfortunately, Aurora did not escort her away from the ss, instead only patting her head and telling her to be a good girl from now, and not be too naughty.


    Evelyn''s lips twitched as she watched the tinum blonde walk away.


    Thankfully, even with Aurora gone, the elder in charge didn''t ask her to take out her array disk so he could put any restrictions on it. Evelyn assumed that he must have convinced himself that Aurora already must have put on the restrictions, and busied himself with exining how to pick the cultivation arrays as well as how to use them to the rest of the students.


    With Evelyn''s previous incident of being expelled, and thening back with a teacher to expel the teacher back, the students felt extremely curious about her, and many approached her to ask questions.


    "What''s your name?"


    "How did you know that teacher?"


    "What did you get from the tower?"


    Though Evelyn didn''t feel the need to answer them at all, there was no need to make enemies everywhere. As some of these students were spirit physiques just like her, they could also prove to be useful in the future.


    Of course, there was no need to answer all their questions urately either, except for her name.


    "She found me while I was leaving the ss and asked what was wrong, and then"


    "I don''t know"


    "We''ll only know which technique we got after we start the array, right?"


    The children''s excited discussions only paused when someone entered the tower or came out. Whenever they exited, the elder would cast some sort of technique on their array disc, making it briefly glow red before letting them leave to join the rest of the students.


    It was almost evening by the time they were done, and Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief. ''It''s finally over''


    She didn''t know what Aurora intended by leaving her here to waste time, but she could only forgive her after thinking about all the favors she had already granted.


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. ''She probably wants me to socialize and be a good girl, right? It''s a bit toote for that, but fine, I''ll pretend to be a ''good girl'' if that''s what she wants.''

 Chapter 81: Unlikely Companions

    Chapter 81: Unlikely Companions


    Aurora blinked as she saw the headmaster storm towards her with a dark face, a female teacher in tow. If she recalled correctly, it was the same woman who had been with Dane while he was trying to sneak off. ''Isn''t she a teacher of what subject was it again?''


    The tinum blonde shook her head. If she forgot, it probably wasn''t important.


    "Aurora! Just why the hell did you expel professor Dane like that?! Do you have any idea how difficult it is"


    "Isn''t it obvious? He was ipetent. I couldn''t bear to see him sully the reputation of my academy anymore."


    The female teacher balked at her words, as if unable to believe she could say something like that. "How can you say that?! My husband has been serving the academy faithfully for hundreds of years! There''s been nock of geniuses he has nurtured for"


    Aurora rolled her eyes. "Who are you again?"


    "I-I teach the interia course?"


    "Oh continue, then."


    "T-There have been many outstanding students that he"


    Aurora cut her off with a shake of her head. "Even if there were outstanding students who graduated while ''learning'' under him, there''s no way to differentiate if it was his own merit or not. It was entirely possible that he was nothing but a hindrance to the growth of those students, and who knows how many he has ruined over the years, being so ipetent?"


    The woman gritted her teeth at herplete disregard for both herself and her husband. She didn''t believe that Aurora was suddenly so enlightened about their ''ipetence''. This was clearly her holding a grudge for not obeying her will! "Y-You already punished us so severely yesterday, is it really necessary to go so far to humiliate us?"


    The tinum blonde blinked. "Ah I see now, you seem to be mistaken about something. And the headmaster, as well."


    The headmaster couldn''t help but stiffen slightly as Aurora''s gazended on him. He knew that if he really managed to aggravate her, she wasn''t exactly beyond humiliating him in front of everyone.


    Aurora smiled. "It is not that I care about either of you, I simply do not wish to see you waste the academy''s resources. After all, I have also contributed to it greatly, have I not? Letting you do that is the same as letting you squander my own efforts."


    The female professor balked. "You"


    The headmaster sighed as he patted her on the shoulder. "Professor Donna, you head back. I''ll talk tody Aurora alone. Also as his wife, you may collect all the valuables and possessions that professor Dane has left behind, so I''ll have it all arranged by tomorrow."


    Although thedy felt outraged at the injustice her husband had suffered, she could only put all her hopes on the headmaster. After all, she herself didn''t have any means to go against Aurora.


    Seeing her storm away in a rage, the headmaster groaned.


    Even though he had known Aurora for so long, they hadn''t really talked much. He had always thought she was an aloof but somewhat reliable expert whom he could seek out in times of need, but he never expected that she would start creating trouble one after another after so many years.


    To him, it felt like ever since that day when the Thousand Eyed God went on a rampage, Aurora hadpletely switched to a different person.


    The headmaster couldn''t help but wonder if there was some conspiracy behind it all. Could she be the one who caused the beast to go on a rampage in the first ce? If so, what was her target?


    Could she want the Helion Chain? Or perhaps it was to reduce the power of the sentinels?


    What unsettled him more, however, was why would she now borrow so many high grade cultivation techniques at once. Could she be attempting to create a new one?


    Since the headmaster had stopped bothering her, Aurora had already gone back to staring at theke in silence, either unaware or uncaring of the headmaster''s increasingly dark gaze.


    ==========


    Meanwhile, in the dark forest outside the academy, three men stared at each other warily while hiding in a deeply hidden cave.


    In the end, Craig couldn''t help but sigh. Regardless of his unreasonably timely appearance, the man did help them escape from the beast earlier. "Thank you for your help earlier. What''s your name?"


    If not for him, Craig''s injury would definitely be aggravated even further with a prolonged fight. Although he was sure that the man wasn''t any stronger than himself, he seemed far better prepared than the prince and the professor, as if he had set foot into the forest knowingly.


    The man grinned. "You can call me ise, your highness."


    The Terran Prince couldn''t help but be slightly suspicious. "You know of me?"


    "Of course, of course."


    Although he could have brushed it off as ''who doesn''t know of the illustrious Terran prince?'', that would defeat the whole point of saving him in the first ce.


    After all, ise wasn''t a kind soul who would help out these ''damsels in distress'' for no reason, right? The only reason he did so was because he saw the hope of turning his own dire situation around, as long as Craig agreed to take him in.


    Therefore, he didn''t hesitate to inform Craig about his identity, and how he would of course keep track of almost all of the prominent personalities in the continent, such as the princes and princesses.


    Anyway, if he was going to join them, they would investigate him sooner orter anyway, and there was no point in keeping it hidden. It wasn''t like he had ever done anything against the Terran''s interests.


    Craig nodded after hearing his exnation. "Interesting you seem quite resourceful and talented. With your favor today on top, I can promise you a decent position in one of our units once we get out of here."


    ise couldn''t help but grin in joy. "Thank you, your highness!"


    With the matter of his suspicious identity dealt with, Craig turned his attention back to professor Dane. Seeing how the red haired man was stillpletely naked, and with some of his charred skin having peeled off, it made Craig almost shudder in disgust.


    "Uh, ise, you wouldn''t happen to have some extra clothing, right?"


    These kinds of ''unnecessary'' supplies, such as clothing and food, had always been carried around by his subordinates, while Craig only stored thebat equipment and treasures in his own spatial artifact. He never expected to have a day such as this.


    ise shrugged awkwardly. "If I had any, I would have already offered you some. Unless you want the one I''m wearing?"


    Although Craig''s own clothing was slightly tattered, it wasn''t bad enough to the point of needing to wear other people''s worn clothes. "Uh, no thanks."


    The professor also shook his head, not minding his own naked state as much. Compared to the loss of the artifacts he had been painstakingly collecting for hundreds of years, this was truly nothing. "We''re all men, anyway. It''s fine."


    The other two didn''t agree, but since there was no solution anyway they decided to just nod and keep their sight away from his body.


    "By the way, professor, if you don''t mind me asking what happened? How did you end up like this?"


    The professor seemed to have been poked in a sore spot, and immediately exploded. "It was that BITCH! Aurora!"


    Craig almost jumped in fright. "K-Keep your voice down, professor! We just barely managed to escape"


    "Hmph."


    "Ahem, anyway, sorry for interrupting, please continue."


    Dane snorted. "You won''t believe it, but that fucking whore Earlier, I was about to head into the forest along with my wife to see if we could find any clues of your whereabouts"


    Craig nodded. More than his own kingdom''s forces, he had been more hopeful about someone from the academy finding him. After all, Terrazyme wasn''t just farther away from the Wondend of Doom, they also had to be far more careful while invading the forest.


    Inparison, the experts from the academy were more or less familiar with it, especially the older professors who had been here for hundreds of years. Although they couldn''t im to be able to stroll in and out as they pleased, they could still escape with their lives in most situations.


    However, no such help seemed to have arrived. And it looked like that wasn''t just Craig''s bad luck.


    Dane continued. "At that time we thought Aurora discovered us through sheer coincidence, and we received a punishment for disobeying our orders."


    Craig couldn''t help but be startled. "Huh? What do you mean?"


    The red haired professor chuckled. Now that he was expelled from the academy, he of course had no loyalty for the ce. "I was shocked too, but it really is exactly what it sounds like. We were ordered not to look into your disappearance, and to not even bother with the Helion Chain!"

 Chapter 82: Just a disciple, or not?

    Chapter 82: Just a disciple, or not?


    Meanwhile, Evelyn had already returned to the White Lily Pce along with the four array discs containing all the high grade cultivation techniques from the tower of solitude.


    At first, she had only intended to beg her to borrow one extra disc, but since Aurora had said ''take what you like'', Evelyn decided to be shameless and just grab everything she liked.


    The tinum blonde did give her a weird look at that time, but didn''t say anything else.


    For Evelyn, exchanging a little embarrassment was more than fine to give her friends a better choice for their future.


    Vivian was still quite young and ignorant, and didn''t know exactly how precious these discs were, but both Amara and Cecilia gaped at her in disbelief as soon as she took out not one, but four cultivation array discs.


    "H-How do you have FOUR of them?"


    "You really did it?! No wait, you got away with it?!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but chuckle. Their reactions were hrious as expected. She pretended to be nonchnt as she waved her hand. "Don''t be so shocked, I only borrowed them."


    Looking at the pink haired girl''s face, Cecilia couldn''t help but squint her eyes. "Since when was that an option? That old guy at the tower is such a stingy bastard, he would even scold you if you''re holding it ''wrong''!"


    Of course, Evelyn knew that she couldn''t keep teasing them forever, so after a while, she still revealed the matter of bing Aurora''s disciple.


    While Amara just looked relieved that Evelyn wouldn''t get into trouble, and had even managed to stumble across ''great fortune'' somehow, Cecilia was even more shocked. "Aurora said that?"


    Evelyn nodded. "Mhm"


    Cecilia couldn''t help but sigh. "Wow That''s amazing What are you going to learn from her, though?"


    Aurora had only told her to be there in front of theke tomorrow morning, and not what she actually intended to do. "Uh I don''t really know yet? What is she good at?"


    Cecilia shrugged. "Who knows?"


    The pink haired girl stared at her in disbelief. Given that Cecilia seemed to be ''quite familiar'' with Aurora, having gone to pester her all the time in the past, shouldn''t she at least know this much? "You can''t be serious"


    The ash blonde chuckled helplessly. "I mean, maybe the teachers must know, but at least it''s not something the students are aware of. Maybe it''s been too long since she revealed her abilities in public?"


    Evelyn sighed. "I-I guess I''ll find out tomorrow?"


    Cecilia nodded. "Hm more importantly, you said that the elder didn''t ce a restriction on your cultivation arrays?"


    The pink haired girl nodded. Not to mention cing any restrictions, he hadn''t even touched them, or let her know how to use them. "Right."


    Cecilia couldn''t help but p in excitement. "Great! So basically you can actually look into each of them, and then decide based on actual facts! That''s super cool! While everyone just relies on instinct and luck, you can actually make a choice! Granted it''s only between these four"


    Evelyn sighed, wondering how Cecilia would react if she knew she had already picked out the best techniques from the tower, and didn''t rely on ''instinct'' at all.


    The ash blonde mmed her fat purse on the table as she patted her chest. "Don''t worry about the cost, little Eve, your rich big sis is gonna cover it all! Let''s drive up all four of these, one by one, and you can have a good hard look before deciding. Be careful not to start with yourprehension though, or you''ll be stuck with"


    Evelyn shook her head with a smile as she tapped on the cultivation array disc she had ced closest to herself. "No need. I already made my choice. I''ll pick this one."


    Cecilia frowned. "Eh? How can you let such an opportunity pass? Big sis disagrees! Don''t be an idiot, Evelyn, at least take a look at what they are!"


    Amara also nodded. "I agree. In the long run, spirit stones mean nothing. The cultivation technique you pick will decide what kind of skills you have in the future, and how fast you grow. If you have a choice, why not take a look?"


    Evelyn felt a headache as she thought of how to exin to them that driving up the arrays would only waste their resources with no gain at all, since she already knew the contents of the techniques.


    Her eyes lit up as she suddenly realized the perfect ''scapegoat''. "I don''t need to do that, since Aurora has already told me about what each of them do."


    "Ah?"


    "She did?!" Cecilia couldn''t help but gape. Howe this waspletely different from the Aurora that she knew?


    Thatzydy would fling her across theke just to avoid answering her questions, but here she was, not only taking her friend in as a disciple, but also being so ''meticulous''.


    A strange thought couldn''t help but cross Cecilia''s mind. ''She couldn''t have fallen for little Eve''s charms, right? Although she looks like a little girl, I''m sure she must feel like a dusty old granny in her heart. Could it be that she wants to adopt her as a ''daughter'' to inherit her legacy?''


    If Aurora really intended to do that Cecilia felt a chill just thinking about it. The difference between a disciple and inheritor was like night and day. If Aurora took in a disciple, although shocking, no one would dare to go to her to argue about it.


    But unlike a ''disciple'' who would only be taught some of their master''s skills, an inheritor would receive aplete guidance until they had mastered almost everything in their master''s arsenal.


    For someone to be able to inherit everything from Aurora the sheer amount of hatred, jealousy and wariness that would be targeted at her friend would be astronomical.


    Perhaps only Aurora herself would be capable of protecting her in that case. But for a cultivator to be under such strict protection also meant a great interference in their growth.


    As far as Cecilia was concerned, bing Aurora''s inheritor was actually a bad thing for Evelyn. ''My little Eve is so talented and bright, she would be able to shine on her own as long as she''s allowed to grow. But always being under Aurora''s protection is just going to restrict her growth!''


    Of course, even if she had all these conjectures in her mind, Cecilia didn''t dare to say them out loud.


    First of all, if no one else realized that Evelyn was Aurora''s inheritor, not even Evelyn herself, that was for the best.


    Secondly, mentioning such a thing to Evelyn might make it look like she was actually jealous of her friend, and Cecilia couldn''t bear to take such a look from her at all.


    So the ash blonde could only keep such thoughts in her mind, and follow Evelyn''s instructions to set up the spirit stones for the array disc''s activation.


    Unlike Cecilia, Amara wasn''t quite as familiar with Aurora''s status and strength, and didn''t dwell on the matter any further, simply epting Evelyn''s exnation as they moved on to setting up Evelyn''s cultivation array.


    Since it was a sensitive process during which physical interruption could cause a great bacsh, most people would prefer to lock up their room from the inside and do it alone. If they had someone trustworthy, that person would also be set up in advance to prevent any unwanted interruptions.


    Of course, Evelyn, who had the ability to see their affection levels, trusted these girls to protect her to the best of their ability, and never even mentioned being left alone.


    Cecilia and Amara, the only ones who understood how much ''trust'' was ced in them, couldn''t help but feel ttered as they meticulously helped Evelyn set up the array with spirit stones.


    The method provided by Aurora was slightly different from the one that the elder in charge of the tower of solitude provided the students with, but that wasn''t really much of a surprise.


    Once everything was in ce, Evelyn took a lotus position in front of the six inch wide stone disc and closed her eyes. "You guys go rest, alright, this might take a while"


    Of course, how could they just leave? Even Vivian, the ''baby'' who was always put in charge of ''babysitting'' the fox and the ''puppy'', watched the ''excitement'' with eyes wide open.


    Unlike Bree and Ruru, who were perhaps the only two in their group with no idea of what was going on, Vivian more or less understood that Evelyn was ''deciding her future'' right now.


    Although the act ofprehending the cultivation technique from the array was probably as boring to watch as it can get, knowing that it was a life changing moment for Evelyn was enough.


    Moreover, Evelyn had only told them that she ''knew'' what each of the discs held, but hadn''t told them their actual contents.


    They didn''t dare to ask if she didn''t want to tell, since disturbing her ''state of mind'' just before her first true cultivation session was simply the worst of ideas.


    But that didn''t mean they weren''t anxious to know what she was actually going to cultivate in the end.


    Amara couldn''t help but bite her lip. "W-What do you cultivate, Cecilia?"


    The ash blonde blinked. Although the question was somewhat private, one''s cultivation technique could more or less be guessed based on the skills they disyed, unless it was something obscure and not as well known.


    She looked a little sheepish. "Uh, mine is called ''Child of Light''."

 Chapter 83: Diving In

    Chapter 83: Diving In


    Amara couldn''t really understand what kind of moves Cecilia had just based on the name of the cultivation technique, so she just nodded absently. "I wonder what mine will be"


    The redhead had almost never dared to think that this kind of day would evere. While she was still thinking of how to distance herself from Evelyn to stop dragging her down, the girl was always thinking of a way to let her keep up.


    Amara couldn''t help but feel ashamed. ''I-I won''t think like this anymore. Even if the cultivation technique I end up getting doesn''t suit me, I''ll work hard and make you proud! I''ll never be useless anymore I''ll protect you, both of you''


    At this time, just before she activated the array, Evelyn received a system notification for a new mission.


    [ Red Mission, Acquire a Cultivation Technique ]


    -Clear Condition: Comprehend a Cultivation Technique of any grade.


    Use an array disc containing an existing cultivation technique toprehend it.


    Create your own cultivation technique, which needs to be at least grade three or higher.


    -Rewards vary depending on the grade of the cultivation technique!


    Lower Grade Cultivation Technique (Grade 1, Grade 2, or Grade 3)


    -Experience: 100,000 points


    -Random skill (low level)


    Mid Grade Cultivation Technique (Grade 4, Grade 5 or Grade 6)


    -Experience: 125,000 points


    -Random skill (mid level)


    High Grade Cultivation Technique (Grade 7 or higher)


    -Experience: 150,000 points


    -Random skill (high level)


    Evelyn was of course ecstatic after looking at the rewards, but managed to calm herself down soon enough. Anyway, this mission was as good as done, and her first priority currently was toprehend the cultivation technique from the array disc.


    After she was certain her state of mind was right, Evelyn poured her spirit power into the array, fully activating it.


    This was not the first time Evelyn had used an array, although it was the first she had activated it herself. Previously, Bree had used some sort of array to make the bonding process between herself and Ruru easier, though Evelyn didn''t know how much it ended up helping in the end.


    What she did know, however, was that unlikest time when she had remained fully conscious, her mind blurred almost as soon as the array was activated.


    Constantly slipping between a conscious and unconscious state, Evelyn eventually found herself floating in a dark sea filled with glowing white orbs.


    Her ''body'' itself seemed to semi-transparent, andpletely naked, and although the substance felt like water in terms of viscosity, Evelyn didn''t feel like she was suffocating at all.


    ording to what Aurora had told her, each cultivation technique''s creator decided on what the prehension ne'' inside the disc would be like, so it varied greatly from technique to technique. And there was no way to tell what it was going to be like without trying it out themselves.


    For people who had already started on the path of cultivation, using another cultivation array disc was a strict taboo. This was because they could identally end up prehending'' a part of another technique, which might interfere with their own insights, andy down major roadblocks on their path to the future.


    Of course, it wasn''t as if Aurora didn''t know anything about ''Searing Soul'' at all. But what she told her didn''t help much.


    Apparently, only three other students had been ''lucky'' enough to pick this cultivation technique from the tower of solitude throughout the history of the Ancient Academy possessing it, and only one of them had experienced moderate sess in their life.


    Evelyn more or less understood that the higher level cultivation techniques had stricter requirements from their users. And the one for ''Searing Soul'' was, apparently, a very high soul value.


    The pink haired girl couldn''t be any happier at those words, because if there was one thing she had an excess of, it was soul value.


    After observing the glowing white orbs for a while, Evelyn started swimming through the dark waters to look for the biggest, brightest orb she could find.


    ording to Aurora, starting with the very core of the technique would make it much easier for her toprehend the rest of it in the future. And for higher level techniques, this was an absolutely necessary step that she couldn''t afford to miss.


    Even after swimming for what felt like hours, however, Evelyn couldn''t find any orbs that looked disproportionatelyrger than the others.


    It truly wasn''t easy to do it all by sight, because there were simply far too many of them floating around, and just navigating her way around in this murky dark water without any reference point to guide her was already quite daunting.


    Moreover, she could only see around a dozen meters around herself, and the murkiness of the water obscured her vision beyond that point. In fact, her observation range would be even smaller if the orbs hadn''t been glowing and easily noticeable.


    "I don''t have all day the more time I spend in here, the more spirit stones the array will consume. Although Cecilia has plenty, it''s still far from being unlimited, not to mention we still have to do this again for Amara and Vivian."


    Suddenly, Evelyn realized that since this was her soul body, and she could swim by simply thinking about it could she still use her ''spirit power''?


    But unfortunately, no matter how she tried to find that same source of energy that she always used to form her spirit threads, use her probe skill, and everything else it was just not there.


    Her desperate struggles were not for naught, however, because she soon discovered another source of power that she had never felt before.


    "What''s this?"


    This ''pool'' felt purer, and far more grand and regal than the pool of spirit power she was used to tapping into. However, this ''source'' also gave her an ominous feeling.


    This ominous feeling wasn''t that it was a ''bad source'', but that if she ever ''ran out'' or broke this source, she herself would be doomed.


    It certainly couldn''t be another type of spirit power, because she knew that exhausting spirit power only led to a state of slight lethargy before it slowly recovered.


    "This must be soul! No one told me I can directly use the power of the soul just like spirit power?!"


    Right up until then, Evelyn had been under the impression that much like physique and vitality, soul value was another stat that formed a base that affected many techniques and actions, but could not directly be used as ''energy'', as spirit power could.


    That is to say, she couldn''t just pour out ''physique'' or ''vitality'' into something just because she wanted to, because they weren''t something she could ''channel'' as energy to begin with. Not as far as she was aware of, at least.


    But clearly, she had been mistaken to think that soul value was also the same.


    "Since this is so let me try it out!"


    The reason she had been trying to tap into her spirit power was simple. She wanted to try replicating the effect of ''Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple'' in an attempt to find the ''core'' of this ce.


    Evelyn''s first few attempts failed miserably, and the ''soul water'' in the pool vanished a little with every failed attempt.


    She could feel that it will recover, so she wasn''t too worried. However, the more she depleted it with her failed attempts, the more she felt like it will take ''longer'' to recover.


    "So unlike Spirit Power, which recovers at a constant rate based on how much your maximum capacity is no matter what, the more I deplete my soul, the slower it will ''heal''."


    But even if that was so, Evelyn had plenty of ''soul water'' still left in her ''pool'', and continued to attempt sending out a ''ripple'' from her body.


    Although her attempts kept failing, each one was a little bit more stable than thest. Eventually, a small ripple emerged from her body, traveling barely ten meters before vanishing.


    Evelyn smiled.


    It was much easier from that point, as she only had to pour in more of her ''soul water'' each time into the technique while keeping it stable to the best of her ability to make sure that the ripple didn''t fall apart.


    In her second attempt, she managed to double her range, but found nothing worthy of her notice.


    In her fifth attempt, she finally found a muchrger orb than the ones she had seen so far, almost thirteen hundred meters away from her location, in another cluster of orbs she didn''t even know existed in this murky, dark water body.


    But Evelyn still had almost ny percent of her soul value left, so she decided to ''splurge'' this time just to make sure, until it was just over fifty.


    In herst ''ripple'', which nearly consumed a fourth of her soul value by itself, she found a shockinglyrge white orb floating by itself in the middle of nowhere, almost ten thousand meters away from her location.


    Evelyn didn''t know if she should be annoyed that she almost missed it, or ecstatic that she ended up not making the wrong choice. "Fuck! Good thing I checked"


    Evelyn could only grit her teeth and start swimming. "Why is it so darn far away, anyway?"


    Meanwhile, as Evelyn was fully indulged in her cultivation array,pletely unaware of her surroundings, none of her friends realized that another person had entered the room not long after the array started.

 Chapter 84: The Creator in the Murky Seas

    Chapter 84: The ''Creator'' in the Murky Seas


    Evelyn didn''t know how long she had been swimming for before she finally managed to reach the giant glowing orb she had sensed, though to her it felt like an eternity.


    Thankfully, it didn''t seem like she could get physically tired while in this state, or it might have taken her even longer to get here.


    In her attempts at finding this thing, Evelyn had ended up exhausting almost half of her soul value, and she knew that it would take a while to recover.


    At first, her n had been to simply confirm the orb''s location, and then exit the array to wait for her soul value to recover. After all, wouldn''t it be better if she was in her peak condition, at least in terms of soul value, when she attempted toprehend a cultivation technique centered around the soul?


    But on her way to the main orb, Evelyn had encountered manyrge orbs that had obviously been in other ces before, and came to a realization.


    This ce was obviously meant as a ''test'', and the better she performed, the better her rewards. Therger orbs had been moved to be in her way as she got closer to the main orb to pose as both a temptation and relief, and if she fell for these ''traps'', her overall rewards would of course be lower.


    These ''rewards'' weren''t anything material, of course, but the rate at which she could cultivate andprehend the ''Searing Soul'' in the future. As Aurora had emphasized to her repeatedly, Evelyn was determined to grasp nothing but the ''core'' of the cultivation technique.


    Since that was so, her previous ''rest first and returnter'' strategy would obviously not work. Even if she did so, the location of the orbs would simply change based on her starting location, and finding the core orb would simply be like looking for a needle in a haystack.


    Moreover, if she truly decided to forego using her ''Soul Ripple'' method, how could she even be sure if she was going for the right one?


    So Evelyn decided to just grit her teeth and go for it, even if her soul value was currently half depleted. Anyway, she still had almost seven hundred points, which was several times what anyone her age was supposed to have.


    Evelyn didn''t hesitate any longer, and as soon as her hand made contact with the giant orb, the world around her warped as the dark waters disappeared, and she appeared in White Lily Pce.


    ==========


    Aurora had already told Evelyn that only three other students had acquired the searing soul, and only one of them had moderate sess with the technique, but she never told her where the technique came from.


    It wasn''t that Aurora didn''t know, but that she simply did not wish for Evelyn, or anyone else, to know of such a thing.


    After all, the one who created the technique was the woman she hated the most in her life.


    As she watched the little children diligently ''guarding'' their pink haired friend in the center of the array, the tinum blonde couldn''t help but feel a littleplicated in her heart.


    Having already epted Evelyn as her student, Aurora of course intended to ''take care'' of her even if she ended up failing her test in the end. This was why when she finally chose the technique that she knew was most suitable for her, even though she herself put it in front of her eyes, the tinum blonde couldn''t help but feel like perhaps it really was destiny.


    The founder of the Ancient Academy, her ''creator'', and the one who always treated her as nothing more than another failed experiment would finally have a ''worthy sessor'' for her life''s greatest achievement, the ''Searing Soul''.


    Perhaps if she was still alive, her so-called mother would beughing in joy upon seeing all her ''ns''e to fruition. But Aurora could only feel self-hate, because even after all these years, maybe she was still nothing more than a tool.


    ==========


    Not only was the ce she found herself in the same familiar ''White Lily Pce'' that she had been staying in, it was even the very same ''apartment''! For a moment, Evelyn thought that this must be a scenario based on her own memories, but soon realized that it wasn''t the case at all.


    Because in the center of the room was a ''spirit egg'' with golden white engravings, surrounded by dozens of elders exuding formidable auras.


    It was the first time Evelyn had seen a spirit egg with her own eyes, and she had to admit that it really did look a lot like an oversized bird egg that had been painted over.


    To think that such a thing was considered a ''treasure'' in this world because it allowed their children to gain more power in exchange for their ''humanity'', and so many people sought it out with not a second thought of if their children would even want such a fate.


    Of course, Evelyn herself was more than happy to have a little more power in exchange for this useless ''humanity'' that everyone else seemed so proud of, but she knew that this wasn''t the case for everyone else.


    After all, having a spirit physique came with many ''side effects'', including never being able to have regr children of their own. The only way to have ''offspring'', for someone with a spirit physique was to use the rare and expensive spirit eggs once more, which could be impractical when considering the long-term survival of a family.


    This was why, despite the multitude of benefits it brought, some royal families, such as the one in the Kingdom of Gwyntere, only allowed their ''disposable pawns'' to use the spirit eggs. They could still get strong, after all, but with a harder path ahead, and a much slower start. With their plentiful imperial coffers, that was hardly a problem.


    The spirit egg with the golden white engravings cracked slowly, and Evelyn could feel that everyone in the room seemed to be getting excited.


    Although she knew that this was only a ''memory'' from the creator of the technique, Evelyn couldn''t help but wonder who this person was in this room full of elders.


    Her questions were answered soon enough, as a blue robeddy with ming red hair, green eyes, and long, prominent razor-sharp nails stepped closer to the cracking spirit egg, looking both anxious and despondent.


    The elders around her were already murmuring to each other, and Evelyn caught many disappointed sighs as they discussed how nothing strange seemed to be happening. Everything looks normal.


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but tilt her head. ''These are all academy teachers or something, right? Howe they actually WANT something to go wrong with this baby''s birth?''


    Evelyn''s mild curiosity was reced with shock, however, because when the adorable little baby head finally popped out of the egg with a ''wuh!'', the tinum blonde hair and mystical purple eyes finally made her realize whose ''birth'' she might be witnessing.


    And what a tragic scene it was, because as soon as she came into the world, the already anxious red haireddy snatched her up by her hair, lifting the tiny little toddler up to her face despite her mournful screams.


    Unlike Evelyn, who had almost waist length hair right as she got out of her egg, Aurora''s hair was barely two to three inches in length, and the woman''s hasty movements had obviously scratched her scalp somewhere, because blood was already trickling down the baby''s face as she sobbed and tried to wriggle her powerless limbs to get free.


    But the woman''s face was even more full of despair as she looked at the child, as if it had shattered all her hopes and dreams. "No Soul Ripples No otherworldly aura Even this one is a failure!"


    The other ''professors'', or whatever they were supposed to be, didn''t seem concerned about the baby''s well-being at all, and consoled the woman instead.


    "Don''t lose hope, headmistress."


    "The Lotus Throne may have some other requirements we don''t know of, we can keep working on it, right?"


    "If nothing else, she''s still an excellent seed worthy of nurturing as a talent, our efforts weren''t pointless!"


    Thedy shook her head before putting the baby back in her shell and healing her wounds with a wave of her hand. She then proceeded to shove all of the shell pieces in Aurora''s mouth one by one, almost vengeful, as she started instructing the professors.


    "Halt the Lotus project. We can''t afford any more failures. This is thest one."


    The others seemed reluctant to ''give up'' on whatever their ns had been, but could only agree to the woman''s will.


    The baby Aurora was as docile as her adult counterpart, and seemed to have ''forgiven'' thedy''s previous transgressions as she chewed on the shell pieces she kept getting roughly shoved in her face.


    Evelyn vaguely remembered her own father mentioning that the shell couldn''t be touched by anyone but the baby when her mother had begun getting impatient, and she wondered if that was wrong, or if the red haireddy simply didn''t care to be so patient with Aurora.


    Thetter seemed far more likely, and the pink haired girl sighed as she hoped that whatever ''contamination'' her father had mentioned wasn''t something too serious.


    As Aurora gazed at her ''mother'' pitifully, Evelyn felt a chill run up her spine as she wondered what sort of life she had lived. It couldn''t be any worse than her own hell on earth in her past life, right?

 Chapter 85: A Faded Memory

    Chapter 85: A Faded Memory


    Evelyn discovered soon enough that her previous conjecture of the red-haireddy being the creator of the ''Searing Soul'' was correct, and she witnessed the woman''s thought process when developing the technique first hand.


    "As the very core of your being, the soul is the strongest and yet the most fragile part of yourself that you can deploy in battle. Its strength lies in its ability to damage the opponent to the greatest extent with the least possible effort, while its fragility stems from theck of disposability it haspared to the other aspects."


    Thedy often talked to herself while staying alone in this room, and rectified her conjectures from time to time, fine-tuning her technique to another level.


    Evelyn noticed that she could not observe more than a few minutes of each day before the ''memory'' would shift forward, and she couldn''t pick what parts she viewed, either.


    From time to time, Aurora would also be brought into the room, but she was never made aware of the ''technique'' that thedy was developing, even though it was presumably for herself.


    But at the very least, her treatment wasn''t quite as bad as Evelyn had expected after that first scene. The red-haireddy certainly didn''t return the little girl''s affections, but she didn''t hurl abuse or violence her way either.


    When the day came that Aurora was about the same age as Evelyn was now, one of the professors once again brought her into the red-haireddy''s room. "Headmistress, it is time. Please make your decision."


    The red-haireddy frowned as she stared at the nervously fidgeting tinum blonde by the older professor''s side. "Let her pick something decent from the tower."


    The old man who had brought Aurora in didn''t look too happy with her response. "It''s been so many years, headmistress. With your talent, I''m sure that the technique is already in a useable state, right?"


    "It is still nothing more than a failure, an iplete technique. To have a failure learn a failure what a joke. With the sheer volume of resources we have put into her, it''s better to let her learn something decent and at least be of some use."


    "But if not her, who else will learn that technique of yours? Didn''t you say it was specifically for those with disproportionately high soul value?"


    "Hmph. The lotus project may be halted for now, but I still haven''t given up. Wait a few more years. Once I''m done with ''Searing Soul'', I''ll go talk to the elders of the Spirit Courtyard once more."


    "B-But headmistress, if the Lord of Bones notices your movements"


    Evelyn couldn''t hear the rest of their conversation, unfortunately, because the scene once again shifted forward. She guessed that this ''Lord of Bones'' must be quite strong for the Ancient Academy''s headmistress to need to be afraid of him.


    And this was even in an era when the Academy''s forces were far stronger than they were right now.


    The next scene was actually not in the same room from White Lily Pce, but in a dimly lit cave instead.


    The red-haireddy faced what appeared to be a fox quite simr to Ruru, though with ten tails instead of one, and a much darker shade of pink.


    The headmistress bowed respectfully to the fox. "Please help me out once more."


    The fox barely lifted its chin before putting it back down. "I cannot. The Lord of Bones has been suppressing the Spirit Lands for too long already. I have shielded my children so far, but I''m exhausted."


    The red-haireddy looked reluctant. "There''s no need to resist his aura so much, is there? It swept through the academy once, and nothing happened."


    The old fox sighed. "You do not understand thrones, child. I have seen all three at one point or another, and other than the nave master of mine who perished before their war even began, the other two are far more patient and insidious than your imagination."


    The headmistress nodded. "Alright I understand. Let''s give it another try."


    "I can''t."


    "What do you mean?"


    Seeing her perplexed look, the old fox could only sigh once more. "I cannot lend you my core anymore, it''s useless anyway. My power is gone, my soul is withering Perhaps by the time you''re ready for your next attempt, I won''t be here anymore."


    Evelyn knew that the red-haireddy couldn''t ept it, because whatever her goals were, she was clearly banking on this old fox''s support in aplishing them. And as expected, shepletely lost her calm.


    "W-Why? So suddenly?!"


    The old fox wasn''t surprised by the red-haireddy''s outburst either, and exined herself calmly. "It''s not sudden at all. I have been too long in this world anyway, my master had already perished not long after the Ocean Conqueror took her throne. I foolishly thought that I could see another take her ce in my lifetime, but it was but a hopeless dream."


    "NO! Doesn''t that mean everything we did so far will be pointless?"


    The fox sighed. "Don''t panic. Perhaps there are some requirements for being selected by the throne that we do not know about. Be patient and observe the outstanding children in the continent closely. Since the previous two thrones were born naturally, perhaps what we really needed to do was just wait, instead of trying to force it."


    The scene shifted once more, and Evelyn saw the red haireddy groaning tiredly in her room once more. Her whole countenance had turned more haggard, and her eyes seemed to have a lifelessness that they never had before.


    The reckless abandon with which she pursued the perfection of her cultivation technique seemed to bear some fruit, as the array she had been drawing on paper resembled the one Evelyn saw on her disc more and more.


    Eventually, an elder came to the headmistress with the news she had been dreading the most. "The spiritnds have sent a missive. Their old ancestor has perished."


    The headmistress gritted her teeth, her eyes red as she continued scribbling on the paper, ignoring the elder.


    The old man waited for a while before he couldn''t help it anymore. "Shall we reinvest the resources for the next experiment somewhere else?"


    "Didn''t I tell you to halt project lotus that day? Who cares! Do whatever you want!"


    The old man retreated with a shrug.


    As soon as the door closed, her eyes welled up with tears as they started flowing down her face continuously. "It''s all over over"


    The next scene ended up slightly confounding Evelyn, because this time she was no longer ''apanying'' the red-haireddy, but an old woman she didn''t recognize.


    It was only when she saw Aurora look at that woman with aplicated gaze she had often seen her give to the red-haireddy that she realized it was none other than the headmistress, but in a very different state.


    Although the olddy''s gaze had long turned muddled, there was still a strength in her voice that made it impossible to resist her will. "Why are you here, Aurora?"


    "E-Elder Ramses said you will be okay if you let me"


    As Evelyn''s initial negative impression of the red-haireddy had slowly reduced, she found herself being able to feel more of her internal thoughts that were hidden behind her stern face.


    Aside from giving her a deeper insight into the cultivation technique, it also allowed her to interpret the scenes with more rity. Currently, despite her condescending gaze, thedy reminisced about the old fox with a sense of eptance.


    "Hmph. Even if you were to use that hodgepodge soul repair method he found, it would only patch mine up for a few hundred years at most, while tearing yours apart to the same state. What''s the point?"


    The tinum blonde was still only a little older than Cecilia, perhaps having just entered her teenage years. To her, hundreds of years were perhaps a foreign concept. "W-We can figure something out in that time, right?"


    The olddy snorted. "Idiot. Although you''re a failure, you still have some use for the academy. Sacrificing your future for a powerless, dying leader who would only bring more harm than good is about as foolish a decision as it can get."


    Although Aurora''s eyes were red, she remained silent.


    After a while, the olddy sighed again. "I have not taken good care of you. Although you were my child, I did not treat you well. I will not ask for your forgiveness, because neither do I deserve it, nor do I feel like asking for it."


    Evelyn almost rolled her eyes. Did she have to remain so stubborn, even on her deathbed? She could at least apologize, whether she meant it or not.


    Unfortunately, forget about apologizing, the olddy still remained as overbearing as she was all her life, even when she was already at death''s doorstep. "However, I will still demand two things from you. Will you ept?"


    Aurora nodded.


    "Then first, lead the academy well after I leave. A bunch of elders cannote to a single good decision. Ipetent morons! Do not let it fall to ruin before you perish.


    "And for my second request, if you evere across the one who to inherit the lotus throne, help that person at any cost. Even if you have to die to protect him or her, your life, or that of anyone else, is of little consequence inparison. Do you understand?"


    The tinum blonde neither agreed with nor denied the olddy''s request, and both Evelyn and the olddy knew that the little girl had already epted her instructions in her heart.

 Chapter 86: On My Own Terms

    Chapter 86: On My Own Terms


    As the vision slowly faded away with the ''death'' of the technique''s creator, Evelyn found herself back in the dark murky sea with floating orbs. The giant ''core'' orb was gone now, however, and she would never be able to view the same vision again.


    This was not the inherent nature of the cultivation array itself, but something that the creator had intended.


    The more ''generous'' masters would sometimes allow their disciples to listen to their lectures over and over again until they have managed to grasp the essence of the topic. However, the ''headmistress'' was clearly not one of them.


    Evelyn understood that the creator of ''Searing Soul'' was the type of person who cherished their words like gold, and abhorred repeating them for anyone. If someone didn''t pay attention when they should have, it was their own loss, right?


    The cultivation techniques from these types of masters were often much harder to learn, since there would only be a single chance to grasp each concept from each of the master''s lessons.


    Moreover, being able to only go through each ''lesson'' once meant that it could be disastrous to go through multiple ''lessons'' at once. It was much better topletely grasp the previous concept before moving on to the next one.


    This was why Evelyn decisively exited the murky sea, even though she could have continued exploring the other glowing orbs.


    Her gains were not small, having witnessed the creation of ''Searing Soul'' from its conception topletion.


    However, Evelyn couldn''t help but regret that she couldn''t go through it again.


    With how poor her impression had been of the ''headmistress'' due to the first scene she witnessed, she had been unable to ''connect'' with her on a mental level until muchter into the vision.


    It was not something she could control, as the instinctual disgust of her actions came from deep within her soul.


    If anything, Evelyn''s own experience from her first life made her much more averse to mother figures in general, especially those who didn''t care for their children. Even Isabe was more of a friend in her heart than a mother figure, in the same way as she considered Bree as more of a daughter than her aunt.


    Evelyn sighed. "Compared to my so-called ''mother'' in the first life, she at least tried to undo the damage she caused to Aurora whenever she realized it, though she was still quite foolish. And unlike that woman, Aurora''s mother at least had the decency to take responsibility of ''raising'' her own daughter, regardless of anything else."


    With her current understanding of the creator''s desperation, motivation as well as internal thought, Evelyn would be able to have a much more thorough understanding of the ''Searing Soul'' and save up a lot of time in the future if she could go through it again.


    It didn''t mean she found what the woman did reasonable, of course. Evelyn and the ''headmistress'' were two different people, with two different sets of principles and thought processes. How could they agree on everything?


    But the ''depth'' of their connection didn''t depend on how simr their thoughts were, but how well she understood the thought process of the technique''s creator.


    For example, Evelyn herself would never ce her hopes of defeating this so called ''Lord of Bones'' on a child, let alone treat that child as a failure when she failed to meet such absurd expectations. But she understood how the headmistress thought about things at that time, and how she came to such conclusions.


    If she had been able to do so sooner, her grasp on her ''true thoughts'' while formting ''Searing Soul'' would have been much firmer, thus greatly increasing her gains in this session.


    Evelyn wasn''t the type to lose hope and regret endlessly, however. Wasn''t it much better to find a way to aplish what she wanted, instead?


    As she thought it through once more, Evelyn nodded as she made up her mind. ''I have already grasped the cultivation technique, so my current goal is more or less aplished. But if I continue from this point as normal, it will take me months, if not years, just to grasp the core of the ''Searing Soul'', right? That''s uneptable!''


    Of course, only she would think so, since grasping the ''core'' of such a high grade cultivation technique in less than a decade was already a major aplishment even for a genius in the Ancient Academy.


    This would mean advancing through the levels far faster than their peers, since both the depth ofprehension as well as the grade of the cultivation technique were equally important when it came to cultivation.


    But Evelyn never intended topete with her peers, that was never her goal. To be able to ensure the safety and independence of both herself and those she cared about, she needed to be at least stronger than Bree. And dying the matter for too long wasn''t an option, either.


    Moreover, there was still the so-called ''benefactor'' who could seek her out at any time, looking to collect their ''debt''. How could Evelyn rest assured, knowing that she had no hope of resisting them at all?


    If she had the ability to resist, she would at least have the right to decide to what extent she wished to repay the ''favor'' of giving her a second chance. Evelyn did not wish to be anyone''s puppet, regardless of how much she supposedly owed them. If there was a debt, she would rather clear it on her own terms.


    And what almost caused her to pull out her hair was that she discovered even more obstacles on her road to freedom from the visions. Evelyn truly never expected that she would discover ''enemies'' for herself in a memory from thousands of years ago.


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but roll her eyes. ''I knew this Lotus Throne thing was going to have some downside. I guess it''s good to finally know what it is, though.''


    So far, she had only obtained benefit after benefit from being the ''Lotus Seat'', and Evelyn had already started to get quite uneasy as she wondered what the ''catch'' was.


    It wasn''t something she got from the ''benefactor'' who had given her the second chance, nor was it something she knew remotely anything about, so where exactly was it from, what exactly did it mean?


    The more powerful and mysterious her connection with Ruru and her abilities were, the more she dreaded one day discovering a downside that was perhaps too much for her to handle. And to make matters worse, she couldn''t prepare anything against that without even knowing what it is, right?


    But now that she more or less knew, no matter how powerful they were, Evelyn couldn''t help but feel slightly relieved. "So basically there are three of these ''Thrones'' in this world, right? ording to the conversation the headmistress had with that old fox, bing one probably depends on the initial stats of a baby, and I''m guessing my absurd soul stat yed some part in bing this ''Lotus Throne'', hm.


    And this so-called ''Lord of Bones'' is definitely going to be an issue in the future. I hope my hunch is wrong, and these two other thrones aren''t the two ''supreme beings'' everyone seems to revere."


    Evelyn shook her head wistfully. "Nah, that''s unlikely. But if so exactly what level are they? And more importantly, since these supreme beings are supposed to be the only source of ''blessing'' the spirit eggs, creating a superior version isn''t that too suspicious?"


    Unfortunately, she still didn''t know much about this topic, and couldn''te to a concrete conclusion.


    The one thing was sure of, however, was it was best to keep this ''Lotus Throne'' matter to herself. The longer she could keep it hidden from these potential all-powerful enemies, the better.


    Ideally, they would never even know of her being a ''Throne'' until she was strong enough to crush them at will. Of course, to the current her, that was but a pipe dream.


    Even after exiting the murky sea inside the cultivation array, Evelyn remained still in the lotus position, her eyes closed.


    No one in the room dared to disturb her, either, despite clearly knowing that the array had stopped channeling the energy from the spirit stones, with only around half of them being depleted. They assumed that she was lost inprehending the contents of her lessons from within the array.


    Evelyn''s mind, however, was on something else entirely. ''I got it Since this cultivation arrayes without any restrictions from the tower''s elder, it must allow for more maniptions than usual, right? How exactly does the array judge a ''unique'' individual? As long as I can pose as someone else, I should be able to go through the same test again.''


    Since the only two things that the array would actually interact with were her spirit power and her soul, and that too when she actively poured them in, that meant that as long as she changed them slightly, it should probably work.


    But although she had a solution in mind, Evelyn had no way of actually implementing it right now. At the very least, she would need to wait for her soul value to recover to its full strength before she could try anything else.


    Still, just this first trip alone had brought her plentiful rewards far more than she ever expected from simply starting on her cultivation journey.


    And that wasn''t even counting the bonus from the red mission.

 Chapter 87: Soul Avatar

    Chapter 87: Soul Avatar


    There were multiple sources from which people in this world were able to gain levels, and Evelyn was well aware of most of them.


    The first one was a passive acquisition of energy that naturally flowed into their bodies with time. This meant that the older someone was, the more experience they would acquire simply by existing. This was how most non-cultivators gained their levels, and it was how most people who leveled up before they even acquired their cultivation technique got their ''experience'' or ''energy''.


    Of course, this ''passive trickle'' also varied from person to person. A human with a regr body would have a much lower rate of acquiring experience like this naturally than someone with a spirit physique. This was why most of themoner children that Evelyn had encountered on her way to the ancient academy were still level one.


    Aside from their inherent advantages in cultivating and progressingter on, this ''early start'' that the children with spirit physiques got was also a great cause of envy among themoners.


    As someone got higher up the levels, however, and their cultivation advanced, they would soon realize that the passive trickle actually didn''t matter that much, and what mattered much more was the experience they harvested from the world using their cultivation technique.


    And this was where the grade of the cultivation technique, as well as theirprehension of its core principles, came into y.


    Although her system showed her the actual grade of the cultivation techniques, and the academy ssified them as such too, Evelyn knew that they weremonly separated by ranks.


    Her red mission rewards, for example, were separated into three categories  one from grade one to three, one from grade four to six, and thest one from grade seven to nine. The cultivation techniques in these three categories were generally referred to as rank B, rank A and rank S cultivation techniques, respectively.


    There was an even lower grade of cultivation techniques, rank C.


    These categorizations weren''t meaningless, they existed to make it easy to know at a nce what the ''peak'' point of the cultivation technique was.


    A rank C cultivation technique would allow one to be a rank C ranger at most, which meant that realistically, that person would never be able to exceed level seventy in their lifetime.


    This meant that not only would their rate of growth be slower, but the limits of their growth would also be lower. Considering all this, Evelyn knew how enviable she was to be able to acquire a grade nine cultivation technique  one of the best even among rank S.


    However, she already knew all of this.


    The reason she was shocked, was because this grade nine cultivation technique, which was already the very best among those in rank S allowed her to further increase her efficiency of acquiring experience through cultivation.


    If she cultivated normally using ''Searing Soul'', or another cultivation technique of the same grade, the rate at which she would ''acquire'' experience would be around forty to fifty experience points in a day.


    However, that is where thebat ability of the ''Searing Soul''  Soul Avatar came into y.


    Soul Avatar was an ability that allowed her to consume a part of her soul power to create temporary ethereal clones of herself.


    Not only were these clones capable of executing all the techniques that she could with her real body, but they could also be used to cultivate!


    To put it into perspective, cultivating with ten clones for one year was the same as cultivating for ten years!


    Of course, it wasn''t actually as simple as it seemed, since the clones did not have thoughts of their own, and she still had to focus to be able to make them work. But Evelyn never expected things to be so convenient anyway.


    And this was just one of the uses of Soul Avatar. The ability was incredibly versatile, and Evelyn knew that she had made a wise choice in picking ''Searing Soul''. Although it seemed to rely entirely on her pool of soul power, which was much harder to replenish than spirit power, the potency of its skills and abilities was on another level entirely whenpared to those that weremonly known.


    For Evelyn, just this single ability alone was worth much more than ten, or even twenty levels of experience as a ''reward''.


    The pink-haired girl opened her eyes with a content sigh, and just as she was about to move on to check and im her red mission, she realized that there was one more presence in the room than she expected.


    Evelyn didn''t panic, because she had already be a little ''familiar'' with this presence through her visions inside the array.


    As she turned her gaze to Aurora, the others in the room also turned around to look in her direction, only then realizing with some horror that someone had been just standing there watching without them ever realizing it.


    Even Cecilia couldn''t help but gulp. "M-Miss Aurora, why did you sneak up on us?"


    Aurora tilted her head with some confusion. Although she hadn''t announced her entrance, it wasn''t like she had hidden herself from their sight either, right? Or else, Evelyn would never have noticed her either. She just didn''t make anymotion when she arrived, and the others never turned to look.


    Evelyn cleared her throat as she greeted her ''mentor'', though she felt a littleplicated in her heart after going through the visions.


    There was a great mismatch between the two images of the nave, abused little girl Aurora and the ancient and mysterious sage with unfathomable motives in front of her. Moreover, now that she had an inkling of the reason for which Aurora could be helping her out, Evelyn felt that things had gotten even moreplex.


    The matter of being the ''Lotus Throne'' was something that she wanted to keep secret at any cost, and the fact that Aurora already knew put her at great unease. Although thedy had never said it out loud, why else would she favor her so much?


    And if Aurora knew, did she tell anyone else?


    But now was not the right time for Evelyn to ask such questions, and she knew that very well.


    Aurora, who hadpletely ignored Cecilia''s previous questions, much to the ash blonde''s shock actually took the initiative to approach Evelyn. "How was your ''vision''? Did everything go well?"


    Cecilia could onlyment in her heart. ''Really! The inheritors are treated quite differently from us lowly plebs! Hmph. I''m gonna have to annoy her at least twice as much as revenge!''


    If Aurora knew what the girl was thinking, she would surely feel a little wronged. Didn''t she treat everyone the same? Where was this ''discrimination'' that this girl kept thinking about?


    Fortunately, she was too focused on Evelyn to bother guessing Cecilia''s thoughts.


    Evelyn didn''t think she should let Aurora know exactly what happened in the visions. It might make things quite awkward, after all.


    But when she thought about the fact that there had been others who had previously used this array to learn the same cultivation technique, even if Aurora didn''t already know about it now, which was already unlikely, she might know of it in the future.


    So knowingly concealing it would just make things more awkward between them.


    Evelyn cleared her throat before deciding to juste clean. "My vision was about the headmistress"


    Aurora nodded, not looking very surprised, and Evelyn was relieved in her heart. Thankfully, she didn''t try to lie. Even if Aurora didn''t mind at that time, she would have felt a little awkward, and it might create needless distrust between the two of them.


    As someone she was probably going to be ''learning'' from, Evelyn thought it would be quite detrimental to her growth.


    Evelyn continued recounting a little of what she went through in her vision, and Aurora didn''t interrupt her much, other than rifying a few of the past events that Evelyn hadn''t been quite sure of  such as the invasion of the spiritnds, as well as what the courtyard of spirits was. Thetter was a topic of great interest to Evelyn, considering it seemed to be the source of the headmistress knowing about the lotus throne.


    "This courtyard of spirits is?"


    Aurora waved her hand as a ''map'' of what Evelyn assumed to be the continent they were in appeared in the air formed from sparkling particles.


    Considering that all the maps Evelyn had been able to find so far were heavily localized to just certain limited zones, and even then did not contain much information, she knew how terrifyingly valuable the information in front of her was.


    Aurora pointed to one corner of the map as it lit up brighter than the others. "This is the area that ismonly referred to as the ''Spirit Lands'', a holynd for the spirit beasts, and the group of beasts who rule over it call themselves the ''Courtyard of Spirits''. In the past, it was led by an old fox, but she already passed away when I was but a child."

 Chapter 88: Tale of the Blue Moon

    Chapter 88: Tale of the Blue Moon


    Much to Evelyn''s surprise, Aurora was actually quite familiar with the Courtyard of Spirits.


    But when she thought about it, it made some sense for the headmistress to have told Aurora about such things. And even if she hadn''t, Aurora might have been able to figure things out through other means, considering how long it had been since the headmistress passed away.


    If Evelyn''s thoughts were right, it should have been at least thousands of years since then. Once Aurora had grown strong enough, it really wouldn''t surprise her if she managed to explore and find some things that even the headmistress might not have known in her life.


    Of course, Evelyn had no way of knowing if the current Aurora was stronger than the headmistress of the past.


    Going by the normal train of thought in this world, the headmistress would naturally be stronger. After all, it was well-known that the overall level of top tier power in the academy had declined sharply whenpared to what they had thousands of years ago.


    And no doubt, the existence of the ''Lord of Bones'' should have yed some part in that, as well.


    But Evelyn felt in her heart that Aurora definitely had to be stronger than that woman who created the ''Searing Soul''.


    Evelyn listened readily as Aurora continued dictating about the ''Courtyard of Spirits'', not even caring that her friends were listening in by the side, shocked to discover more and more about this mysterious piece ofnd that only the top powerhouses had the right to explore. All they had known before was just the name of ''Spirit Lands''.


    Although she was now Aurora''s ''student'', Evelyn didn''t know how readily this mysteriousdy would give her information in the future.


    Of course, her attitude was quite good so far, but when she thought about what had actually ended up binding them together, Evelyn couldn''t be certain about their future.


    Regardless of what excuses were given, the treatment that the headmistress had for Aurora was far from good.


    Right from her birth, all that she had received were demands, expectations and scorn. Never once had the headmistress shown her care and affection.


    In Aurora''s ce, Evelyn wouldn''t feel the need to fulfill such a woman''s demands at all. And taking care of Evelyn was exactly one of those demands, which made her greatly ufortable.


    She didn''t want their ''rtionship'' to be defined by such a thing. But until she was a little closer to Aurora, she didn''t feel like she had the right to ask her such personal questions.


    Aurora was of course unaware of her thoughts, and serenely continued to talk about the courtyard of spirits. "There are of course many types of spirit beasts in the Spirit Lands, but not all of them have a representative in the Courtyard of Spirits. Only the top level spirit beasts, such as the Qilin, are able to have that honor, and that too only if they have a living member of a high enough level."


    Although the older girls kept quiet while listening to Aurora, Vivian couldn''t help curiously interrupt her while squeezing the indignant Ruru''s paws while the little fox tried to escape towards her master. "Is that fox leader you mentioned Ruru''s grandma?"


    Aurora chuckled. "You can think of it that way, but it''s a little different. Unlike humans, the spirit beasts can mate with any species and give birth to offspring. This means that their descendants have a great ''variety'', and Ruru, although definitely rted to that old fox, can''t really be considered of the ''same species'' anymore."


    Evelyn nodded, although her perspective of the difference between Ruru and the old fox was different. Not only was there variation caused by the different parents through the generations, there was also the fact that Ruru had changed greatly after whatever it was that she had gone through to be rted to herself.


    After all, her species was now ''Lotus Moon Spirit Fox'', and all her abilities were so absurdly and tightly tied to Evelyn that she was sure that it couldn''t be something specific to her race. She didn''t know if Aurora was unaware, or simply didn''t bother mentioning it to the others.


    Vivian made a fascinated ''ohhh'', and Aurora just smiled, continuing with her ''lecture''. Since the little girl was so interested in the topic of the fox, somehow she seemed to focus on it more.


    "The old fox I mentioned is actually not that old, only being around a thousand or so years older than myself."


    "Ohhh! How old is Miss Aurora?!"


    Aurora either didn''t hear her question, or pretended not to hear it. "Before her, the one who ruled the Courtyard of Spirits was still a Fox Spirit, though a far more ancient one. That one had been around for far longer than any of us remember, longer even than the academy itself."


    Evelyn didn''t know if she did it intentionally or not, but Aurora''s eyes flicked to her when she mentioned the old fox.


    Perhaps she wanted to see if the Evelyn had witnessed anything between the ancient fox and the headmistress. But although Evelyn didn''t know if it was important, she remained calm and faced her gaze steadily.


    Aurora didn''t seem to dwell on the matter too much.


    However, it became clear why she mentioned the old fox, because the tale that she dictated next sent chills down Evelyn''s spine.


    ==========


    Many, many years ago, a little girl was born. No one knew if she was born from an abandoned spirit egg naturally, or if her mother had perished or just gone missing after giving birth to her. Some even dared to specte that she had killed her mother after being born.


    The girl was born with flowing blue hair like the waves of the ocean, her eyes were of the same color, and calm and deep like ake. And her spirit power was so potent even in her childhood, that few dared approach her for fear of bing a smear on the ground with a single wrong thought.


    In those ancient times, cultivation was not as prominent or well developed as this day, and the girl was able to walk around unimpeded through the world like a god, from the moment she was born.


    It is said that whenever she used her might, the blue moon would glow faintly, as if to praise her and shower her in adoration.


    Some called her the Child of the Blue Moon.


    The bnce in power seemed to have changed with her appearance. While the other two moons remained the same, the glow from the blue moon seemed to grow stronger and stronger as the little girl grew.


    Many dreaded that there would soon be more tyrants. After all, the celestial bodies were worshipped like gods. How could the other gods be satisfied being outshone by their peer?


    But the pink moon''s light was still gentle, and the white moon remained dull and yellowed.


    However, many yearster, the little girl noticed that the dull white moon had started giving off a sickly yellow glow that repulsed her instinctually. Feeling that whoever was the cause was her natural nemesis, the decisive little girl set out to remove the threat before it matured.


    After many years of searching, she came across a pink haireddy she felt kinship with, and the two got along naturally. With time, they became close friends, and the little girl thought of her as the purest, kindest girl she had ever met, unstained by the mundane world.


    One night, as they were sleeping together, the little girl decided that she did not want her close older sister to perish just like the other mortals and leave her alone, and thus sent her spirit power into the sleepingdy''s body. What she discovered, however, was not a mortal body, but a wless physique of the moon, with a soul strength even superior to her own.


    Her feelings of betrayal were so great, that she immediately killed her without a second thought.


    It was onlyter that she realized what she had done, but it was toote. What made her despair even more, was that the white moon continued giving off its sickening yellow glow, and it was the pink moon that dulled, like amp that had lost its light. Its glow had been so dim and gentle that she never even realized it until it went out.


    Her immediate thought at that time was that thedy must have manipted her thoughts somehow how could she be wrong? If thatdy was truly as pure and kind as the little girl thought, how could the yellow moon give off such a repulsive feeling?


    But what about everything she had felt so far? The little girl couldn''t deny it for too long, and knew that she had made a grave, irredeemable mistake.

 Chapter 89: The Choice

    Chapter 89: The Choice


    Other than Evelyn, none of the others in the room understood why Aurora suddenly started talking about this ''Child of the Blue Moon''.


    But although none of them knew why she would bring up such a strange ''story'', they could feel that the atmosphere between Aurora and Evelyn wasn''t right.


    "Of course, this is but a story I heard a long time ago."


    Even as Aurora moved on from the ''story'' just as casually as she had started telling them about it, Evelyn couldn''t put the matter down in her heart at all.


    The pink-haired girl was sure that Aurora was at least aware of her status as the ''Lotus Throne'', so for her to mention such a story in which one of her supposed enemies was the ''protagonist'' raised all kinds of rm bells in her heart. ''Why does she know this? And what does she mean to imply?''


    The ''Child of the Blue Moon'' was most certainly another throne, and from what she had heard from the conversation between the ancient fox and the headmistress, someone destined to be her opponent. In fact, based on the conversation between the headmistress and the fox, the two thrones had far deeper enmity for each other than anyone else, but that didn''t mean they wouldn''t strike her down upon noticing her existence.


    And in Aurora''s story, this blue moon girl, her ''enemy'', was someone who only killed her predecessor due to a misunderstanding.


    That could only mean two things.


    One, Aurora genuinely believed that what she said was true, which raised a far more concerning question. How could Aurora know what ''that girl'' was thinking? After all, if the story came from anyone but the girl herself, they would only know that she had killed another throne, and not her true thoughts.


    Or two, this tinum blondedy wanted her to feel that this ''Child of the Blue Moon'' could be a potential ally. This meant that she was clearly steering her in that direction, and Evelyn had no idea why. To lead her into a trap? To make her join ''their side''?


    The onlyforting thought was that if Aurora had already allied with another throne, wouldn''t she have already ''taken care'' of her, knowing her true identity?


    After all, the difference in their levels wasn''t small at all. Evelyn didn''t think she could even handle that Professor Dane who had expelled her earlier, even if he wasn''t taking her seriously, while Aurora was someone far above even his level. If not for that, how could she so easily throw him out?


    Evelyn felt that Aurora shouldn''t be someone she should consider ''hostile'', at the very least. In that case, it was better to clear up this ''misunderstanding'' as soon as possible. And there was no better time than now. "Miss Aurora, in that story, you mentioned that the girl felt ''regretful'' after murdering herpanion, but how can you be sure what she felt?"


    Aurora didn''t seem to think she would ask her such a question, and blinked at her in surprise. "Didn''t I say it was just a story? I don''t know what really happened, or if any of this happened at all."


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but bite her lip. "Then do you know the origin of this story?"


    Aurora hummed in thought, as if seriously trying to recall an old memory. After a while, however, she shook her head. "I''m not sure."


    How could Evelyn believe that?


    But although Evelyn was reluctant, she could only drop the matter. She decided topletely ignore the story about the other ''throne''. "Then about the ''Spirit Lands'', is there any easy way to get there?"


    Given that the Serenityke was located in that ce, Evelyn certainly had to pay it a visit, and the sooner it happened, the better. After all, that was the source of the ''Serenity Dew Drops'' that had helped in Bree''s recovery.


    The tinum blonde gave her a curious look. "You want to visit the ''Spirit Lands''?"


    Evelyn nodded.


    Aurora considered it for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I''ll take you there, but only after you pass my test."


    Evelyn had only wished to ask for directions, but if Aurora could directly take her there, that was of course for the best. After all, if the path was so easy to take just because someone knew about it, the products obtained from there wouldn''t be so highly coveted and expensive.


    But she had no idea what this ''test'' was supposed to be, unless her ''mentor'' was referring to one of the regr assessments of the academy.


    Aurora seemed to have guessed some of her thoughts, and shook her head. "I don''t mean the academy test. This test is just for you. Understand?"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but scratch her head in confusion. "What? So, um, what exactly does that entail?"


    The tinum blonde smiled. "It''s too easy if I tell you. You have to pass it without knowing."


    The pink haired girl almost gaped. ''So unreasonable? I guess Cecilia wasn''tpletely wrong, after all.''


    Of course, Evelyn didn''t know that this was just Aurora''s ''philosophy'', as she believed that a student should be proficient enough in the subject to pass an exam without knowing the sybus.


    ==========


    After ensuring that her student didn''t have any idents whileprehending her cultivation technique, Aurora didn''t stay in their room for long, and vanished just as easily as she had entered.


    When she had first arrived in the academy, Evelyn had really believed the im that no one could enter a student''s room without their badge, but now she clearly knew that was a lie. Even if not everyone could do just barge in with the resident being none the wiser, at least Aurora could do so.


    Even if she was the only ''exception'', that was still one too many as far as Evelyn was concerned.


    Since she had already put it off forter due to Aurora''s presence, Evelyn decided that she might as well take care of her friends first before iming her own mission rewards in peace.


    Unfortunately, it was not as straightforward a process as she would have liked.


    "I-I want the lightning one, please!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but sigh. "Vivi, with your natural talent with fire, wouldn''t it be a huge waste to not learn ''Eternal Ember''? I know you think the lightning technique sounds super cool, but think about it. Isn''t ying with fire ''cool'' too?"


    The little girl seemed to have been convinced, especially after Cecilia helped her out. "Not to mention that Eternal Ember is of a slightly superior qualitypared to Thundering Fury."


    Vivian''s matter was still quite easy, but her sister proved herself to be an even tougher nut to crack. "W-Why would you want me to pick Arcane Archive?"


    Although she was extremely grateful to Evelyn for getting her the technique, wouldn''t it be much better for her to learn something that seemed more suitable inbat? Amara didn''t wish to remain a burden even though there were so many choices.


    This way, she could also be of more use to Evelyn. Even if Evelyn didn''t wish for the two sisters to share the same technique, wasn''t it alright to let her learn the level eight ''Thundering Fury'' cultivation technique instead?


    Fortunately, Cecilia came to her rescue. "Evelyn is right, actually. Between these two, you should definitely take the Arcane Archive! Not only is it one grade higher, it''s not weak at all, evenpared to Thundering Fury! And it has a lot more utility that will help us out in the long run. One of the most renowned professors in the Maker''s Mansion uses this method, you know? He admitted that he wouldn''t be half as good as he is now if not for ''Arcane Archive''!"


    Evelyn had a feeling that Cecilia had just inadvertently helped her ''scam'' Amara, because ''Arcane Archive'' seemed like it was more inclined towards a ''supporting'' role.


    And if a renowned professor from the Maker''s Mansions praised it like that, they were most likelymending its ability to enhance their skills in their craft more than anything else, though Cecilia seemed unaware of it.


    Of course, Evelyn didn''t tell Amara the real reason she insisted on it anyway, since they had barely managed to convince her as it was.


    ==========


    Back in her tower, Aurora stared out her window at the still sereneke as she wondered what kind of choice Evelyn was going to make after hearing about that ''story''. Would she believe it? Would she try to seek shelter in the arms of the Blue Moon Queen?


    Of course, she hadn''t lied about any part of the story to her student. And she really ''wasn''t sure'' where the story came from.


    ording to what she knew, that woman had actually hoped to lure in whoever ended up inheriting the ''Lotus Throne'' by spreading this story. However, after thousands of years without results, she seemed to have already given up.


    But this could all just be ''made up nonsense'', since all these events happened long before Aurora''s time.


    In any case, she didn''t care if the story was true or not. Regardless of her intentions, it was a fact that the Lotus Throne had been murdered by that woman. This was something that the ancient fox who had apanied the previous lotus throne confided to her ''mother'' personally, and Aurora had no reason to doubt it.


    What mattered now, however, was how much faith this student of hers was willing to have in her mentor.

 Chapter 90: The Real Culprit

    Chapter 90: The Real Culprit


    As Amara and Vivian epted their cultivation techniques, the older of the two decided to go first, just in case she could provide her little sister with any insights before her turn.


    Of course, such a thing was impossible unless the two of them wereprehending the same cultivation technique, which they were not. Even in that case, it was better to not give anyone such ''advice'' as it may end up hindering theirprehension instead. After all, everyone had a different way of understanding things.


    The girls had, of course, already discussed their own experiences with Amara, with Evelyn describing to her the peculiarities of the murky sea with floating orbs, while Ceciliamented about her test being ame moral check in a simted mortal world.


    But as expected, it proved to be of no use, because when the older redhead entered the cultivation array to startprehending the ''Arcane Archive'', she found herself in neither of those situations. Instead, she had entered what seemed like a huge library, with shelves extending high into the sky, filled with rows upon rows of books.


    Amara looked around curiously for a while, but found nothing to guide her along the ''test''. And no matter which direction she walked in, the ''scenery'' didn''t change at all.


    As for the books, although there were a countless number of them, their contents all seemed to bepletely identical. That is, they were all copies of the same book, called the ''Theory of Arcane''.


    Without any other clue, however, she could only helplessly pick one up and start reading.


    ==========


    Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the cave hidden deep in the ''Wondend of Doom'' had changed greatly as professor Dane continued toment to the Terran Prince about the injustice he had suffered.


    Without a doubt, the matter of Aurora not wanting the academy staff to look for the Helion Chain, as well as Craig, was extremely strange.


    After all, that was a grade nine artifact! In the whole continent, only a handful of forces could boast about having something like that. And which one of them did not treasure it more than their own lives?


    How could professor Dane know, though? So he could only shrug helplessly. "Fuck if I know, that lunatic even expelled me just because I misjudged a single student''s situation. She didn''t even give me a chance!"


    At first, Craig had only been focusing on the matter of Aurora interfering with his rescue, but when professor Dane mentioned the reason he had been expelled, he couldn''t help but be shocked. "Aurora expelled you because you offended a student? How can that be?!"


    His shock wasn''t unjustified, because Aurora was someone who was observed carefully by almost all the major forces in the continent, and her personality had already been analyzed thousands of times by experts in his own kingdom.


    All of this was, of course, in hopes of training a descendant to be able to better appeal to her, because being the first person to ever get close to her would surely bring them an unprecedented amount of benefits.


    Unfortunately, the closest that Aurora had been to a student in thousands of years was simply tolerating their existence as she continued to stare at theke behind her tower. And that wasn''t for long, either.


    One of the reasons that the young female prefect Cecilia was so favored in the academy was precisely because, in addition to her talents, Aurora showed her a small amount of ''favor''. Which basically meant that she waited a little longer before sending her for a trip into theke.


    Many believed that this young genius might be the one to finally be Aurora''s disciple, but Craig had never thought so. Because if Aurora truly wanted to take in a student, would she not have taken him in already?


    After all, in terms of talent, he was far superior to any of his peers. Cecilia, the so-called greatest genius of the Lavinian Empire, couldn''tpare to him at all. The poor girl couldn''t even imagine the means that the Terran royal family had, and they had certainly spared no costs in nurturing the most promising descendant they ever had.


    And as he had expected, it had already been years since Cecilia came to the academy, but Aurora never made a move to take her in.


    However, despite the clear ''rejection'' from Aurora, the girl still enjoyed a level of ''immunity'' within the academy. Very few dared to be brash enough to test for themselves whether or not Aurora truly favored the girl, after all.


    Craig couldn''t help but look at Professor Dane in confusion. "Did that young prefect set you up? What exactly happened?"


    The red haired professor snorted. "It had nothing to do with that little girl. It was a new student, and I caught her cheating, but Aurora insists that is not the case. I have a feeling that the old hag finally went insane. She''s been pretty loony for a while already, but this is on a whole new level. She even took on that cheater as a student just to spite me, absolutely ridiculous!"


    The brown haired boy couldn''t help but stare at him nkly. ''Did I hear that right? No, it can''t be''


    The Terran Prince tried his best to calm the burning envy in his heart. Since it wasn''t the young prefect from before, Craig had a feeling that he knew exactly who was so ''lucky'' as to be taken in as Aurora''s personal disciple, but he hoped that his hunch was wrong. "Aurora took in a student from this batch?"


    Professor Dane frowned. "Yeah, a pink haired little bitch. Quite talented, but nothing too outstanding overall. I''d say she should be around the lowest levels of military grade, not even a Rank F ranger. I''m sure that the little whore took her in just to spite me."


    Even with his royal upbringing, Craig couldn''t hide the jealousy on his face at all.


    For anyone who knew of Aurora''s mysterious strength, getting epted as her personal student was something like a dreame true!


    With Craig''s show of talent in the past few years, there had been nock of teachers offering to take him in as a personal student, touting him as the most talented genius to have set foot in the academy for hundreds of years.


    But how could he settle for the second best? He politely rejected them all, waiting for the strongest expert in the academy toe to him instead.


    However, Aurora didn''t seem to care for his existence at all.


    Even when he finally swallowed his pride to go and ask her himself, she didn''t even bother responding to his question!


    Humiliated, he could only grit his teeth and regret rejecting the headmaster''s offer. He convinced himself that perhaps Aurora never intended to take on a student at all, so it didn''t matter how talented he was.


    But now that she did didn''t that just mean he was just not dazzling enough to catch her eye? Just who was it whom she considered better than him?


    A murderous gleam shed through his eyes. "Just who did she pick as a student, professor? What''s her name?"


    Although ise didn''t butt into their conversation, he couldn''t help but feel a little amused. ''To think this is one of the great professors from the ancient academy, sitting naked in a cave while whining about the injustice of the world. And this Terran Prince, who should be the envy of everyone, is actually jealous of a little girl.''


    However, ise realized something soon enough, and his mind nked. ''Wait a minute pink haired girl new batch it couldn''t be her right?''


    Professor Dane blinked, wondering why the atmosphere in the cave seemed a little strange all of a sudden. "Ah, I think it was a pink haired girl called Evelyn, was it?"


    ise couldn''t help but sigh in his heart. To have the same strange color of hair could be a coincidence, though quite rare due to it being a strange color only found among spirit physiques, but to have the same name and age as well it was definitely her!


    On the other hand, Craig''s expression turned dark. "So it really was her, huh"


    Professor Dane couldn''t help but be a little interested. Just who was this girl, for both the Terran Prince as well as a small-time criminal from Moreen city to know of her? Was she incredibly famous? Howe he had never heard of her before, then?


    The red haired man chuckled. "The two of you know her? If she''s rted to the Prince, I''ll definitely not bother seeking revenge."


    Of course, his disdain for ise was clear, but the green haired man didn''t care for the professor''s scorn. The man had the right to be arrogant, after all.


    Not all the professors were equal in the ancient academy, as there were three ''categories''. The youngest professors, who were less than five hundred years in age, such as professor Dane''s wife, Donna, were considered as the ''Junior Professors'' with the lowest standing in the academy.


    Professor Dane, who was already over seven hundred years old, was a ''Senior Professor''. And he had the might to match the title.


    As someone who had always enjoyed such prestige, it wasn''t really any wonder to anyone why the professor would hold a grudge against the person responsible for his humiliation. But of course, going after Aurora was just seeking death, so his anger naturally shifted to the ''real culprit'' behind the situation, Evelyn.

 Chapter 91: Enemies

    Chapter 91: Enemies


    Of course, such might wasn''t worth mentioning in front of ''Pirs'' of the academy, consisting of the professors who had long since stopped taking on students, and were the foundational members of the academy. But that didn''t diminish the prestige and power of the ''Senior Professors'' at all.


    None of the powers on the continent would spare any effort in recruiting someone like Professor Dane if they had the chance. In fact, Craig considered himself extremely lucky to bump into the professor while he was so down on his luck.


    With the senior professor by his side, along with this other guy, the Terran Prince was certain that they would be able to hold out in this cave long enough for his father''s reinforcements to arrive.


    So it was no wonder that even the Terran Prince would have to consider it twice before asking the man to give up his revenge just to give him face, if he had truly intended to protect Evelyn. Of course, since he didn''t have any intention of doing so, there was no need to go through such a conundrum.


    The only thing he found hard to bear, however, was how bad the half-burnt and naked professor smelled, especially in this closed cave.


    Craig sighed. Perhaps bearing with such a thing for an extended period of time could be considered a ''test'' of his willpower, as well. Howe he never discovered that professor Dane was so unpleasant?


    The red-haired man frowned as he looked at the two of them remain silent. "Am I talking to myself here? Why don''t the two of you tell me how you know of her?"


    As the ''reason'' for his expulsion despite his hundreds of years of service, the hatred he bore for the girl wasn''t small. The more he knew about her, the more thorough his vengeance would be.


    As for Aurora heh, was she going to forever keep the girl attached to her hip? Allowing independent growth was one of the fundamentals of cultivation, and Aurora would surely not cripple the girl herself, so she was sure to allow her to venture out on her own.


    And once she did


    As the strongest person in the trio, the professor''s words certainly held some weight. Moreover, ise didn''t think there was any reason to hide these things from these two newfoundpanions of his, since they would all be known sooner orter with a little investigation from the Terran Prince anyway.


    The only reason he felt a little reluctant to exin it was because his ''failures'' were too apparent, and appearing ipetent in front of his ''future employer'' Craig was sure to give him a bad start.


    But since the bastard professor insisted, he could only clear his throat. "The leader of the Justice Envoys forced me to target her family before, so I more or less know who she is."


    Professor Dane hummed, a gleam of interest shining in his eyes. "Hon, for her to still be alive and well, don''t tell me you failed miserably?"


    Although his impression of this panion'' wasn''t too good, the number of tricks he seemed to possess wasn''t anything to scoff at.


    In his long life, Professor Dane had seen all kinds of people, and he knew that the ones like ise were the most annoying. Even when they werepletely outssed, they always seemed to have some way to slip out of their opponent''s grasp at thest moment, barely preserving their life.


    Oftentimes, when such vile bastards struck, it was with a heavy hand that allowed their own enemies no such ''lucky escapes'' in turn.


    And for the little girl to have remained unscathed, she was surely not ''simple''.


    ise nodded. Betweenbeling himself as an ipetent fool who couldn''t even take care of a simple matter, and blowing the matter up as much as he could, he would of course choose thetter. "Not only did I fail, I barely escaped with my life. The Justice Envoys provided me with extremely misleading information, no, more like, they don''t seem to know of what''s going on in the Moreen City at all!"


    Prince Craig couldn''t help but frown. As one of their kingdom''s chess pieces, calling the ''Justice Envoys'' ipetent was the same as pointing fingers at them as well. "Care to exin what you mean by that?"


    ise had already made up a long tale to shift all the me for that day''s failures on to the Envoy''s conceit and ipetence, which was somewhat true anyway, as far as he was concerned. Even if a few of his points were just conjectures, he was certain that he had the gist of the matter right.


    The more he listened to the green haired man, the deeper Craig frowned. ''Didn''t father mention that the royal family of the Lavinian Empire hates all the ancient families in the empire? If that''s all a farce from them to fool us, and they were secretly still hiding their strength, wouldn''t we be in for a nasty surpriseter?!''


    The mere thought sent chills down his spine, and he almost panicked. But as the Terran Prince thought of the new trump card they were going to acquire soon, which would be able topletely tip the scales in their favor, he quickly calmed down.


    Professor Dane didn''t seem too interested in the matters between thugs like ise and the Lavinian royalty, though he did make a note of the fact that the girl''s family was under the protection of the royals.


    It made taking his anger out on the girl''s family while he waited for her toe out harder, but that was never his style anyway. Dane preferred to save those things forter, because startling the little girl into hiding after hearing of her family''s fate would just be counterproductive.


    And even worse, if Aurora truly doted on the girl, it was even possible she would set out to hunt him down after hearing of her family''s fate. If he had to hide himself, how could he be able to take care of the little girl when she left Aurora''s side? It was just too much risk for little gain.


    Compared to the thug from the same empire, however, Prince Craig''s awareness of the girl''s identity was of far greater interest to the professor. "And you, Prince Craig?"


    Although he had been considering going along with the Terran Prince now that he lost his previous position, he wouldn''t do so if his enemy was truly close with them. After all, it might put seeking vengeance in his own waypletely out of the question, and Dane was never one to deny his desires for the sake of such minor things. There were many other ces he could go to, anyway.


    The Terran Prince snapped out of his thoughts, and looked at the red haired professor with a sigh. "She introduced herself to me in the carriage earlier, but I didn''t think she would be involved in offending you, professor. Clearly, she was unworthy of my attention."


    He would have already started dealing with that little girl by now, if not for the unexpected circumstances. Even as fellow students, she was just another talent without any backing except for that empty title as an ancient family princess.


    It got her a few benefits, but so what?


    He was the genuine crown prince of the Terrans, and the influence he wielded over both the students and the professors, junior and senior alike, was nothing to scoff at. If she had dared to reject his ''offer'', Craig was certain that he could legitimately have had her expelled within weeks, if not days, had his ns not been interrupted.


    And once she was no longer a student was there any need to say what would happen?


    But who knew that his father''s supposedly ''foolproof'' n would fail so miserably, andnd him in such a huge conundrum right before his graduation?


    But even if it caused him another year of ''dy'', Craig knew that it was still well worth it. After all, he had seeded in carrying out his father''s will, and the benefits it was going to bring to the Kingdom of Terrazyme Craig felt ecstatic just thinking about it.


    Perhaps by the time he took his position on the throne, it wouldn''t just be one of the superpowers of the ''Old World'' that he was ruling over, no, he would be the undisputed ruler of the whole continent.


    But his feelings of ecstasy were soured not just by his current miserable situation, but also by the fact that this girl who was barely worthy of being his concubine was now Aurora''s personal disciple.


    Craig''s feelings of slight intrigue had already turned to a deep hatred for the pink haired girl. Not to mention anything else, the fact that she was epted as Aurora''s student when he had already been rejected meant that she had dered herself to be more talented than him!


    In the past, no one dared to make fun of him for not bing her apprentice. After all, Aurora had never taken in a student. Wasn''t it only natural? But that was sure to change now. Even if no one dared to mention it in front of him, or even behind his back, Craig knew that they would think so in their heart.


    Moreover, the fact that this girl who was barely worthy of being a low-grade concubine for him was now in a position that he had been rejected from, how could he bear such humiliation in silence?

 Chapter 92: Level Up

    Chapter 92: Level Up


    The passage of time inside a cultivation array disk was difficult to judge, and oftentimes when the person entering felt that it might have been days since they entered, it was possible that barely a few minutes had gone by.


    Simrly, it was also possible for one to end up spending hours or even days inside the cultivation array disk, not knowing just how long they had been in there.


    When Evelyn had entered the cultivation array disk for ''Searing Soul'', it had only taken her around twenty minutes in total from start to finish, even though to her it felt like she had been there for at least a few months. After all, even though most of the ''scenes'' were skipped, she did view more than a decade of the ''Searing Soul'' technique''s development process.


    After realizing that Amara might end up taking far longer than ''usual'', both Cecilia and Evelyn decided it was better to assume she might take days, or even weeks.


    This was another reason why spirit physiques were considered to have a superior talent in cultivation, aside from their higher rate of experience gain. Had it been a mortal to be in Amara''s ce, they would have had a real risk of perishing without food and water for an extended period of time.


    Meanwhile, for the spirit physiques it was only a matter of waiting for a little longer, and there was no real ''risk'' at all.


    "Well, Vivi, would you like to wait for your big sis toe back first, or you wanna go now?"


    "Um, now."


    In sharp contrast to her big sister, Vivian didn''t take much time to prehend'' her cultivation technique at all. The little redhead went in and out of the cultivation array within minutes, almost making Cecilia wonder if the little girl had really managed to do it or not.


    "Are you sure you''re done, Vivi? Don''t worry about wasting spirit stones if you need to go again, you know, it''s really no big deal"


    "No? I already burned the city inside. Auntie was very happy, and said I was just like her!"


    Assuming that the ''Auntie'' was probably the image left behind by the creator of the technique, Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief. "O-Oh, I guess it''s fine then."


    Since it was uncertain how long Amara would take to finish her session, Evelyn and Cecilia decided that it was better to take up turns to watch over her without disrupting their other duties too much.


    And when the two of them were busy with sses, it would be Vivian''s duty to watch over her elder sister to make sure that the array didn''t run out of spirit stones.


    As Cecilia volunteered to watch over the redhead first, Evelyn was finally free to return to her room and im her mission rewards.


    Ruru seemed to realize what wasing, and recalling her traumatic level up experience three years ago, the pink fox gave her master a pitiful look.


    Of course, with such a huge gain, Evelyn couldn''t let little Ruru miss out. She could only console her partner by rubbing her fluffy little head. "Don''t worry, although it might hurt a little, this will make us much stronger! Don''t you want to be a big and strong fox, Ruru?"


    The little thing seemed to actually think about it for a while before nodding with determination, and Evelyn chuckled as she ced the fluffy thing on her belly as shey down on the bed.


    [ Red Mission, Acquire a Cultivation Technique ] [im!]


    -Clear Condition: Comprehend a Cultivation Technique of any grade. [Fulfilled!]


    Use an array disc containing an existing cultivation technique toprehend it. [Fulfilled!]


    Create your own cultivation technique, which needs to be at least grade three or higher.


    -Rewards vary depending on the grade of the cultivation technique!


    Lower Grade Cultivation Technique (Grade 1, Grade 2, or Grade 3)


    -Experience: 10,000 points


    -Random skill (low level)


    Mid Grade Cultivation Technique (Grade 4, Grade 5 or Grade 6)


    -Experience: 25,000 points


    -Random skill (mid level)


    High Grade Cultivation Technique (Grade 7 or higher) [Fulfilled!]


    -Experience: 150,000 points


    -Random skill (high level)


    As she mentally pressed the ''im!'' button next to the red mission panel, this time she actually received a warning message from her system, much to her surprise.


    [ Attempting to im << Red Mission: Acquire a Cultivation Technique >> ]


    [ Caution! ]


    [ Current total experience is 3,110 points. ]


    [ imable experience is 150,000 points. ]


    [ Host not in an anomalous state. ]


    [ imable experience approaching almost half of the theoretical maximum limit of one hundred times of the current total experience, and the absorption process may be fatal or crippling. ]


    [ Confirm im? ]


    [Yes] / [No]


    It was the first time she had ever received such a warning, and Evelyn didn''t dare to ignore it at all.


    She understood that her ''system'' wasn''t a living thing capable of judging the situation by itself. It was entirely up to her to judge the validity of such warnings, and then decide if the risk was worth taking.


    "Considering the fact that I have the ability to regenerate, even if the process ends up being ''nearly fatal'', it''s highly unlikely that I''ll really die."


    Moreover, fifty times her current experience would still be over five thousand five hundred points higher than the imable amount, and even that was only half of the theoretical limit.


    As for her little fox, although she didn''t have advanced regeneration like herself, the amount of experience she would receive from their experience sharing skill [Lotus Throne''s Shackles] would be at most fifty percent. And in the worst case, it could even be as low as twenty percent.


    Even if Ruru did end up suffering a little, there was still that mysterious [Lotus Throne''s Golden Wheel], not to mention any other skills she might gain after hitting higher level milestones, so there really wasn''t much to worry about.


    For gaining what was essentially years of cultivation experiencing in an instant, this amount of ''risk'' wasn''t even worth mulling over.


    Evelyn nodded to herself after making the decision.


    [ Confirm im? ]


    > [ Yes ] <


    As soon as she confirmed iming the reward, it was as if her mind exploded for a very brief moment, filling her vision with bright white light before rity slowly returned to her.


    However, what she saw made her shudder, because somehow, for the first time in her life, Evelyn found herself floating separate from her physical body as a ''soul'' as she watched her own skin repeatedly ke off in small patches before it quickly recovered to normal, over and over again.


    Ruru didn''t seem to be going through simr distress, at least, as she had already fainted, but was breathing normally, just likest time. And Evelyn understood that since the little fox had only managed to get about twenty five percent of her reward''s share, the negative effects it was going through weren''t really that different fromst time.


    Of course, she could only be so sure because, even in her current state, Evelyn could clearly see the system prompts.


    [ Reward imed! ]


    [ Experience increased by 150,000 points! ]


    [ Lotus Moon Spirit Fox (Ruru) has triggered Lotus Throne''s Shackles for a 25% bonus to gain 37,500 points of experience. ]


    [ Current Experience is 150,280 / 700 points ]


    [ Lotus Moon Spirit Fox (Ruru)''s current experience is 39,830 ]


    [ Level up! ]


    Level 22 [150,280 / 700]  Level 23 [149,580 / 800]


    All attributes +3!


    -Level up!


    Level 23 [149,580 / 800]  Level 24 [148,780 / 900]


    All attributes +3!


    -Level up!


    Level 24 [148,780 / 900]  Level 25 [147,880 / 1,200]


    All attributes +3!


    -Level up!


    Level 25 [147,880 / 1,200]  Level 26 [146,680 / 1,400]


    All attributes +3!


    Level 26 [146,680 / 1,400]  Level 27 [145,280 / 1,600]


    All attributes +3!


    Level 27 [145,280 / 1,600]  Level 28 [143,680 / 1,800]


    All attributes +3!


    Level 28 [143,680 / 1,800]  Level 29 [141,880 / 2,000]


    All attributes +3!


    Level 29 [141,880 / 2,000]  Level 30 [145,280 / 5,000]


    All attributes +3!


    Milestone Level Reached! [Level 30 Milestone!]


    All Attributes +30!


    Attribute bonus per level increased from 3 to 4.


    As her system prompts continued unimpeded, Evelyn''s mind was focused on something else entirely.


    Because afterprehending ''Searing Soul'', her understanding of the soul was already on apletely different levelpared to before, and she realized that this unexpected ''dissociation'' between her body and soul actually gave her an incredible opportunity!


    Although they were ''separated'' to an extent, Evelyn was well aware that her soul was still connected to her body. It was just that the enormous amount of spirit power pouring in from the world, whenbined with her already ''heavy'' soul, were simply too much for her current body to bear.


    Under those circumstances, her soul had actually ended up being temporarily ''squeezed out'' while her body ''expanded'' to amodate the increased volume of spirit power and soul, and eventually she would inevitably be sucked back in even if she tried to stay separated.


    But simply being able to observe this state, as well as feel the resonance between her physical form and soul, gave Evelyn insights into their internal operations that she might not have gained even with decades of research on her own.


    In fact, to say that her current insights of interaction between the body and soul exceeded even the founder of ''Searing Soul'' wouldn''t be far from the truth. While the difference in their levels of base knowledge was great, the headmistress hadn''t ever gone through such an absurd phenomenon herself, after all.


    And it also gave her an incredible lead in figuring out how to ''game'' the cultivation array disk for ''Searing Soul''.

 Chapter 93: Change

    Chapter 93: Change


    Evelyn''s first life was on a mortal called ''Earth'', as a regr child born to a mother who perhaps did not wish to raise her.


    Although she had no way of knowing her so-called ''mother''s'' mindset at that time, the woman had decided to disfigure her newborn child''s face before abandoning her in front of an orphanage, and Evelyn assumed that it must be because she never wanted herself to be associated with this unwanted child.


    Among all the children at the orphanage, Evelyn was the ''ugliest''.


    Growing up as an orphan with a mutted face, she went through her ''fair share'' of misfortunes, and had always hated that so-called mother of hers. And like any other vengeful child, she had also done her best to ''find'' her.


    As for what she would do if she ever managed to find the woman? Evelyn had no idea.


    Of course, she realized that her chances of seeding in doing so were slim to none at that time, but as long as she performed well at school, and then progressed in her career step by step, it may not be impossible to seed eventually. Or so she thought.


    It was this ''folly'', however, that led to her demise. Because she tried to dig into something she never should have. But Evelyn understood this far toote.


    Even as she perished, however, she never felt the ''connection'' between her body and soul, and most importantly, never got to experience her independent soul body.


    This was because even when she had lost her mortal body, no matter whether it was before, during, or after the survival test, she had always inhabited some form of physical shell. Whether it was the wax doll, the scrawny little girl, or the supervisor''s colleague, they were all temporary residences that had prevented her from being able to experience what she was going through now.


    Evelyn wondered if such a thing was intentionally done by ''Lord Chronos'', and the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.


    Because shortly after assuming this state, Evelyn was able to feel something hidden deep within her ''soul'', a tiny little speck of very potent soul energy that didn''t belong to herself.


    Even when she had been a mortal, simply allowing her to exist in this state would have made her feel something was ''wrong'' with herself, though she wouldn''t have been able to know just what exactly it was.


    But now that she had a basic understanding of ''Searing Soul'', she knew a lot more about it than before, and recognized the function of this thing being hidden inside her.


    Like a breath mint hanging above a bottle of c, whenever the ''owner'' of this energy decided, they could cause an intense and devastating reaction within her soul, the results of which she didn''t dare imagine at all.


    "I obviously can''t let this thing just stay here But given that it''s most likely from that ''Lord Chronos'', it shouldn''t be a threat for the time being. Although I can try wiping it off now, it should be safer topletelyprehend the ''Searing Soul'' first."


    If she had to go about it the ''normal'' way, that would surely have been a long way into the future, but now that she had obtained this incredible opportunity, fullyprehending the ''Searing Soul'' was going to be a piece of cake.


    As her body continued absorbing more and more energy to continuously level up, Evelyn spent that time to further herprehension of the soul. She understood that this opportunity was perhaps even more of a ''lucky chance'' than the red mission reward.


    When her required experience to level up had changed from 2,000 to 5,000 after hitting level 30, Evelyn had thought that her ''gains'' may actually not be as great as she imagined, and the total amount of levels she gained wouldn''t be that many if the required experience continued increasing at that rate.


    Thankfully, however, her conjecture was wrong, and perhaps such sharp ''spikes'' in experience requirement really were only for the milestone levels.


    -Level up!


    Level 30 [145,280 / 5,000]  Level 31 [140,280 / 5,500]


    All attributes +4!


    -Level up!


    Level 31 [140,280 / 5,500]  Level 32 [134,780 / 6,000]


    All attributes +4!


    Even as the system prompts continued, Evelyn focused her mindpletely on her soul.


    She understood that the way the cultivation arrays differentiated between ''individuals'' was through their soul ''signature''.


    This was not a unique case for just the ''Searing Soul'' array, it was just the way the cultivation arrays worked in general.


    As for what this ''signature'' was, people understood that was the ''shape'' of the soul, though what exactly that was supposed to be varied depending on whom was asked.


    However, with Evelyn''s ''lucky chance'' this time, she was able to clearly ''see'' what this so-called shape of the soul was supposed to be.


    "So apparently the headmistress really was right in her conjecture the soul takes the shape of whatever we imagine our ''true self'' as. And for me it''s this"


    Currently, Evelyn''s ''soul form'' was in the shape of a girl around fifteen or so in age, with the same pink hair and pink eyes as her current self. However, there was a deep scar on her face that went from the left side of her forehead down to the right side of her chin,pletely ruining her beauty.


    Evelyn took a deep breath as she focused within herself,pletely ignoring the passage of time as well as her system prompts.


    The rate at which her body was absorbing energy had greatly slowed down after hitting level thirty for some reason, and each level up took a considerable amount of time.


    Even so, Evelyn remained focused on her task single-mindedly as her body went through multiple level-ups.


    -Level up!


    Level 32 [134,780 / 6,000]  Level 33 [128,780 / 6,500]


    All attributes +4!


    -Level up!


    Level 33 [128,780 / 6,500]  Level 34 [122,280 / 7,000]


    All attributes +4!


    -Level up!


    Level 34 [122,280 / 7,000]  Level 35 [115,280 / 7,500]


    All attributes +4!


    -Level up!


    Level 35 [115,280 / 7,500]  Level 36 [107,780 / 8,000]


    All attributes +4!


    Evelyn breathed out a sigh of relief as she felt that the scar on her soul form''s face had be much fainter. "Given that this is the ''key'', just this much alone should be able to allow me entry as ''another person'' in the cultivation array. But this isn''t enough for me."


    Although the scar had almost faded, the ''face'' on her soul form was still that of a ''stranger'', and not ''herself''.


    Of course, this stranger was probably what her real face in the first world was supposed to look like. It was certainly far more attractive than she expected, though still not as ''cute'' as ''her'' now.


    "If she looked like this ah, I know who she was now"


    Assuming that her face resembled her mother, that woman was likely to be thedy who was being touted as the ''most beautiful actress'' in her first world. A woman who received an equal amount of love and hate, though she would only ever get thetter from Evelyn.


    "It''s disgusting I don''t want any part of me to resemble her!"


    Even if that hadn''t been the case, now that she had this opportunity to freely observe the changes in her soul form, why would she not take the chance to fully change it to her liking?


    Although it was something that no one else would be able to see normally, the more ''at ease'' Evelyn felt with her own soul form, the more refined her usage of ''soul power'' will be.


    And her current soul form made her even more ufortable than the one before, so she certainly had to change it!


    Time continued to pass as the scar on her face turned fainter and fainter while even her facial structure started to shift. Meanwhile, her body also kept absorbing energy, and the system prompts continued to signal her progress.


    -Level up!


    Level 36 [107,780 / 8,000]  Level 37 [99,780 / 8,500]


    All attributes +4!


    -Level up!


    Level 37 [99,780 / 8,500]  Level 38 [91,280 / 9,000]


    All attributes +4!


    -Level up!


    Level 38 [91,280 / 9,000]  Level 39 [82,280 / 9,500]


    All attributes +4!


    -Level up!


    Level 39 [82,280 / 9,500]  Level 40 [72,780 / 10,000]


    All attributes +4!


    Milestone Level Reached! [Level 40 Milestone!]


    All Attributes +40!


    Attribute bonus per level increased from 4 to 5.


    Shortly after hitting the level forty milestone, Evelyn finally recovered her focus.


    Not only had the scar on her soul form''s facepletely vanished, her age had also regressed from being a teenager to a preteen. Moreover, her soul form''s face was nowpletely identical to that of her body.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but smile in satisfaction. "Perfect Now, I am myself, in both body and soul"


    But even though she was already done ''renovating'' her soul form, Evelyn didn''t waste the rest of this ''lucky chance''. She knew there wasn''t much time left for her in this state, since the amount of experience required per level up only kept on increasing, and she could already feel a ''tug'' on her soul form.


    Knowing that she would soon be ''whole'' once more, Evely spent the rest of her time observing the connection between her body and soul, furthering herprehension of the subject.

 Chapter 94: Green Maiden Transformation

    Chapter 94: Green Maiden Transformation


    Even before all of her experience had been exhausted, Evelyn found herself back in her body. Thankfully, she had already aplished everything she wanted to do, because it was unlikely that she would ever get such a chance again anytime soon.


    Of course, once she reached a high enough level ofprehension, she might be able to replicate the process, but that was probably too far into the future. By then, she would probably already have whatever understanding she could gain from entering such a state, anyway.


    After hitting the ''milestone'' once again at level forty, whatever difficulty her body had been having with amodating the excess energy seemed to havepletely disappeared. Despite the final few level ups ounting for over half of the initial energy, they took only a fraction of the time.


    Level 40 [72,780 / 10,000]  Level 41 [62,780 / 10,500]


    All attributes +5!


    Level 41 [62,780 / 10,500]  Level 42 [52,280 / 11,000]


    All attributes +5!


    Level 42 [52,280 / 11,000]  Level 43 [41,280 / 11,500]


    All attributes +5!


    Although there was some lingering pain in her body due to the excessive stress from continuous level ups, Evelyn knew that she had escaped the worst part by far thanks to being ''ejected'' in her soul form earlier.


    And as she tried to observe any noticeable difference in her body, Evelyn discovered that aside from the obvious strengthening brought forth by the enhanced stats, there was indeed something quite different from before.


    The previously ''hidden'' pool of soul power was now clearly prominent within her, resting in her chest area just above the pool of spirit power in her belly.


    Evelyn thought that it must be due to her ''consolidation'' of the soul form earlier that caused this pool of soul power to condense. This was great news, because although it wouldn''t give her a raw boost in terms of stats, it would make it much easier for her to deploy and use her soul power.


    Shortly afterwards, herst few level ups also went by smoothly.


    Level 43 [41,280 / 11,500]  Level 44 [29,780 / 12,000]


    All attributes +5!


    Level 44 [29,780 / 12,000]  Level 45 [17,780 / 12,500]


    All attributes +5!


    Level 45 [17,780 / 12,500]  Level 46 [5,280 / 13,000]


    All attributes +5!


    Level 46 [5,280 / 13,000]


    "Phew level forty six huh To think that I''m already higher level than Cecilia, no, even E"


    Having already checked the stats quite recently, Evelyn knew that Cecilia was only level thirty one, while E was level thirty four.


    Even if she didn''t go strictly by number levels, and considered the ''gradation'' system used by the rangers, it would still put her in a superior grade to E.


    Of course, Evelyn knew that she couldn''t get conceited. After all, even someone as talented as Bree, who had already reached level 82, felt helpless while trying to protect her family. She still had a long way to go before she could feel truly safe.


    After ascertaining the state of her body, Evelyn checked little Ruru next, and was relieved to discover that nothing seemed to be wrong with the little fox.


    She was just in a deep sleep, and should be perfectly fine when she awakens tomorrow.


    Having obtained a part of her experience, Little Ruru had of course also leveled up and even acquired another milestone ability!


    -Lotus Moon Spirit Fox (Ruru)


    Level 21 [39,830 / 600]  Level 30 [28,830 / 5,000]


    Milestone Level Reached! [Level 30 Milestone!]


    Milestone ability unlocked: [Green Maiden Transformation!]


    All Attributes +30!


    Attribute bonus per level increased from 3 to 4.


    Level 30 [28,830 / 5,000]  Level 34 [5,830 / 7,000]


    Unfortunately, this newly acquired ability of her little pet didn''t seem to have any description at all, and she could only helplessly wait till her fox woke up tomorrow to try it out.


    "I guess it must be some sort of ability to turn bigger or something, right?"


    Evelyn shook her head, thinking that it was better to just wait and see, sinceing up with useless conjectures won''t help at all. Instead, she brought up her own status screen.


    -Evelyn Knox: Level 22 [420 / 700]  Level 46 [5,280 / 13,000]


    Hybrid Physique: Blessed Spirit, Lotus Throne


    Physique: 179  340


    Spirit Power: 128  370


    Soul Value: [532 / 1,304]  [589 / 1,546]


    Vitality: [166 / 166]  [214 / 323]


    -[ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    [Hunter], [Artist], [Basic Spatial Maniption], [Basic Probe], [Minor Shield], [Disease Immunity], [Poison Immunity], [Advanced Regeneration], [Cmity]


    -Cultivation Method: Searing Soul [Grade 9]


    [Soul Avatar: Basic]


    [Soul Dominion]


    [Locked: Required Comprehension: Advanced]


    [Locked: Required Comprehension: Superior]


    [Locked: Required Comprehension: Complete]


    -Equipment:


    [Kittykat Blue Halter Dress: Grade 2]: Physique +25


    [Shiny Bracelet: Grade 1]: Spirit Power +3


    [The Untainted: Grade 5]


    Although she already knew it would be like this, Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a little giddy.


    Even in her most optimistic dreams, Evelyn had thought it would take her at least a year or so to reach Cecilia''s level, if not more.


    After all, the girl was also a genius, was a few years older than herself, and had simr conditions of growth.


    Even with the red mission, perhaps she would never have been able to grow so much if not for Aurora''s helping hand. Since the rewards for getting lower grade techniques weren''t nearly as astronomical, and there was no guarantee she would have just happened to stumble across a higher grade one, even with her probe skill.


    As for the additional [Poison Immunity] in her status, it was of course the skill reward from her red mission.


    Evelyn didn''t know what other skills she could have gotten, if it was even random in the first ce, but she was quite satisfied with getting poison immunity. It would allow her to have some more peace of mind, and open up more options for the future.


    For example, if she''d had poison immunity before, she wouldn''t have needed to be so careful around the tentacles of the ''Thousand Eyed God''.


    Her pool of soul power had already been quite exhausted after exiting the cultivation array, so that part was no surprise to her. Given some time, it should naturally recover.


    As for her vitality, it of course suffered due to the damage caused by the rapid level ups, but Evelyn wasn''t concerned about that either. Even if she never got her hands on anything that restored her vitality to its maximum limit again, which she thought was quite unlikely, she would still be able to slowly increase it as she levels up. The stronger she was, the less this little loss would matter.


    Evelyn knew that her chances of ''seeding'' in everything she wanted to do were slim, but with this unexpected boost, the glimmer of hope she had was just a little bit brighter. She couldn''t help but smile as she fell asleep.


    When Evelyn woke up to her little fox''s yips, the first order of business was, of course, to test the ''Green Maiden Transformation''.


    Her little fox understood what she wanted after just a few short words, and started channeling her spirit power till her body was enveloped in a soft green glow.


    Contrary to what Evelyn had thought, the ''transformation'' did not just increase Ruru''s size, nor did it provide her with additional features and limbs for attacking or defending.


    Apparently, [Green Maiden Transformation] really was just a humanoid transformation skill.


    And not a very good one at that, because little Ruru hadn''t turned into an adultdy, or even a teenager.


    She wasn''t even a toddler, but a little thumbelina!


    Looking at the tiny, pitiful looking pink haired fox girl in her palm, Evelyn felt her lips twitch in mirth.


    To think that the higher little Ruru''s milestones got, the more useless skills she seemed to be getting hopefully this pattern won''tst forever.


    Thinking of how she''ll be bullied if someone else saw her like this, Evelyn decisively ordered her to never transform into this form when they weren''t alone, unless Evelyn herself said so.


    The little thumb sized fox girl still didn''t know how to speak, and nodded obediently before turning back into her fox form.


    The older Gilmore sister, Amara, had also exited her cultivation array not long before Evelyn woke up, much to everyone''s relief.


    Although going on for longer was unlikely to have really bought any negative consequences for any of them, they would still have been left anxious for the time.


    Evelyn could tell that something was different about Amara, though her probe skill did not show anything out of ce, except for the addition of the two skills from the new cultivation method ''Arcane Archive''.


    "Are you alright? Did it all go well?"


    The older redhead nodded at her with a smile. "Um, much better than I expected, actually."


    It hadn''t been such a long time since she thought that perhaps she would alwaysg behind others, and never be able to take care of or protect those that she cared about.


    But now, things werepletely different.

 Chapter 95: Oracle

    Chapter 95: Oracle


    Although the techniques that she had managed to acquire from the ''Tower of Solitude'' were far better than she expected, Evelyn had actually been quite worried about making the ''wrong choice'' when it came to actually allotting them.


    It was a wee relief when she discovered that Vivian really was quite patible'' with Eternal Ember, as she had just gone on a hunch based on her main talent being ''pyromaniac''.


    Amara, on the other hand, hadn''t shown any outstanding abilities in terms of spirit power. This made it much more difficult for Evelyn to judge which technique would be best suited for her.


    Now that she had a positive response from the girl, however, Evelyn couldn''t help but smile. "So, are you happy with it?"


    Amara nodded. "Very much so. To tell you the truth, at first I was truly a little regretful, thinking that maybe I should have gone for a more offensive technique, but after talking about it with Oracle, I realized that this was actually far more suited for my needs."


    Halfway through their talk, Vivian also woke up from her well deserved nap after watching over her sister almost all night. The little girl tugged at Amara''s sleeve curiously. "Who''s Oracle?"


    Amara patted her little sister''s head fondly. "The creator of the ''Arcane Archive'', Oracle."


    Vivian immediately grinned. "Oh, like the fire auntie? Cool. Reminds me, I forgot to ask her name."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be startled. "You can talk to her, Amara? Ah, did she leave some way tomunicate with her for you?"


    The smaller redhead pouted, feeling ignored. "I can also talk to fire auntie! Is that special?"


    Evelyn hadn''t meant to ignore the little girl, she was just too focused on what Amara had said. She couldn''t help but sigh. "No, Vivi How do I exin this? The ''people'' inside the cultivation arrays are like puppets. They only behave in a set way, and can''t really think for themselves."


    Vivian scratched her head, confused. "But auntie praised me! She said I was the most explosively fun kid she ever had!"


    The pink haired girl nodded. "Mhm. That means you passed her ''test'' with flying colors, probably exceeding all the ''standards'' she had set. That''s pretty amazing, actually."


    Vivian couldn''t help but pout, wondering why no one believed her. "Uuuh Auntie is not fake I don''t believe it!"


    Evelyn didn''t know how else to exin it to Vivian, since the girl was apparently convinced that she had a dialogue with creator as well, even though all her ''responses'' could have been ''pre-configured''. At least, none of what Vivian had told proved otherwise.


    "You''ll understand when you''re older, Vivi. Anyway, Amara, are you sure you really ''talked'' with her?"


    Unlike Vivian, who could be easily fooled into believing that the other party was ''talking'' to her when she was not, Evelyn didn''t think Amara was so nave. After all, she had both the age and the maturity to at least be able to judge this much, unlike her little sister.


    Amara nodded. "Actually, if you had learned the Arcane Archive, you wouldn''t think it was so strange. Oracle''s level of understanding on how arrays work is on apletely different level. While everyone else relies on trial and error to figure out the ''perfect'' method, she understands how arrays actually work, and can use them in a far more intricate way than most."


    Seeing how Amara seemed so sure, Evelyn could only ept it. Her understanding of the entities inside cultivation arrays was that they were quite simr to ''bots'' in terms of ''intelligence''.


    That is to say, for their limited ''uses'' they could seem quite smart, or even alive, but it only took a little deviation to expose their ringck of ''intelligence''.


    What the creator of ''Arcane Archive'' had made, on the other hand, was akin to an actual artificial intelligence inside her array, one that was capable enough to ''understand'' what was happening.


    If everyone had been capable of the same, there would be no need for any extensive ''testing'' inside the arrays at all, because the artificial intelligence could simply check for themselves whether or not the ''disciple'' was to their liking.


    Thankfully, this was not the case with ''Searing Soul'', or Evelyn wouldn''t be able to ''cheat'' with her identity changing nter.


    To be able to do such a thing, the only exnation would be either the creator of the arcane archive was on an entirely different levelpared to everyone else, or her cultivation method itself focused mainly on the same thing.


    Evelyn believed it must be thetter, but it was easy enough to confirm. "Is ''Arcane Archive'' mostly focused on arrays, then?"


    Amara rubbed her chin as she thought about it for a while before nodding. "You can think of it that way. In terms of creating defensive arrays and such, it''s definitely second to none. If there is such a thing as an ''array creation'' cultivation technique, this would definitely be it."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be a little happy.


    Although she preferred to take care of things herself for the most part, she understood that it was impractical to waste her time learning all sorts of things when focusing on those that mattered most would yield better results.


    For example, she could also learn how to create clothing just like Madam Genie, and then some timeter, she might even be able to make clothes that were superior to the ones that Cecilia bought for her.


    But in the time she spends doing that, she would have been able to gain another ten levels, or learn something much more suitable for her purposes.


    This was why, since she already had some reliable friends, wasn''t it for the best to have them diversify their skills, so they could cover each other''s shorings?


    She would obviously not force them to go in a way that went contrary to their growth though. That''s why she gave Vivian the ''Eternal Ember'' despite it being almost purely for offense, same as the Thundering Fury and her own ''Searing Soul''.


    To put it simply, a high level assassin was probably still a better ''tank'' than a low level knight.


    The older redhead grinned. "I''m quite curious, though, how did you know that the ''Arcane Archive'' would be so perfect for me?"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but blink. "Hm? Didn''t you get convinced by what Cecilia said? About that senior professor in the Maker''s Mansion?"


    Amara coughed, looking a little embarrassed. "No, well, maybe partially. Mostly I just went with it because it was your choice."


    The pink haired girl had that hunch, but still felt a little happy when Amara admitted it. After all, it felt good to be so ''valued'' that her friend would put so much weight on her thoughts, even when making such life changing decisions. "Oh To be honest, I don''t think you''re the type who would be suited to offensive techniques."


    The redhead blinked curiously, wondering if Evelyn thought of her as ''motherly'' or something just because she was her ''nanny'' while growing up. "You think so?"


    Evelyn nodded. "Mhm. Thundering Fury is definitely amazing, even being grade eight, and maybe even the grade nine Eternal Ember would be alright for you, but I don''t think you''ll make much progress with them."


    Amara tilted her head, wondering if that was how she really felt, or if her friend was just too embarrassed to admit the real reason. "Why not?"


    Evelyn hadn''t actually wanted to ''expose'' her thoughts on the matter at first, especially since it could be considered as looking down on Amara in a way, but since Amara asked, she decided to just put it out there. "Because being with you for so long, I understand you a little by now, alright? Remember that time when Tristan hit you with a rock on the head? You just focused on defending me, and didn''t even think about retaliating."


    Amara couldn''t help but be slightly embarrassed. Although she could try exining that she would definitely do things differently had it been an actual enemy, she understood what Evelyn was trying to say.


    Even if the pink haired girl could also be said to have the same motivations, the way she handled things waspletely different from Amara. Evelyn was the type to always prioritize destroying her enemies instead of just dealing with the immediate threats, unless she was powerless to do so.


    Evelyn didn''t want her friend to dwell on it too much, so she waved her hand. "That''s not the only reason, of course. Another is that since you''re going to be with Vivian most of the time, and she''s going to be almostpletely focused on being a dedicated attacker, doesn''t it make sense to learn something else?"


    Regardless of her friend''s ''true thoughts'', Amara was of course grateful for being given such an opportunity. After all, where else would she find a decent cultivation technique for herself? She had never even dared to dream such a day woulde, much less so soon.

 Chapter 96: Trouble Awaits

    Chapter 96: Trouble Awaits


    Amara knew that even if it was thatdy professor who gave Evelyn the permission to take the discs, she wasn''t any less in her friend''s debt.


    The redhead sighed. "I guess it makes sense. Thank you, Evelyn, I don''t know how I can ever"


    Evelyn just smiled as she waved her hand. "Is there a need for that between us? Anyway, tell me more about the ''Arcane Archive'', I''m a bit curious."


    Normally, it would be considered quite shameless to ask someone the details of their cultivation techniques.


    After all, only a few obvious things that could be easily observed were known to the public most of the time, and the true ''secrets'' of the techniques would only ever be known by those who managed toprehend them.


    To ask such things directly was just asking to be pped in the face.


    Even Aurora didn''t know all the details about high level cultivation techniques, or at least, she didn''t tell too much about it to Evelyn.


    But Amara didn''t hesitate at all as she freely shared everything.


    And as Evelyn had expected, the ''Arcane Archive'' was capable of more than just defense. The ''Great Arcane'' ability allowed Amara to ''capture'' her opponent''s abilities, which she could then keep to either analyze and decipher, or if the situation was urgent, simply reflect them back to her opponent.


    The limitations of such an extensive method depended on Amara''s level of prehension'', though. It wouldn''t be wrong to even say that Amara''s level mattered less than her understanding of the ''Arcane Archive'', which was in sharp contrast to most other cultivation methods.


    For everyone else, both level andprehension were equally important, and a higher level could mostly cover up any shorings in prehension'' with time. That is, if a genius cultivated a regr technique for ten years, and a moron cultivated the same for a hundred, it was possible that they would have around the same ''results''.


    But if Amara was unable to really make progress with Arcane Archive in the future, even if she managed to level up over time, her actual abilities would remainckluster.


    This was the biggest ''drawback'' of this technique, though neither Amara nor Evelyn believed it was something they should be worried about.


    Since her elder sister had been ''boasting'' about her cultivation technique for a while, Vivian couldn''t contain herself either. ''Haven''t I done it too? Why is no one praising me?!''


    From what Evelyn was able to glean from the little girl''s ramblings, the ''test'' inside the ''Eternal Ember'' was simply a measurement of the scale of destruction caused after being bestowed with a ''trial version'' of the Eternal Ember''s power in the form of a virtual artifact.


    For those with a very strong sense of ''justice'' and high morality, this technique would actually have an incredibly poorpatibility, since even if they rationalized that the city inside was ''fake'', it was their real feeling on the matter which would decide the oue.


    Just like even if Evelyn had known before entering the array that reaching an understanding with the headmistress was key toprehending ''Searing Soul'', it wouldn''t mean anything at all until she actually reached such understanding in her heart.


    Evelyn knew that although Vivian was innocent and adorable, she was also incredibly simple minded when it came to certain things, with a very loose set of ''morals'', if any.


    Inside the array of ''Eternal Ember'', the requirements hadn''t been mentioned outright before the conclusion of the test, just like Evelyn hadn''t known much about her own ''test'' before going in. Vivian was only given a glowing wand-like artifact that could shoot out fireballs, in the middle of the ''city''.


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but look at Vivian curiously. "How did you end up destroying the whole city, though, did you know beforehand that you had to do it?"


    The younger redhead tilted her head in confusion. "No? I just waved the wand because I was curious, and a fireball shot out, which may have exploded something? I''m not sure what it was, I didn''t look. Anyway, when I was saying sorry to the pile of ashes, a bunch of people started saying mean words to me, so I got angry. And then these scary looking guys came running, so I used the wand to fight them!"


    "Oh" Evelyn nodded.


    She had a feeling she knew exactly how it went.


    After Vivian identally burned someone to ashes, of course people would get mad, and once she started fighting what Evelyn assumed were the ''guards'', the situation escted uncontrobly.


    All the ''residents'' in the city were mere mortals, though, so they stood no chance at all against the inexhaustible and endless might of Vivian''s fireballs. Arrows vaporized, armor melted, and people and buildings alike turned to ash as the little girl threw a tantrum at being unjustly attacked.


    Evelyn made a mental note to make sure Vivian was never left on her own, especially in small towns. It was fine this time since this was just a fake thing inside the Eternal Ember''s array, but she didn''t want Vivian to really turn out like the creator of that technique, after all.


    The ''Crimson Witch of mes'' was still a wanted criminal, after all. In the entire continent, only the Ancient Academy would allow her entry, and that too only because she was an alumnus who had contributed greatly to the academy by adding a grade nine cultivation array disc to the ''Tower of Solitude''.


    Of course, it had been hundreds of years since she had beenst heard from, and she was presumed to be dead.


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but sigh. The heavypatibility between Vivian and the Eternal Ember may have caused her to make an error in judgment. Although it was a powerfulbination, it was also equally disastrous in the wrong hands.


    Amara was busy scolding Vivian for being a ''bad girl'', but the little girl didn''t seem to understand the issue at all. "But ''Mara, they deserved to explode for trying to hit me!"


    The older redhead pulled Vivian''s ear, growling menacingly. "Why don''t you try exploding me for hitting you, then?"


    "Ow, don''t pull! ''Mara doesn''t count, I can''t do that." Even though Vivian tried her best to pull her sister''s hand away from her ear, it was to no avail.


    Amara rolled her eyes. "Why not?"


    The girl gave her older sister a pitiful look. "Because I love you?"


    Amara had been expecting something along the lines of ''because you''re too strong'' or even ''because I don''t have that glowing wand anymore'', but what could she say to that?


    Evelyn didn''t know if Vivian was just lucky or really clever, because the older redhead''s heart had clearly been melted as she stopped arguing about the matter.


    "Well, I''m sure she''ll grow up and mellow down somewhat."


    Tristan Knox, the one and only son of the first lord of the Knox family, was three years older than Evelyn. Shortly after the ceremony on the girl''s fifth birthday, he had been sent to the Ancient Academy, with a heart full of hopes and dreams for the future.


    His mother had always told him that he would be able to meet all sorts of big shots once he gets here, and the likes of Cecilia would only regret not treating him better earlier.


    If things had gone ording to his mother''s n, in the three years of time he''d had before Evelyn arrived at the academy, he should have been able to enter a position topletely lord over her.


    However, not long aftering here, he realized how little his mother actually knew about it all.


    Unlike what Nadina thought, forget about ''every other royal family member'' being here for Tristan to be able to befriend, the Lavinian royalty had long since stopped sending their direct descendants to the academy at all.


    He had been in such disbelief when he first heard it that he attributed it all to a fluke chance, hoping against hope that the situation would change soon, perhaps in a few months, or even a year.


    However, as time passed, Tristan came to ept that, indeed, this is how things were now, and his mother was wrong.


    But Tristan wasn''t one to give up so easily. One thing he had learned after all his failures, was that adapting was better than giving in to rage and impulse.


    So he made do with what he had, and strengthened the strongest connection he had - Ryan Reynolds.


    While not as good as a member of Lavinian Royalty, Ryan was still the heir to one of the strongest ancient families after the Fulbright family. Given that Tristan wouldn''t be able to just walk up to foreign royalty and befriend them just because he wanted to, Ryan was his best avable choice.


    Tristan had realized that the boy was quite obsessed with making those who were ''more talented'' than him appear inferior. Perhaps he had a deeply ingrained inferiorityplex in his heart, and Tristan made full use of that to be the boy''s closest confidant in the academy, despite their age difference.


    The boy was six years his senior, and by now he was ready to graduate. As a senior, he already had numerous connections both within the academy and outside. And now, most had been tied up with Tristan too, as the two of them got along quite well.


    By the time his second year hade to an end, Tristan firmly believed that he would be able topletely dominate Evelyn when she finally showed up in front of him.


    Unfortunately, Ryan decided to take a ranger mission to earn some contribution points not long before the new session was supposed to start, and Tristan could only begrudgingly follow this friend of his.


    Anyway, even if the girl''s humiliation was a few dayster, perhaps it was better that way. After all, she could have a short moment of respite before being plunged into the depths of hell.


    By the time Tristan returned from his excursion, his heart was giddy with excitement.


    How dare she humiliate him so, just because she was born stronger? If it hadn''t been for her rich aunt and the Knox family discriminating against him, wouldn''t he be the strong one instead?


    Tristan could still vividly remember that day under the tree in his own backyard, when that pink haired girl had just casually strolled in to smack him across the face with disdain.


    Up until that point, he had only felt like she was a hateful person, but hadn''t felt true hatred for her deep in his heart. However, the pain on his face had made him realize was it truly felt like to hate someone.


    He couldn''t wait to show that little bitch her ce.

 Chapter 97: Sirens Call

    Chapter 97: Siren''s Call


    Bree finally woke up shortly before Evelyn was about to leave. In her still groggy state, she even forgot about Evelyn telling her what she should never say in front of others. "Mama is leaving?"


    Vivian didn''t think it was so strange, given that this was Evelyn''s puppy, after all, but Amara almost choked on her own spit inughter, making the two little girls look at her in confusion. After all, she knew very well who Bree actually was.


    Ever since she got the ''Arcane Archive'', the burden she had felt on her shoulders had been considerably lightened, and she no longer felt like she would be so helpless when those dear to her underwent cmity. Anyone who knew her could tell how happy she was whenpared to just a day before.


    Evelyn could feel her lips twitch. ''I hope she won''t die of embarrassment when she finally remembers everything''


    She patted Bree''s head, feeling a little guilty. "Y-Yeah, well, I have sses now, so you wait here obediently for me, alright?"


    Bree gave her a pitiful look, her wide green eyes slightly wet. "Ruru can go, I can''t?"


    The pink fox on Evelyn''s shoulder gave her a disdainful look, as if saying ''Hmph, how dare youpare to the mighty me?'', and even considered changing into her ''human form'' now that she had one just to say it out loud.


    But considering that her human form was small enough to fit in even Bree''s tiny palm, she decided the effect wouldn''t be very favorable for her.


    Evelyn cleared her throat, wondering how best to exin herself. After all, Bree in her current state wouldn''t understand anything tooplex. "R-Ruru is not a good girl, so she won''t behave if I leave her alone. But Bree is a good girl who makes mama proud, right?"


    Bree pouted for a while but could only nod under Evelyn''s stare. Even with her slightly reduced intelligence, she couldn''t help but wonder why being a bad girl was actually a better deal.


    When Evelyn finally got out of the room, she breathed a sigh of relief as she petted her now aggrieved fox. "Don''t look at me like that, Ruru, you know I didn''t mean it. You''re my cutest, most adorable partner, okay?"


    The pink fox still looked a little petnt as she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, but Evelyn knew that she was already ''won over'' by a few words. After all, little Ruru wasn''t much different from Vivi and Bree in terms of intelligence.


    It wasn''t much of a surprise when considering her age. Her little Ruru was only a little over three years old, after all. And Vivian was still young, as well.


    Perhaps only Bree was in the most shameful position, but that was because her intelligence had been greatly reduced by the bacsh, along with her strength.


    Even when a considerable portion of her strength had been restored, the level of her intelligence still seemed to be quitecking, and Evelyn attributed it to herck of recovery when it came to soul value.


    Whether it was the refining the tentacles of the ''Thousand Eyed God'', or consuming the ''Serenity Dew Drops'', neither managed to restore much of her soul value.


    Evelyn had been feeling quite helpless before, but now that she had some understanding of the soul thanks to her cultivation technique, she could grasp Bree''s situation much better than before.


    After her human transformation and partial recovery, the blonde girl had been spending a lot of her time sleeping,pared to her energetic self while she was still a full time puppy.


    It hadn''t made much sense to her before, considering that all of her stats had only ''increased'', but now she knew the reason behind it.


    Whenever Bree slept, Evelyn could feel a slight movement in her soul, and this was definitely a good thing, because she could tell that Bree''s soul was slowly healing. It was still 62 points when she checked the status, but she could feel that it was increasing, little by little, based on her own understanding of the soul.


    Perhaps once she had a betterprehension of Searing Soul she could think of something better. Unfortunately, there was no time for another trip in there yet, since she would have missed her first ''ss'' with Aurora if she did so now. Only once she returned after the sses would she be able to test it out.


    Aurora''s tower was actually not that far from her White Lily Pce, and Evelyn found herself facing the tinum blonde before she realized it.


    "You''re a little early?"


    "Mhm."


    "Okay, good. Come with me."


    Aurora didn''t lead her into her tower as Evelyn expected, and instead led her to the tree in front of theke behind her tower.


    Lying down below the tree, Aurora patted the spot next to her. "Here."


    Evelyn could only lie next to her in confusion, staring at the clear blue skies nkly.


    Every few minutes, she would turn to stare at her ''teacher'', but the girl didn''t seem to care for anything at all.


    After almost thirty minutes, just when Evelyn was starting to get really impatient, Aurora finally turned on her side to stare at her pink haired student. "Your heart is not calm. Why?"


    Evelyn knew it really was like that. After all, she had been expecting to learn a lot today before dealing with the rest of her sses, and once she returned to the White Lily Pce, she could finally have some time to revisit the cultivation array for Searing Soul.


    But when the extremely productive day she had been expecting started off with her mysterious teacher just taking a nap, she couldn''t help but be a little rattled.


    The pink haired girl tried her best to be tactful as she rubbed her head in embarrassment. "Uh, I guess, I was expecting something different, so I got a little unsettled?"


    "Oh."


    Aurora finally got up, looking a little interested. "What were you expecting?"


    "Um, learning from you?"


    "What would you like to learn?"


    Evelyn stared at her teacher nkly for a while, stunned. "S-Shouldn''t you be the one to decide that?"


    Aurora blinked. "I have never taught anyone. But you can ask me anything."


    "A-Ah, then"


    Evelyn thought about it for a while. Right, if she could ask to learn anything, and assuming that Aurora could teach her whatever she wanted, didn''t it make sense to modify her ns a little? She had previously assumed that Aurora would teach her ''something'', maybe even a little of everything, but this was definitely ''better'' in a way.


    But before making a decision, wasn''t it better to know everything first?


    The pink haired girl cleared her throat, hoping her question wasn''t too ''presumptuous''. "Can you tell me what you''re good at? What you like to do? That kind of stuff."


    Aurora seemed to seriously consider her words for a moment before nodding. "I''m good with water. Using water, I can do all kinds of things. I like to stare at the ''Siren''s Call'', um, and the sky."


    Evelyn tilted her head curiously. "Siren''s Call?"


    And she regretted saying it just momentster, however, because the previously lethargic Aurora went on a long, detailed diatribe about how profound the endless depths of theke were, and how many even believed that it contained one of the greatest mysteries in this world.


    After listening about it for so long, there was one thing that kept bugging Evelyn. "If you''re so sure about there being some profound mystery deep inside, why don''t you just go check it out?"


    With Aurora''s strength, wouldn''t it be a piece of cake?


    The tinum blonde sighed. "No. The Siren''s Call It is not so easy to explore. Many believe it to have no bottom, but that is certainly not true. However, it is a fact that no one has managed to reach the heart of thiske."


    She seemed to understand Evelyn''s confusion, and shook her head. "Even with a vast amount of spirit power, it is not so easy. There is an invasive poison inside theke, which corrodes your spirit power as you venture inside. The deeper you go, the harsher the corrosion. Moreover, the corroded spirit power still remains inside your body, like rust. It makes it hard to judge how much you have left, and most just perish inside because they no longer have the strength to resurface."


    Evelyn stared nkly at the perfectly still, beautiful blueke in front of her. Given how much interest Aurora showed in theke, it was impossible for her to not have tried exploring it. And from her words, she had certainly not seeded in exploring everything about it yet.


    Aurora smiled. "Actually, I''m not very interested in what mystery or treasures it may contain. What I''m far more interested in, are the people that live inside of it. And what they do."


    "There are people that live inside?!"

 Chapter 98: The Choice

    Chapter 98: The Choice


    Given how difficult to explore theke was described to be, Evelyn had thought that it must surely bepletely devoid of all life. And for it to be housing any ''people'', meaning they must capable of intelligent thought, it wasn''t something she expected at all.


    Aurora smiled. "Are you shocked? Actually, not many know about it. I don''t even know who else does, hm"


    The pink haired girl blinked. Didn''t that mean this was a secret that Aurora had discovered herself, and was unknown to the rest of the world?


    But the tinum blonde didn''t seem to care about it much.


    "Now that I think about it, I''m not sure if you can call them ''people''."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be a little curious. "What are they like?"


    Aurora thought about it for a while before nodding. "They''re transparent beings, you cannot see them underwater. But they can touch you. If you let go of your spirit power, they will grab you and drag you down."


    The pink haired girl blinked in shock. "H-Have they ever done that to you?"


    Aurora shook her head. "I dare not let them, there are still things I need to do in this world."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be appalled. "Does that mean even you would be helpless?"


    Aurora chuckled. "What''s with this ''even you''? You seem to think I''m some great, all-powerful being. Actually, I''m as helpless against them as anyone else. As soon as they make contact with your skin, you will immediately lose all control over your spirit power. So I dare not let them touch."


    The pink haired girl could only gape. No wonder Aurora was so interested in these creatures. But there was still one thing she didn''t understand. "If it''s like this, couldn''t they be just some skill or construct? They may not necessarily be ''people''?"


    Aurora shook her head. "No I have observed for a long time, so I know. Under my watch, they have not been able to ''feed'' much for a long time, and they are starving. When I''m farther away and they finally get a chance, they tend to tear apart their prey on the spot, and be briefly visible while ''feasting''. Their real form is not that different from humans, only with slightlyrger limbs and maw."


    "I-I see"


    Evelyn had never expected to discover such ''interesting'' information, when she asked Aurora about her ''interests'', though she didn''t know if it would ever be of any actual use.


    Except maybe to dispel any idea of ever skinny-dipping in thiske.


    The pink haired girl cleared her throat. "A-Anyway, what I meant to ask with ''what you''re good at'' was what subjects you prefer, you know. Though what you told me was interesting, too."


    Aurora tilted her head in confusion. "Mhm. Like I said, water. That''s all."


    Evelyn blinked. "Just that?"


    The tinum blonde couldn''t help but pout. "Is it weird?"


    Evelyn scratched her head in embarrassment. "Uh, doesn''t the academy have like, a ton ofpulsory courses? You should have liked some when you were a student, right?"


    Aurora nodded. "Mhm. Water. I liked it."


    Evelyn felt like she was stuck in a loop. Getting a straight answer from Aurora was really much harder than she thought. She decided to change her approach a little. "When you took me in as a student, you must have had some ns, right?"


    The tinum blonde smiled. "Mhm. You can ask me what you want, and I will help you."


    Evelyn stared at her nkly. "That''s all?"


    "Right?"


    The pink haired girl took a deep breath before slowly exhaling. ''Right. She did help me whenever I asked Okay, let''s do this, then.''


    "Do I have to go through all the sses like every other student?"


    Aurora shook her head. "You can go if you like, or don''t. As long as you can clear all the assessments, I won''t let anyonein."


    Evelyn sighed in relief. "Oh That''s good. Then, can you help me with some subjects?"


    Aurora seemed to think about it for a while before looking at her in slight confusion. "Not many?"


    The pink haired girl decided not to wonder why that sounded like a question. "Which ones are you good at?"


    Aurora smiled. "Water."


    Evelyn almost facepalmed. ''Okay, that one''s on me.''


    "That''s just one part of the elemental mastery ss, right?"


    The tinum blonde nodded. "Right. But you only need to be good at one element to pass."


    Evelyn thought about it for a while before clearing her throat. "Ahem, okay. How about the courses in the Maker''s Mansion, are you good with any of those?"


    Aurora shook her head. "I don''t like them."


    The pink haired girl nodded. "Oh, okay, then which one did you take when you were a student?"


    " Enchantment"


    Evelyn smiled. "That''s what you get after taking Design, right?"


    "Mhm."


    "Okay then, can you teach me about water element"


    The tinum blonde grinned.


    "and design."


    Evelyn felt likeughing when she saw Aurora pout, but managed to control herself in time.


    She had obviously been quite interested in both artifact formation and enchantments, but since it was impossible to take them both, she had decided to go with artifact formation first and figure out a solution to learning enchantmentter.


    With Aurora''s help, however, such restrictions became non-existent. She could simply learn artifact formation in her regr sses, and rely on Aurora to learn design and thenter enchantment.


    As for water elemental mastery, given that she herself had almost eighty percentpatibility with the element, she should be able to do quite well under Aurora''s tutge.


    Evelyn realized quite quickly that Aurora was a very diligent teacher despite having never taken a student before, though she often needed a little nudge here and there from time to time.


    Her initiation to the ''Water Element Maniption'' had gone much better than she expected, except for the part where Aurora tried to insist that they use that horribleke as her training ground.


    Thankfully, the tinum blonde was quite easy to ''convince'', and happily created a smaller water body just for her using her own spirit power as a ''demonstration''. And after that, there was simply no need to use thatke, was there?


    As she was just starting off, Evelyn was still only able to create about a cup of water for every point of spirit power she spent, which Aurora said was quite ''average''.


    The pink haired girl was a little disappointed, considering her 80%patibility with the water element, she had expected her talent to be ''amazing'', or at least ''very good'', but perhaps she had overestimated it.


    Maybe even the 90% talent she had for the lightning element didn''t matter much.


    "What is yourpatibility with the water element, Aurora?"


    The tinum blonde gave her a nk stare, as if she never expected such a question. "I don''t know?"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be surprised. "You never had it measured?"


    Aurora looked a little embarrassed. "I-It didn''t show. Everyone said it must be too high."


    "Oh? And what about the other elements?"


    The tinum blonde gave her a pitiful look, quite simr to the ones she had seen while inside the cultivation array in the memories of the headmistress. "Um Earth five percent Wind two"


    Seeing how she looked so sad, Evelyn coughed. "I-It''s alright, nevermind that. Anyway, how about you teach me some design next?"


    "Okay"


    Evelyn had thought that even if she hadn''t been impressed earlier, Aurora should be quite surprised by her natural talent in design, after all, with her [Artist] ability, she should do quite well.


    "This is the dys rune and then if you modify the upper part, um, like this"


    But despite her being able to draw all the runes and figures Aurora demonstrated in one go, the tinum blonde didn''t praise her once, making Evelyn a little sad.


    A normal kid her age wouldn''t be able to do anything even close, right?


    The pink haired girl could only sigh in her heart, wondering if she really thought too highly of herself as she continued following Aurora''s instructions.


    It was only when Evelyn told her that she was tired and would like to head back that Aurora seemed to suddenly realize something. "Um, good job today."


    Meanwhile, in the Terrazyme Kingdom''s Royal Pce, a staunch man in golden robes was pacing back and forth in worry.


    One of his aides kneeled on the ground. "Don''t worry, Your Majesty, Prince Craig is sure to aplish his task sessfully."


    Although the general wanted to say ''after all, he''s never failed before'', but how could he say that after the humiliation he suffered at the hands of the Aquan Princess?


    "Hmph, of course the crown prince shall seed. We are not worried about the prince at all. We worry, however, for how those old fogies in the academy will react!"


    The aide could feel some cold sweat on his back, realizing that the matter was soon about to turn against him. "Y-Your Majesty"


    The golden robed man snorted. "We do not wish to hear of your excuses! We only want results. Confirm the matter at once, and inform us only when they make contact with the prince!"


    As the man left the king''s chamber with a hasty bow, he felt like the day of his execution couldn''t be that far off.


    Because even though he had sent almost three times the number of men as he had previously nned, they had still failed to find any traces of the prince in the ''Wondend of Doom''.


    And to make matters worse, he had already lost one of the six groups that had been dispatched.


    With the ongoing war with the Lavinian Empire, however, asking for additional men from the king would surely lead to an even worse result.


    The man sighed. "I-I guess I better head in there myself."


    In the worst case, wasn''t it better to just hide out in the forest than to be executed here?

 Chapter 99: Second Trip to Searing Soul

    Chapter 99: Second Trip to Searing Soul


    The sses in the academy generally only started at around ten in the morning, and with Evelyn having only spent around three hours with Aurora from seven, she could have barely made it to the first ''physicalbat'' ss if she tried.


    However, Evelyn decided topletely skip the sses for the rest of the day. And it wasn''t because she was tired, but that she had much better things to do.


    She hadn''t forgotten that the academy was just a stepping stone for her to grow stronger. Compared to the introductory lectures of ''physicalbat'' and ''elemental mastery'', Evelyn would of course prioritize things that could boost her strength further.


    She would have even skipped out on Aurora''s lectures today, but given that Evelyn was still a little unsure of the tinum blonde''s attitude towards herself, she decided it was better to tread with caution.


    After all, she didn''t know just how much Aurora really favored her, and whether or not she was on ''her side''. Falling out of her favor, or revealing that she knew more than she should, would both be counterproductive.


    Evelyn still remembered the ''story'' about the other throne that Aurora had off-handedly mentioned, and there were still some doubts that lingered in her mind regarding where Aurora''s true loyalty remained.


    After returning to the White Lily Pce, Evelyn greeted the two Gilmore sisters briefly before retreating back to her room. Bree was still sound asleep on the bed, and Evelyn put Ruru down next to her before she ced the cultivation array disc for ''Searing Soul'' on the floor.


    After feeding it with roughly ten points of spirit power, deep blue lines expanded from the stone disc as a muchrger ''circuit'' showed up on the floor, indicating the positions where the spirit stones should be ced.


    Of course, Cecilia was still dutifully attending her sses, and Mister Chonkers was nowhere to be seen as well. But Evelyn still had her own stash of spirit stones, and it was more than enough to power the array.


    Though it was considered customary to have a ''guardian'' while entering an array, since the person would bepletely defenseless at that time, Evelyn didn''t bother asking for Vivian or Amara''s help. She was perfectly fine with just Ruru making sure Bree didn''t create a ruckus if she woke up.


    With her ''lucky chance'' Evelyn had already managed to ''reshape'' her soul, and there was no need for her to do anything further to fool the array into believing her to be someone else, because the ''key'' to identifying her, which was her soul form, had already drastically changed. From the array''s perspective, she was already apletely different person.


    And as the array fully activated, Evelyn soon found herself back in the familiar murky dark sea full of those glowing orbs.


    Her soul value had recovered a little, going from 589 to 612 with just one day of rest, and Evelyn knew that the speed of recovery would get much faster as it got higher, and perhaps ''waiting'' would have been the most sensible strategy.


    However, knowing that it would still take her weeks to recover fully, Evelyn couldn''t bring herself to do so. She would rather take this hit head-on and suffer a little, especially when she knew how many benefits she could be getting in return.


    Of course, there was no need to fumble around like before, and Evelyn directly sent out a wave of soul power imitating the ''Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple'', quickly zoning in on the ''core'' of the ce.


    Soul Value: [612 / 1,546]  [324 / 1,546]


    Evelyn could already feel a lingering pain from deep inside herself from the moment her soul value dropped so low, and she knew she would continue experiencing it until it recovered to at least a third of its original value.


    As she had expected, the positioning of the orbs was randomized every time the array activated, but Evelyn didn''t mind the extra expenditure of her soul power at this time.


    Once she finally reached the central orb of the ce and re-entered the familiar scene of Aurora''s birth, this time around, Evelyn could clearly experience what the headmistress was actually going through. Even some of her thoughts rang out clear in her mind, opening her up to apletely different perspective.


    What made this opportunity so incredible, however, was not being able to observe the emotional ups and downs of the headmistress, but being able to familiarize herself with her thought process while she wasing up with the ''Searing Soul''.


    If she had topare it with her understanding from before, the difference between her two trips was like watching a teacher write down a concept while just mumbling to themselvespared to having them clearly exin each of their steps out loud.


    The difference in what she managed to harvest was like night and day.


    When someone firstprehended their cultivation technique, if they were sessful, generally their level ofprehensiony somewhere between five and fifteen percent.


    Of course, the higher the grade of the technique, the more difficult it was toprehend it.


    When she had first gone through Searing Soul, Evelyn''s level ofprehension was roughly around ten percent, which could be considered excellent for her first attempt at a grade nine technique.


    Anyone who managed to reach fifty percentprehension of a high-grade technique within a hundred years was already considered a monstrous genius. With her previous record, Evelyn might have been able to reach that goal in just fifty years, provided that she continued to improve.


    However, with this ''cheat'', herprehension of ''Searing Soul'' shot up directly to almost fifty percent in one go.


    Considering how little she actually knew about how spirit power worked, and everything that could be done with it, this meant that even if she never bothered looking into it ever again, she would one day naturally reachpleteprehension of her cultivation technique.


    This was something that was supposed to be almost impossible, as when she reached such a highprehension, Evelyn could actually create a copy of the ''Searing Soul'' to teach anyone she wanted. Something that only the original creator of the technique could do.


    Evelyn was of course more than happy with these results. The price she paid, including the increased time required for her to recover, waspletely worth it.


    But just increasing herprehension wasn''t the only reason she had been in such a hurry to re-enter the array disc.


    Evelyn took a few minutes to calm herself after exiting the array. Taking a look at the bed, Bree was still peacefully asleep, while Ruru was staring at her in worry.


    She guessed that Ruru must have sensed how far she had depleted her soul power, and the pink haired girl smiled. "Don''t worry, Ruru, I know how far I can go."


    Although the pain due to her depleted soul power was constant, it wasn''t yet sharp enough to truly distract her constantly. Perhaps only when she depleted it to a fifth of the full capacity would it get so bad, and Evelyn made sure to keep that in mind.


    "Ruru, get ready, I might need your helpter, okay?"


    The little pink fox immediately jumped into an alert state, her fluffy tail standing up as she looked around vigntly.


    Evelyn giggled, and after making sure that both herself and Ruru were ready, she turned her focus within herself, locating the foreign fragment of soul power she had detected earlier during her out-of-body experience.


    Although she still had no idea who it originally belonged to, allowing it to remain dormant inside herself would be the same as entrusting her life and death, and even that of those close to her, to whoever owned this fragment.


    However, wanting to get rid of it and actually being able to do so were twopletely different concepts, and Evelyn knew this very well. She knew that if she really tried to destroy it right now, it was fully capable of obliterating her soul.


    Fortunately for her, however, whoever nted this thing inside of her never seemed to have expected her to be able to discover it. And maybe she really wouldn''t have, if not for her special circumstances.


    Had she not had such a ridiculously high amount of soul power, learned a high grade soul rted cultivation technique, and had an out-of-body experience that allowed her to separate her body and soul, would she have ever managed to discover this thing? Naturally not.


    Currently, this fragment was in an ''inactive'' state,pletely disconnected from its owner, and would only ''activate'' when it received a signal.


    Of course, it also had another ''function'', which was to signal its ''owner'' if ''triggered'', establishing a connection that way once the other side responded. As for what this ''trigger'' was, there seemed to be multiple ''conditions'', but Evelyn could only determine one of them, which was ''when she reaches level ny-nine''.


    Now that she knew all of this, of course, Evelyn would never allow it to remain inside her as long as she could prevent it.


    If it had been before, she would have been truly a little helpless against this situation. But after her ''lucky chance'' as well as herprehension of ''Searing Soul'' reaching such a level, Evelyn was no longer so helpless.


    Of course, there was always a chance for things to ''go wrong'', which is why she had told Ruru to stay alert and be ready for her signal. Because in case the soul fragment really ''triggered'' while she was taking care of it, she would have to obliterate it using the ''Lotus Throne''s Nirvana'', regardless of the cost.


    ~To be continued~


    DustyDream: Thank you for all your support!


    discord.gg/WXvd68bK9K

 Chapter 100: Consumed

    Chapter 100: Consumed


    Evelyn nned to take advantage of the ''dormancy'' of the potent soul fragment, and slowly siphon off the soul power it contained until it was weak enough for her to wipe off in one go.


    Of course, the entire process had to be carefully carried out in one go, and she couldn''t just do it a little at a time. That would be far too risky, and could lead to the fragment being triggered identally at any point.


    Disconnected from its ''owner'', the piece of course had no ability to think of feel on its own, and remained unaware of Evelyn slowly siphoning more and more of its power as her own soul pool replenished, while the fragment grew weaker.


    Most of the soul power was lost in the process of conversion, and Evelyn only obtained a tiny fraction of what the soul fragment actually contained. But this was also already equivalent to multiple level ups.


    Even better, these were stats she was getting in addition to what she would get upon leveling up, just like her starting bonus stats that had put her leagues ahead of any peer.


    And it even helped her heal from her overexertion from the two trips into the Searing Soul''s array.


    Soul Value: [324] / 1,546  [354] / 1,576


    Soul Value: [354] / 1,576  [384] / 1,606


    As the pain she had been feeling in her soul was slightly reduced with her recovery, Evelyn could feel that the rate at which she was stripping off the fragment''s power only grew more efficient.


    Soul Value: [384] / 1,606  [414] / 1,636


    Soul Value: [414] / 1,636  [444] / 1,666


    At this point, the soul fragment had already lost most of its potency, and Evelyn could begin examining its ''contents'' as she continued to siphon off its power.


    Soul power, much like spirit power, could not do anything on its own. When it was without any direction, such as the spirit power contained in spirit stones, it was simply ripe for the taking by anyone who wished, and served no actual purpose by itself.


    So it was obvious that if someone wanted either soul power or spirit power to do something, they would have to make sure they left ''instructions'' behind. For spirit power, that was the ''circuits'' and ''arrays'', but there was no such thing for soul power.


    This was because ''soul power'' was much harder to interact with. Most people could not even directly manipte their soul power, after all. This would never have been the case if it could be manipted with arrays. At most, they could only ''measure'' roughly how much soul power someone had, but would never be able to do anything to that soul power.


    And it seemed that, even for a peak existence like the one who had left that fragment inside herself, this fact remained true.


    Which was why it had left an actual fragment of its own soul inside her in addition to the soul power.


    The difference between soul power and this fragment of the soul was the same as that between donating some blood and cutting off a piece of flesh. Soul power would replenish by itself with some time, leaving nosting effects, but even if cutting off a part of the soul ''healed'', it would forever leave a scar.


    Of course, Evelyn wouldn''t ''care'' for the injuries suffered by the person who had nted such a thing inside her. What she focused on, however, was what this fragment contained.


    Evelyn hadn''t beenpletely certain before, but now she could confirm that each fragment of the soul did indeed house the ''memories'' of whoever it belonged to.


    It made some sense, since she had retained all of the memories of her first life despite havingpletely lost her body.


    Of course, these memories were all somewhat broken, and duplicated almost infinitely inside the soul. Even if some part of it was lost, the person was unlikely to ''forget'' anything.


    Evelyn didn''t dare to easily ''merge'' these memories with her own, however, and instead employed the same method that the headmistress had used to ''show'' her own memories in the ''Searing Soul'' to ''view'' the ones in the fragment.


    It might give her less overall information, but she would rather not take the ''chance''. Anyway, her primary goal had been to just get rid of the fragment and remove this threat, any benefits she gained along the way were just a bonus.


    It took her far longer to go through these ''memories'' than she estimated. Especially considering that aside from an ''understanding'' of how her system worked, they seemed to be all just empty, nkly shuttling her vision through oneyer of space to another.


    However, this was a great harvest already! Because she could feel herprehension of space deepening with each passing moment she viewed these memories. She even wished it could go on for longer, and felt regretful when the fragment finally vanished into nothing.


    Evelyn exhaled in relief, and noticed that at some point Bree had woken up and was watching her worriedly, with Ruru taking a seat on top of the girl''s head, as if to make sure she didn''t move to disturb her master.


    The pink haired girl chuckled as she nodded towards her little fox. Now that the soul fragment was obliterated already, there was no need for her to stay so alert. Thankfully, nothing had gone wrong.


    After reassuring her little fox, Evelyn checked her system notifications, and the results were as she expected.


    [Unknown??? Grade Mission Completed: Unknown???]


    Acquired [Advanced Spatial Maniption]


    ??? Error ???


    ??? Error ???


    She wasn''t surprised by at all, because already knew that her system was actually incapable of ''generating'' any energy, and all the rewards she had been obtaining from the ''missions'' so far were either because of her abilities, or the ''Lotus Throne''.


    "I feel scammed."


    But it also made some sense. The real ''boost'' she had received had been her abilities and stats, and the system was only a ''guideline'' that was meant to help her grow. Perhaps its real function had always been to make sure she remained focused on growing to the point where she was ''qualified'' to trigger the fragment inside herself.


    And at that point, perhaps, the ''real purpose'' of being given such a great opportunity by Lord Chronos would be revealed.


    Besides, although the fragment was now gone, it wasn''t as if the threat it had possessed vanishedpletely. If the ''owner'' tried tomunicate with the fragment or trigger it, they would surely discover that it was missing.


    Evelyn believed the owner of the fragment was either ''Lord Chronos'' or some important subordinate, and it was impossible for them to not know who she was and where she was sent.


    Evelyn only hoped that she was ready to face them when the day finally came.


    She knew that her system was somewhat malfunctioning now because of the absence of the soul fragment. But that was easy enough to fix.


    Evelyn focused within herself, and barely a few momentster, she managed to rece the parts of the system that had been linked with the soul fragment with herself, effectively establishing herself as the ''real owner'' now.


    Of course, this also meant that she could do with the system as she pleased, but actually knowing how it worked, she knew that most of her ''rewards'' came from the Lotus Throne anyway, and the missions served more as a reminder of what could be done at this point.


    That didn''t mean that the system was useless, however. Evelyn felt that the ability to view status without needing any external artifacts, as well as the sheer amount of insight the system provided was already better than any treasure or artifact that she could hope to get her hands on.


    And now that she had the ''administrator'' privileges, of course, she would modify what she could in her favor.


    "Alright, let''s do this, then"


    The first thing she did was, of course, change the way that ''affection'' was disyed.


    No longer was it going to be shown as ''budding'', ''stable'', and ''strong'', but would actually show her the actual value that the system was measuring.


    After that, she spent some time reorganizing the ''interface'' to make it suit her tastes more, and finally nodded once she was satisfied.


    "Alright, I guess that''s enough for now. I can always change itter, anyway Now, let''s take care of the ''Chaos Essence Bead'' next"


    This thing had been in her possession ever since Bree had been partially healed using the tentacles of the ''Thousand Eyed God'', and Evelyn had always kept it in mind to check it out once she got past level thirty.


    [ Chaos Essence Bead ]


    A culmination of pure energy, fatal to anyone below level 30.


    Previously used to contain [Raijuu''s Legacy], small traces of lightning essence still linger within it.


    Contains the energy of a Grade 9 beast''s flesh and blood, purified using the Qilin''s bloodline.


    Effects of the primordial ability [Cmity] detected. May lead to either involuntary subjugation or harvest of ability. Extremely dangerous!


    Unknown effect upon consumption.


    ~ To be continued ~


    DustyDream:


    Thank you for all your support!

 Chapter 101: Chaos

    Chapter 101: Chaos


    Evelyn was a little disappointed that the system really couldn''t glean any further information on the ''Chaos Essence Bead'', and it wasn''t just being hidden from her, unlike the details of people''s affection levels.


    "But it doesn''t look like there''s much risk. Lightning essence is unlikely to be harmful, and all the energy inside is already supposed to be purified. Um, should be fine."


    When she had first gotten her hands on this thing, Evelyn had never thought that she would be able to make use of it so soon. After all, level thirty had seemed so far away at that time. Even Cecilia, who was two years ahead of her, had the same physique, and was considered the ''brightest genius of the Lavinian Empire'' was only level thirty-one.


    If the news got out that she was already close to surpassing Cecilia at such a young age, she could imagine just how much havoc it will cause in the academy. Perhaps even Craig''s reputation would be shaken. And this wasn''t even taking into ount that her raw stats were far above what she was supposed to have at her level.


    Of course, Evelyn never considered her ''peers'' as her targets. After all, the foes she was going to face wouldn''t be courteous enough to send children her age to take care of her, right?


    She didn''t hesitate anymore, and directly swallowed the Chaos Essence Bead.


    Almost immediately, she could feel an explosive force barreling through the vessels that carried her spirit power, almost threatening to tear it apart. Thankfully, these vessels got sturdier with every level up to amodate for the increased spirit power, and as she was at level 46, it was well past what she needed to survive the havoc caused by the ''Chaos Essence Bead''.


    Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief as the explosive force slowly lost its momentum. If she had really only been level thirty, perhaps this would have been an extremely painful ordeal, and she might have barely survived. It was lucky that she had shot so far past that level now.


    After the initial ''flooding'', Evelyn could clearly feel the energy in the chaos essence bead slowly merging with her own. Evenpared to her spirit power, this form of energy felt ''purer'' somehow.


    "Could it be because it was purified by the Qilin bloodline, or something else?"


    Evelyn didn''t know what it was, but she still carefully observed the strange form of energy as it slowly merged with her own.


    -Chaos Essence is being absorbed!


    Spirit Power +10


    -Chaos Essence is being absorbed!


    Spirit Power +10


    Such notifications continued to ring out fifteen times in total, and Evelyn ended up gaining a considerable amount of spirit power in the end, pushing her from less than four hundred to past five hundred points!


    Spirit Power: 370  520


    -Final dimensions of the inventory space changed:


    From


    60.8 meters long x 60.8 meters wide x 60.8 meters high


    To


    72.1 meters long x 72.1 meters wide x 72.1 meters high


    Over five hundred points of spirit power was already a sign of someone having breached past level seventy!


    Even for Evelyn, she would have only reached this point normally after breaking past the level sixty milestone.


    And that wasn''t all. Using her increased privileges to observe the ''logs'' of the system, she also realized that a notification mentioning ''Preliminary Understanding of Chaos Essence: 3%'' was hidden from her view.


    "Interesting This thing seems to be the more potent version of spirit power, um, but I could be wrong."


    Evelyn thought about it for a while before nodding. "Doesn''t matter. It could have onlye from either the ''Thousand Eyed God'' itself, or Bree''s purification process. If it''s the former, getting my hands on more could be tough, but if it''s thetter, I might be able to test my theory out soon enough!"


    Regardless of what it was, she would know the results once she found a ''contaminated'' type of beast, which shouldn''t be too difficult in the ''Wondend of Doom''.


    Evelyn thought that this would be all she would get from the ''Chaos Essence Bead'', however, the moment that the bead finished dissolving a strange sensation flowed through her body, as if something ''new'' had been created deep inside herself.


    [ Ability Acquired: Chaos Incarnate ]


    -Grade: Unknown


    -Source: Cmity


    Convert Spirit Power to Soul Power with a ratio of 10 : 1


    It seemed simple enough on the surface, but the effects were shocking.


    "Doesn''t this mean I now have a way to refuel my soul power?!"


    Evelyn already ''knew'' there was supposedly no way to restore soul power except for self-recovery. At least, this had been true even to the best of the headmistress''s knowledge, and she was already a ''top level'' character of her time, not counting the ''thrones''.


    However, refueling ''spirit power'' was far easier.


    The first method was, of course, natural recovery. Whenever it was not being used, spirit power slowly recovered depending on the person''s total capacity, and most people took around eight to twelve hours to go from almost nothing to full.


    That is, in most cases, a good night''s sleep was enough to refuel spirit power.


    However, if someone really needed it, they could also use ''external sources'' to refuel their spirit power.


    The mostmon ''external source'' were, of course, spirit stones. This was why they were so ''valuable''. Higher tier stones, such as spirit cores, contained vaster amounts of spirit power, yet took the same amount of time to absorb as any other spirit stone.


    There were a few restrictions to using external sources to restore spirit power, though, but those mostly applied to lower level people being unable to use higher level stones.


    A top level powerhouse wouldn''t cycle through spirit fragments for hours just to restore some of their spirit power, would they?


    But even these ''top level'' powerhouses would spit out blood if they found out someone could just as easily restore ''soul power'' now.


    This was definitely not a skill that ''humans'' were supposed to have! Perhaps even among beasts, such an ability would be considered unique and monstrous.


    Quite fitting for the ''Thousand Eyed God'', perhaps.


    And for such a thing to fall into her hands now


    "I-It says the source is ''cmity'', which means"


    Evelyn slowly thought back each step of the way, and came up with a theory. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized it made sense.


    "I can''t believe it to think that when Bree messed up, she actually ended up ''linking'' our souls together! And now that she''s bound to me, and her own innate abilities of purification and absorption arebined with my ''Cmity''!"


    This was a new way to make use of the cmity skill!


    Perhaps only when a pure-blooded Qilin learned the primordial ability ''Cmity'' would they be able to do what Evelyn had identally already aplished. Though the ''price'' had been equally disastrous in the form of almost crippling and killing Bree, the rewards were equally sky high.


    The only thing she didn''t know was if the ability Bree had brought out was the one would have gained if she had defeated the centipede, or if it could extract any of the many skills the centipede surely had. Too bad, if not for the vast difference in their stats, she would have been able to view the centipede''s details to know if her guess was correct.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but jump around in excitement, making both Bree and Ruru look at each other in confusion. "If just a few tentacles could be formed into an ability like this, then wouldn''t it be a huge jackpot if I couldpletely chop that ''Thousand Eyed God'' into a thousand little pieces?!"


    But she soon calmed down as she realized how absurd that thought was. She was lucky enough to have chanced upon a situation where she could nab a few already severed tentacles before escaping. By herself, even after her numerous ''power ups'', she probably stood no chance at all against a foe of that level.


    Yet.


    Topletely chop it up, she would have to be at least much stronger than both the sentinelsbined. And that was already a level that would be able to effortlessly conquer the continent.


    It sounded impossible, but Evelyn didn''t think so. After all, eventually she would have to be strong enough to fight the ''Thrones'', and they should already be stronger than that, right? But even if she could reach that level, that was far into the future.


    Evelyn put ''chop the Thousand Eyed God into a thousand pieces'' aside as a ''future n'' and nodded to herself. "I should first test it out with a few decent high-level beast materials. Um, Bree will have toe with me to the Wondend of Doom."


    Bree squealed excitedly. "Bree will go with mama!"


    The pink haired girl nodded.


    Of course, that meant she would have to be more careful. Protecting Bree while being out in the Wondend may not be easy, after all, but together with Ruru it shouldn''t be impossible either.


    Moreover, it was possible that this would also allow Bree to recover faster!


    Evelyn knew her own limits, though, and knew that what she could take care of couldn''t be on the same level as what she had gotten for Bree''s ''treatment''st time. But every little bit helped, right?


    Not to mention that if she could repeat what happened with the ''Chaos Essence Bead'', she would undergo an all-around growth with each kill!


    ~ To be continued ~


    DustyDream:


    Thank you for all your support!

 Chapter 102: Spirit Sphere

    Chapter 102: Spirit Sphere


    The most ''unexpected'' gain this time was definitely the ''Advanced Spatial Maniption'', which would allow her topletely hide herself. This was the higher tier ability of the one that gave her the inventory, one which required her to have over a hundred spirit power at the start!


    With this, no matter how strong the opponent was, or what attacks they used all over the ce, they would never be able to smoke her out even if they knew she was ''somewhere around there''.


    It was not without its ws, however.


    First of all, her spirit power would be consumed to cloak her while she hid, so she couldn''t just hide indefinitely.


    Secondly, the cloak could not extend too far from her body, which meant that only small things could be hidden alongside her. The likes of Ruru were fine, but hiding another person was impossible.


    Lastly, the area she cloaked herself in would be her ''anchor'', and she could only ''uncloak'' herself to that ce. She couldn''t ''move'' inside the concealment and ''uncloak'' elsewhere.


    There was also the fact that the technique was quiteplex, and she estimated that weaving her spirit power to actually execute it would take her at least a full minute even if she fully concentrated on it. This meant she couldn''t use it duringbat.


    That is not to say it didn''t have any use inbat, however.


    "If I knew for sure someone was going to be at a specific ceter, I could just cloak there, and provided I do it at the right time, there could be no better ability to ambush."


    Moreover, this also gave her an extrayer of assurance while taking Bree with her to the ''Wondend of Doom'', since with Bree''s tiny puppy form and Ruru being even smaller, it should be no trouble at all to hold them in her arms while using the ''Advanced Spatial Maniption'' to hide together.


    Of course, she couldn''t put off testing such a thing for when a moment of desperation arrived, and Evelyn decided to confirm it on the spot. "Bree, change to your puppy form. And Ruru, um, use your Green Maiden Transformation, alright?"


    Ruru was a little confused, since Evelyn had told her to never show it to anyone just before, and now she was telling her to transform in front of Bree, but followed her will anyway and used the ''Green Maiden Transformation'', turning into a little girl the size of a thumb.


    Unfortunately, she was squished under the paw of a very curious puppy shortly after. Ruru didn''t know how strong Bree was now, and still thought of her as the extremely fragile puppy who could die with a flick, so she didn''t even dare to push her paw away.


    Thankfully, Evelyn patted Bree''s head soon and motioned her to lift her paw, picking up the distressed-looking thumb-sized girl into her palm before picking Bree up in another. "Don''t squish her like that in the future, alright?"


    The small puppy nodded, while Ruru could only huff indignantly.


    As Evelyn had expected, her cloaking skill worked perfectly.


    However, not everything was how she thought it would be. From the ''inside'', it was like there was a thin film of stic surrounding them, separating them from their surroundings. Moreover, this stic, once formed, waspletely rigid.


    It was certainly far more ufortable than she thought it would be, but it was a small price for the functionality that the skill offered.


    Meanwhile, the other students had just finished their first elemental mastery ss and arrived at the one for physicalbat.


    The way that the ancient academy handled ''sses'' was a little different from how it was done everywhere else.


    For the first few days, the new students would be separated from the others, and would go through ''introductory'' sses, where the very basics of each subject would be exined, and if required, the starting skill would also be imparted.


    For example, the introductory ss for ''spiritualbat'' had been the one in which they ended up getting the arrays discs for their respective cultivation techniques, and in the one for physicalbat, they would be determining their starting weapons.


    This was why most considered these first few days to be the ''most critical'', and missing them waspletely out of the question.


    After these ''introductory'' sses, the professors would simply give lectures on their own subjects independently, and any student, regardless of their age, would be attending the same ss for that course.


    This meant that many older students would have to sit through lectures that they considered ''too simple'', and many times younger students would feel like their brains might explode from having a concept that was too advanced shoved at them out of nowhere.


    All of this was intentional, and the professors considered this to be a good thing. The younger students could have their horizons broadened, while the older students could look back on the simple things and gain a deeper insight. It was all for their own good. And as a bonus, it was a veryfortable setup for the professors.


    Of course, it was not unprecedented for a student to miss the introductory sses. Someone could get sick, and there could be other unavoidable circumstances or idents that caused them to be unable to attend. In all such cases, however, it would be entirely up to the professor to decide whether they would help the student out separately or not.


    In case they decided not to do so, such a student would then have to figure out these things through either their peers'' help or on their own, which would ce them at a significant disadvantage. Moreover, if they missed something really crucial, they would pretty much have no choice but to beg the professors for another chance.


    That''s why when the girl who had created a hugemotion on the first day in the ''Beast Taming'' ss didn''t show up for the introductory sses for both elemental mastery and physicalbat, the students were shocked.


    "Do you think she really got expelled, in the end?"


    "B-But didn''t she have that other teacher backing her up?"


    "Why didn''t shee, then?"


    Of course, eventually, the students still focused more on picking their own weapons, and forgot all about the missing pink-haired girl soon enough.


    Many students who had been disappointed at theirck of affinity with their favorite elements in the previous ss found themselves reinvigorated with enthusiasm as they tried out the various weapons disyed on the shelves as the tall and handsome professor introduced them one by one.


    "A longsword is a straightforward and simple weapon, though not the most lethal or practical, it is suited for those who are gant and wish to do things with style"


    "A broadsword is mighty and impactful, and a great fit for those with exceptional strength and simple heart"


    "A ive is"


    Unlike the ''elemental mastery'' course, the students didn''t have much of an idea of what they would actually be good at when it came to weapons, despite the professor''s guidance.


    Most decided to just pick the ones that they thought would look good on themselves, and many of them went for a medium-length straight sword.


    The professor wasn''t surprised, but just as he was about to continue his instructions, however, he noticed that a pink-haired girl had just entered the hall.


    "You''rete?"


    Of course, since Evelyn had finished her ''urgent tasks'', she decided she might as well catch up with what was left of her sses. They might not be a high priority, but they might still help her improve a little.


    She nodded and took out a ribbon that Aurora had given her earlier, and told her to wave in front of any professor who gave her trouble. She wondered how effective it would be.


    The professor''s face turned stiff as his lips twitched. "W-Well, you''re excused. Pick your weapon, everyone else is already almost done."


    Evelyn nodded as she walked along the walls of the hall and observed the various equipment on the shelves. There were many that she recognized, and many she didn''t.


    Of course, none of these equipment were even graded, let alone being anything rare or worth paying attention to. They were just simple metal and wood constructs meant for practice.


    The pink-haired girl had only ever used a bow and arrow, thanks to her father''s skill, and hadn''t had any experience with other weapons. Evelyn decided that since she was here to learn, she might as well pick up something else.


    Deciding that she might as well make it interesting for herself, Evelyn picked up a weapon that none of the other children had dared to.


    Even the professor was a little surprised, though he didn''t bother questioning her decision. After all, children were often unreasonable, and didn''t even know why they went with something over the other themselves, let alone being able to exin it to someone else.


    The other children had of course been paying very close attention to this ''mysterious'' girl who seemed to be able toe and go as she pleased, and one of the girls couldn''t help but ask the professor what Evelyn''s weapon was supposed to be.


    The professor scoffed. "I''ll let it pass since this is the first ss, but in the future you must listen to my words carefully. I already exined this weapon, and it''s called the ''Spirit Sphere''. A difficult to master weapon that requires efficient usage of spirit power, with ratherckluster performance for the effort required."


    ~ To be continued ~


    DustyDream:


    Thank you for all your support!

 Chapter 103: Amber

    Chapter 103: Amber


    Many of them had yed with a ball in their childhood, and the Spirit Sphere in Evelyn''s hand looked just like a ss ball. Evenpared to the regr ones they had been ying with, it appeared even worse as a weapon!


    When they had passed it by, many thought that whoever picked the stupid thing would beughed at by the others for being a kid.


    But of course, none of them dared tough now in front of the stern-looking professor.


    It didn''t take Emilia long to discover how to use the weapon.


    Apparently, the spirit sphere was used somewhat like a cannonball in this world, though the requirement of actually using a cannon was negated through the use of spirit power.


    This, however, also meant that the user not only had to focus on controlling the explosive force that would propel the ''ball'', but also carefully control its direction.


    The advantage of this technique was that the shot-out projectile didn''t necessarily need to follow a straight path, making it harder to dodge.


    And the disadvantage was that it would still follow a ''set'' path when shot out, so any predictions on the enemy''s movements had to be made before releasing the ''spirit sphere'' from her grasp.


    Evelyn thought that the weapon was quite good, though nowhere as versatile as a bow and arrow. It could be fun to use, and highly destructive if used right.


    The only thing she thought was an actual disadvantage was the fact that the weapon left the user vulnerable after it was shot out, leaving them open to attacks. But as a secondary weapon, it was good enough.


    After the professor moved on to another corner of the hall to watch over the students there, the students quickly huddled closer to Evelyn, bombarding her with questions.


    The pink-haired girl sighed as she answered some of them before shooing them away by making the excuse of being eager to try out her new weapon, and all but one girl left.


    "I''m Amber Hydrangea, from Aquavahn! I-I want to y ball with you!"


    Evelyn''s lips twitched, wondering if this was the girl''s clumsy attempt at making a friend.


    Well, considering that she was only eight years old, perhaps this was already quitemendable. Plus, the name reminded her of a certain someone from the carriage ride. Although this girl had reddish-brown hair and orange eyes, not at all simr to those of E.


    "Are you rted to E Hydrangea, by any chance?"


    Amber blinked. "C-Chief''s daughter? N-No, well, kind of. We''re from the same family?"


    Evelyn nodded. "Ah, that''s fine, never mind that. How do you want to y?"


    "Um, you throw the ball, I catch, and I''ll throw it back?"


    Evelyn thought that this was a good opportunity to start learning the spirit sphere with a willing test subject, so she agreed to the girl''s proposal.


    Lifting the sphere up with spirit power wasn''t difficult, nor was propelling it in the desired direction. However, setting a curved path proved to be quite a challenge, and Evelyn could barely make it wobble in the air for a moment even after numerous tries.


    When the professor finally returned towards the front of the hall, he stared nkly at the two girls ying ''catch catch'' for a while before turning back and returning to the back of the hall.


    Amber seemed to think of Evelyn''s eptance of her game as something else entirely, and stuck to her like glue as they headed to the third andst ss of the day.


    She wasn''t as annoying as the pink-haired girl expected, however, so Evelyn decided to let her be, especially since the girl filled her in on what happened in the ss that she had missed.


    "Madam Augury was very angry that someone dared to miss her ss! I think you should go talk to her separately to say sorry, um, or maybe figure something out with that fairy teacher you came with!"


    The auburn-haired girl suddenly turned excited as she leaned in to whisper in Evelyn''s ear. "I-I''m not suggesting anything, but if you could get her to disappear, it would be amazing!"


    Evelyn chuckled. "Don''t worry, I had a reason for missing the ss. I''m sure she won''t be too unreasonable."


    Of course, although she said so, after the fiasco with Professor Dane, Evelyn wouldn''t be surprised at all no matter what happened. Thankfully, though, she had Aurora on her side.


    Maybe she really should talk to her before her next ss with this ''Madam Augury''.


    For her to leave a bad impression on Amber, it couldn''t be without reason, right?


    "What did you do in her ss, anyway?"


    Amber pouted. "W-We had our affinities tested, and then she just scolded us all the time until the ss was over. I-I felt like my head was about to explode!"


    Evelyn blinked. "Don''t you mean she gave you a lecture? Maybe on elemental mastery?"


    The auburn-haired girl gave her a teary-eyed look. "She told me I was a good for nothing piece of trash. I-I''m not! M-My fire affinity is over fifty!"


    The pink-haired girl realized that the rest of her affinities must be even lower. Considering the ''standards'' she had heard of during her ceremony no wonder this ''Madam Augury'' called her trash.


    But even if she could understand the underlying reason, she would never agree to a teacher treating their student like that, especially one so young. What exactly was the point of shattering their hopes and dreams like that? Wasn''t it much better to motivate them to work harder instead?


    Even though it wasn''t her responsibility, Evelyn patted the girl''s head in constion. "It''s Madam Augury who is trash. If she needs a student to already be excellent when they enter their ss, she has no real ability as a teacher. Un, I have a friend who is also good with fire. When she grows up, I''m sure you two can get along and grow together. So, work hard until then."


    Amber''s eyes couldn''t help but get wet. "R-Really?"


    Evelyn nodded, and as they finally reached the ''Maker''s Mansion'', where their next ss was to be held, Amber shyly tugged at her skirt. "A-Actually, I have a confession to make."


    The pink-haired girl almost sighed, but managed to nod calmly. "What is it?"


    "I-I actually asked you to y because you look like my doll. I just felt so sad after being scolded so much, I just wanted to hug you I''m sorry!"


    Evelyn''s lips twitched. "Well, that''s fine. I''m d you''re honest, at least."


    Amber smiled hesitantly. "C-Can I, then?"


    The pink-haired girl tilted her head. "Can you what?"


    Amber fluttered her eyshes. "Hug you?"


    Evelyn sighed. "No. Look, everyone''s already left. Do you want to get scolded for beingte?"


    The auburn-haired girl could only meekly follow her inside.


    The professors in the Maker''s Mansion really were quite dedicated to their craft like Cecilia had told her, and even as the students entered the ''workshop'', the buff-looking man continued hammering what looked like a solid cube of metal on an anvil.


    If not for ack of fire in the ce, Evelyn would almost believe he was doing some cksmithing.


    The tanned man wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand as he finally turned to stare at the students. "Finally everyone is here, huh? No moreters from the next ss! Understand? If you''rete,e next time. No need to disturb everyone else in between. Got it?"


    And just as the students were about to respond, he mmed the heavy hammer down on the cube once again, silencing them with a bang. "No need to answer any of my questions, either. I never ask questions to a group! Only when we''re talking one on one do you respond. Understand?"


    The students looked at each other in confusion, wondering if they should say yes or just keep quiet.


    Their silence satisfied the buff professor, and he nodded. "Good. Smarter thanst time. Or even dumber. Who knows? Anyway, although this ss will be about artifact formation, I always teach my students some basics about forging first. I don''t care if you think it''s dumb. If you do, get out."


    Of course, no one dared to respond.


    Evelyn thought that the man''s method of teaching was actually quite fast-paced and fun, as he directly took out a whole bunch of soft iron blocks and hammers, and handed them to students for a ''group activity''.


    "Two students per group, you can hammer the cubes into any shape. It''s not hard. In the end, I''ll m the final products against each other until one breaks. Thest one that remains will get a reward. Any questions? Of course not. Get to it then."


    He didn''t even let them pick their partners, and directly formed the pairs based on whoever was closest to each other. And Evelyn naturally ended up with Amber, who was sticking to her like glue.


    "Leave this to me, Evelyn! I''m gori strong! I''ll hammer it to a pulp!"

 Chapter 104: Biased?

    Chapter 104: Biased?


    Amber gave her a pleading look, eager to show off her capability to her new friend. "So can I?"


    Evelyn didn''t think the professor would give them any decent rewards for such a basic thing, but decided to y along anyway. "Sure, what shape do you have in mind?"


    "Uh I didn''t think about that."


    Evelyn smiled. "Why not make it a ball, then? You like it, right?"


    The auburn-haired girl jumped excitedly. "Really?!"


    "Yep."


    Amber picked up one of the hammers confidently. "That''s easy, then!"


    The hammer itself wasn''t anything special, being just a grade one artifact with no enhancements at all except for enhanced durability and weight. But since the professor probably just intended to test the thinking and physical ability of the students, it shouldn''t matter much.


    Although Evelyn didn''t know for sure, she felt that a sphere should be one of the strongest in this type of collision test. After all, it would have the fewest number of failure points possible, and should be far less likely to fall apart than any other shape.


    Of course, hammering a metal cube into a sphere was easier said than done, especially without heating it up. But with a sufficient amount of strength and a strong enough hammer, it should be possible.


    Evelyn of course had no idea how strong Amber was, and decided to let the girl give it a go while she viewed her status. At the same time, she also adjusted the system interface to better suit her preferences.


    -Amber Hydrangea: Level 14


    Affection: 17% (Budding)


    -Experience: 65 / 140


    Special Physique: Blessed Spirit


    Physique  Strength: 70 [+50] = 210 KG + 150 KG


    Spirit Power: 51 / 51


    Soul Value: 70 / 70


    Vitality: 421 Years Left


    -[ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    [Encourage], [Taunt], [Strengthen], ???


    -Cultivation Method: Fiery Spirit [Grade 5]


    -Equipment:


    [Mother Loves You (Ne), Grade 2 (upgradeable)]: Physique +50


    Although Amber''s level was the same as that of Rufus, except for spirit power, her attributes were much higher than the boy. Considering how conceited and proud he was, Evelyn assumed he was used to being touted as someone ''excellent'', so there was no way for Amber to be ssified as ''trash'', right?


    What was interesting was how she had an artifact that almost doubled her already high strength, making the rest of the students gape in shock as she easily transformed the cube into apact ball of metal.


    They couldn''t help but be a little jealous of Evelyn, who had managed to luck upon such a strong partner. Combined with her getting the favor of that fairy teacher earlier, many started to believe that she had to be the luckiest girl in their batch.


    Evelyn chuckled. ''If they knew I had almost three times her strength, wouldn''t their reaction be funny?''


    After almost ten minutes, Amber proudly presented her end result to her friend, and Evelyn spent a few minutes to carefully perfect the shape.


    Of course, it was still not ''perfect'', the surface of the cube was quite rough, but this was the best she could do with just a hammer.


    After half an hour, the professor waved his hand as all the ''products'' flew back to him on their own as the students watched nervously.


    "So, you brats know the first rule of my ss  don''t speak when you don''t need to. Let me tell you the second rule, then. I don''t baby my students. No matter what we''re doing it''s always your own responsibility to protect yourself."


    The buff professor grinned at the nervous crowd of students. "If you decide to chuck your head under your partner''s hammer, that''s totally on you. Unlike the other professors who like to make sure you don''t even get scratched, I won''t even care even if you die, got it? Now, I don''t need to borate why I mentioned this rule before I start with the collision test, right?"


    The students hurriedly rushed to get somerger weapons that could shield them from the shelves while the professor watched them with a smile.


    Amber was one of the fastest, and managed to snag one of thergest round shields in the hall, although Evelyn didn''t feel like she would need it, she still praised the little girl for doing a good job.


    Of course, she would rather watch the show unobstructed, so after assuring Amber that she could put it up fast enough if needed, she set the shield aside as the professor started with the collision test.


    The professor''s warning was not without reason, because each of the metal chunks weighed at least fifty kilograms, and when they collided at a high speed, any chunks that flew off could easily deliver a fatal injury if they hit the right spot.


    The students were terrified, but Evelyn noticed that the professor had actually woven a very thin of spirit power around himself to make sure that a fatal situation didn''t really ur, in stark contrast to his earlier words.


    The professor''s method was actually quite fair, with each of them being separated into groups in such a way that they all went through the same number of rounds before facing each other.


    Since their product was decentlypacted and not bent into a fancy fragile shape like many others, it was no surprise when it managed to reach the final round, however, the other team came as a surprise.


    Of course, the professor only mentioned the name of the final winner, but Evelyn clearly recognized that the sphere that broke in the end was her own.


    The professor actually gave her a pointed look, which Evelyn found a little strange. "Let this be a lesson. You cannot have bookish thinking here. A round shape without ws? Hah. ws will of course appear after a few collisions. It will never retain that kind of perfect shape. Rufus, great job! Your faceted design was far more flexible. As expected of a Stonehardt! I''ll hand you your rewardter."


    Rufus finally gained some courage as he puffed out his chest.


    Perhaps it was fate, though Evelyn hadn''t even noticed that Rufus was also lurking in the same ss. She had assumed he was in some other course, but apparently, the boy had been hiding behind others this whole time, intentionally avoiding her sight.


    Even if he ''won'' though, Evelyn didn''t care about such a minor thing.


    Amber hung her head low. "S-Sorry, because of me"


    Evelyn sighed. "Don''t mind such a small thing. Didn''t we get to thest round? It could have gone either way."


    What she didn''t say was that the professor was clearly a little biased, and even if their ''product'' was better, it may still have lost anyway.


    Afterwards, the professor finally introduced himself by his name, Han Stonehardt, and began their actual lesson, teaching them about the various heating techniques they will be using in forging as well as the basics of artifact formation.


    Most importantly, each of the students finally received the book called ''Arms Codex: I'' which contained all the basic knowledge they would need for this course. This was all she needed, anyway.


    Evelyn still listened to his lecture, though there weren''t many things that she couldn''t already understand from a nce at the book, and the whole session was as disappointing as her first ss in beast taming. At least this one didn''t use her of cheating.


    The worst part was that Evelyn could tell that the professor was actually quite knowledgeable and proficient. He just didn''t care about them much, and his bias for the Terran students was clear for all to see. ''And I really thought that Maker''s Mansion would be different, huh shame.''


    Her guess was confirmed momentster.


    "I haven''t been back to Terrazyme for a while. You guys just arrived from back home, so the Terrans stay behind a little, yeah? The rest can leave."


    Evelyn rolled her eyes as she left with the others, wondering if he would give them private lessons. Anyway, she didn''t need to rely on his help. She ignored the taunting look from Rufus, and was the first to walk out of the ss, followed shortly by Amber.


    The girl followed her all the way to the White Lily Pce, where she reluctantly waved her goodbye, making Evelyn shake her head in both amusement and exasperation.


    Although she really didn''t mind if the girl followed her around, she had no intention of sticking to the sses and schedules for too long, and nned to figure out a solution for herself after talking with Aurora tomorrow. Hopefully, Amber could adjust herself soon enough.


    When she finally entered her ''apartment'' though, Evelyn realized that her ns might be pushed forward a little, because there was a certain tinum blonde girl ying some strange board game with Cecilia on the floor.


    ~ To be continued ~


    Feel free toe join us on discord if you want to get instant chapter updates or discuss anything about Evelyn or her world!


    (Shortened Link)


    dsc.gg/dustydream


    Or


    (Full Link)


    Discord.gg/F4eMatcddm


    Thank you for all your support!

 Chapter 105: Disturbing

    Chapter 105: Disturbing


    "Um, Aurora?"


    The tinum blonde had already noticed when Evelyn entered the room, and got up from the floor as she waved Cecilia away. "Hello, Evelyn."


    Of course, who was Cecilia? She was the girl who had spent the past two years annoying Aurora almost every day. When had she ever listened to this woman?


    "Our game isn''t over yet!"


    The tinum blonde gave her an impatient look. "I only agreed to y kingdoms with you because Evelyn hadn''t arrived yet?"


    "So? You can''t leave a game in the middle. Is it because you''re losing?!"


    "I I didn''t know the rules at all. It doesn''t matter even if lost?"


    "Hmph. Just admit your defeat then."


    Cecilia huffed as she walked away smugly.


    Evelyn cleared her throat, thinking that Aurora''s bullied look was also quite cute. "It''s alright. She''s a bit unreasonable, don''t think about it too much."


    "Mhm."


    The pink haired girl tilted her head curiously as she led her teacher into her room. "What were you here for, by the way?"


    Aurora nodded. "I wanted to discuss your training regiment before. You said you were tired and left, so I thought you would be resting, and should have been done by now. But you weren''t here?"


    "AH."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be a little embarrassed.


    She hadn''t expected Aurora to chase her all the way here, after all, so she never thought about it too much while making an excuse. At that time, all she wanted was to get back so she could finish her ''power ups''.


    And then, once she was done, she whimsically decided to attend the rest of the sses.


    Evelyn sighed. ''I should have just stayed here, hah''


    But now that she had been caught, she could only make an excuse. "Un, I felt alrightter so went to attend some sses. Well, never mind that, please tell me what you had in mind?"


    Aurora nodded as she followed Evelyn to take a seat on the bed. "Un, so I was thinking, you don''t really need to stay at the academy to follow the sses like regr students. Your growth rate will be better if you just stay with me, and we can move your training to the wondend of doom, is that alright?"


    Evelyn had been worrying about how to convince Aurora to let her leave for the forest herself, and Aurora''s proposal right now was just like music to her ears. "Perfect! It''s perfect! Ahem, I mean, of course I agree with your arrangements."


    The tinum blonde didn''t mind her enthusiasm, and seemed a little happy that her training n was so well received.


    Of course, Evelyn had to spend some time convincing her to bring along her ''pets''.


    "They might be a ''part of your strength'' ording to the academy, but I don''t think that way at all. Only your own strength matters. A-And I''m not good at paying attention to multiple things. I would rather focus on one."


    Evelyn could only plead. "Don''t worry, Aurora. I''ll take them on my responsibility. I promise it won''t be an issue!"


    In the end, her teacher could only reluctantly agree.


    Knowing that Vivian was sure to throw a tantrum if she knew that Evelyn was taking Ruru and Bree along while leaving the two sisters at the apartment, Evelyn decided to take the easy way out. Instead of exining everything in person, she just left them a note and escaped early in the morning along with her two still-groggy little ''pets''.


    Aurora of course had no issues with her absurd timing. After all, sleep was more of a luxury than a requirement for them.


    They didn''t take any teleportation portals, and Aurora directly wrapped Evelyn up in a water bubble as they shot straight through the academy grounds and towards the valley that led to the Wondend of Doom.


    Evelyn felt that the two guardians at the valley had stirred briefly as Aurora passed them by, but they seemed to settle down just as quick.


    She didn''t know the exact spot for their training, but Aurora probably had some destination in mind.


    Minutes into their ''trip'', however, the tinum blonde frowned, looking disturbed.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Aurora shook her head. "Something''s not right. The wondend seems different from usual."


    However, after looking around for a while, Aurora still couldn''t find anything unusual, and decided to settle the matter with her student first before looking into things more thoroughly.


    Only after the tinum blonde was gone for almost ten minutes did a group of people dare toe out from under an enchantment.


    The leader, a tall,nky man with brown hair, breathed a sigh of relief. "Thankfully, we had this artifact for concealment. If it had been any other group, they might not have been so lucky."


    "L-Leader, that was Aurora, right?"


    The man nodded. "No mistaking it. I don''t know why she''s here, but this might definitely throw a wrench into our ns. We have to find the prince fast and get back with that thing before anything goes wrong!"


    "I have scoured the nearby area to make sure there aren''t any strong monsters. Un, but if you feel something wrong, you can break this bead. It will protect you until I arrive, alright?"


    Aurora didn''t stay with her for long after dropping her off near ake, and Evelyn shrugged as she started exploring on her own.


    Although she was also interested in whatever ''strangeness'' Aurora had noticed that caused her to be anxious, she knew that she may not be strong enough to really get involved with something like that. It was better to focus on her own matters first.


    Now that she was finally in the wondend of doom, she could start testing out just how effective thebination of Bree''s purification and her Cmity really was.


    And the perfect test subject presented itself just a hundred meters away. A blue furred deer like creature with a single crystalline horn that glowed dimly.


    Evelyn sneakily tried to get closer to probe it using her skill, however, the creature sensed her existence immediately.


    Of course, as soon as it started rushing in her direction, Evelyn wasted no time in getting her ''Compact Iron Bow'' out of the spatial belt before shooting off an arrow towards the beast.


    It agilely managed to dodge the first shot, but the second one managed to barely graze it.


    The beast didn''t seem to care about it much, but momentster, it skidded to a halt as Evelyn casually walked to its corpse.


    ''Soul Searing Arrow'' really was quite a bit better than she thought.


    It was a skill she had created herself, imbuing some of her soul power inside each of her shots, it was her way of using the Searing Soul cultivation method to enhance her own archery.


    Unfortunately, her ''prize'' this time proved to be quiteckluster.


    [Blue Horned Deer Corpse]


    A deer''s corpse that is blue and has a shiny horn.


    The horn''s powder can be used to make an aphrodisiac that is effective on those below 20 spirit power.


    "That''s it? Why was it so confident then?!"


    Of course, Evelyn knew that not all beasts in the forest had to be high level, but going by how easily it had spotted her and how dauntlessly it charged to attack, she had thought it would be at least level thirty or above, meaning a minimum of grade 3 beast!


    As for this thing she could kill it with her pinky finger!


    Of course, useless as it was, she still shoved its corpse into her inventory. She had plenty of space, after all.


    Thankfully, it only took her a few more minutes to find her next target, and this time it was arge canine that couldn''t possibly be another dud, and her probe skill confirmed her thoughts.


    [Gravuil Wolf: Level 28]


    Physique: Beast


    Affection: 0%


    Physique: 112


    Spirit Power: 74


    Soul Value: 54


    Vitality: 310


    Skills: ???


    "Un, this thing should rely mostly on physical attacks, I guess?"


    Evelyn didn''t think there was a need to be too cautious against something that was far below her own level. If she was truly on her own, she could have even tried testing out her physical capabilities against the beast.


    Of course, since she was with Bree, she had to be mindful not to put her in unnecessary danger.


    The beast this time didn''t notice her at all, and by the time it realized something was wrong, Evelyn''s arrow was already on its way to his head.


    A single swipe of its mighty ws broke the flimsy little iron thing into pieces, but just as it was about to charge in the attacker''s direction, it felt a wave of nausea flood its body.


    While the beast was still in shock, Evelyn fired another arrow, this time infusing it with not just soul power, but spirit power as well.


    This time, the arrow cleanly made its way all the way through the beast''s torso and flew out of the other side, causing it to shudder and fall to the ground as it let out onest dying growl before its death, ring in Evelyn''s direction.


    The pink-haired girl sighed as she made her way to the second kill of the day.


    "Even with spirit power, the second arrow shattered anyway huh I guess these are just too weak at this level. Maybe without soul power they would bepletely useless against the stronger beasts"


    Just as she had put away the beast''s corpse, she heard someone walking in her direction and hurriedly concealed herself along with Bree and Ruru.


    "Are you sure you heard something from here, Craig? I''d be pretty pissed if we got into another fight with a beast for no reason."


    She guessed that the man was probably talking to the very same Craig who had been missing in this wondend of doom for a while now. Maybe the boy had found somepanions, and Evelyn was very d that she hid herself in time, because Craig was definitely not someone she would be happy to meet in the middle of this forest.


    She even thought she recognized the voice of the man who had spoken, and when he finally walked near her location, she finally realized who it was.


    "It''s that bastard Professor Dane!"


    Of course it had to be him! She was now extremely, extremely d that she had hidden herself in time.


    Evelyn didn''t know how strong Craig was, but she thought she should be able to at least escape alive from him after all her power ups, but against this Professor Dane, she would be a sitting duck!


    As for the bead that Aurora had left behind, Evelyn was quite familiar with how her concealment method worked, and knew that no matter how amazing the bead was, it would at moste into effect after ending the concealment, and at worstpletely go to waste.


    And if she took the chance to get out of concealment to activate it? Evelyn didn''t want to take such a chance at all.


    After all, Professor Dane was a senior professor at the academy, and his strength was definitely exceptional. Even if Aurora''s bead could protect her against the beasts in this forest until she arrived, there was no guarantee that it would be able to do the same against this guy.


    So Evelyn had no choice but to hide and wait for them to go away.


    The barrier isted everything except for her sight, and Evelyn couldn''t hear them anymore after that first sentence. However, she could still make out most of what they were saying through their lip movements.


    "I''m sure I heard the sound of an arrow! There''s a good chance it is one of my kingdom''s cavalry units sent for me. If we can reunite with them, getting out of this ce would be a piece of cake!"


    DustyDream:


    I messed up today''s upload! Ahhhh! >_<


    Just when I thought it can''t get worse, I couldn''t even fix it because the modified words cannot be less than before, and the botched chapter was a lot longer than it should have been on the plus side, it''s a super long chapter?

 Chapter 106: Found You

    Chapter 106: Found You


    The Terran team that had managed to ''barely escape'' from Aurora''s senses before couldn''t believe how bad their luck was at all.


    Even though theypletely changed their course and went in the opposite direction of where the girl had flown off in, they still somehow managed to run into her!


    The poor men didn''t even realize that Aurora had long since known of their existence, with their grade six concealment artifact being no better than a toy in front of her.


    She had simply decided to not let Evelyn be involved in the matter, and marked them to be capturedter. She never nned to let them escape at all.


    With the vast difference in strength between them, Aurora''s methods of capture were simple and direct, instantly engulfing everyone in the team in a water bubble, imploding all but the one with the leader.


    Aurora decreased the size of the leader''s bubble till his head could pop out of it before looking at him curiously. "Why are you people here?"


    Of course, the Terran soldiers were known to be fiercely loyal for a reason, and the moment he was captured, the man sent a pulse of spirit power to the poison stone in his body, resulting in an instant, painless death.


    Aurora could have easily disabled the man''s spirit powerpletely if she wanted, but his actions served just as well as an answer. "Hmph. So it was on your King''s order, right? Not much of a surprise."


    Having guessed their affiliation, figuring out their purpose became much more simple. If she had still been a young student, Aurora would have surely assumed that the Terran soldiers were here just to save their prince.


    But the tinum blonde knew very well how much importance the Terran royalty ced on their descendants, and how far they could go for them, and how far they could not.


    Under normal circumstances, the Terran King should have sent missives to their academy imploring them to rescue the prince, or demanded permission to do so himself.


    Because to send in his forces into the wondend like that could easily be mistaken as another attempt at capturing the academy, which would not be the first one from their side, and Aurora didn''t think the Terrans wanted to suffer their wrath while still fighting the Lavinian Empire.


    "So why?"


    It made no sense at all, unless the King really lost his reason for the love of his son. But that was just nonsense that Aurora refused to believe.


    "There must be something I don''t know mm, well, if anyone here should know, it might be that Prince of theirs, right?"


    Compared to these foot soldiers who might give her just half facts, if not outright lies, Craig seemed like he would be a much more reasonable person to ''question''.


    "But finding him in this ce it won''t be easy. I should probably take Evelyn back first, and thene back to checkter."


    After all, the ''Wondend of Doom'' was neither small nor easy to navigate, and even stumbling upon this bunch when she first arrived with Evelyn had been nothing but a stroke of luck.


    And if she truly tried to scour through carelessly, she would have to waste her energy fighting those hegemons in the forest, and not knowing what the Terrans were up to, Aurora didn''t feel like doing that at all.


    Meanwhile, Craig had already scoured every inch of the area he thought he had heard the sounds from, but could not find even a trace of his father''s forces.


    Professor Dane couldn''t help but snort. "Hey, Craig, you realize I don''t like walking around naked fighting these beasts for no reason, right? Don''t you have any means to contact those forces of yours? I cannot believe the Prince of Terra sigh if only I still had my artifacts fucking Aurora!"


    Although the Terran Prince didn''t like being called out like that, he could only grit his teeth and bear with it. "Maybe I heard it wrong. It could have been just some beasts fighting among themselves Let''s go back, then."


    Only after the three of them were gone for a while did Evelyn dare to cancel her concealment and move away from her position.


    "Professor Dane and Craig, huh Interesting, I wonder who the third man was?"


    Of course, with the existence of Professor Dane, she didn''t have any thoughts of following them around to find out, because that would be as good as courting death.


    Making her way back to the spot Aurora had left her at, Evelyn didn''t have to wait for long before the tinum blonde returned.


    She had been curious about Aurora''s reaction for a while, and couldn''t help but link it to what she had heard from Craig before. "Did you figure out what the strange thing was?"


    If it was truly some of Craig''s men Aurora had sensed, perhaps there was some scheme at y that she could make use of.


    Of course, if Aurora had any intentions of letting Evelyn get involved in this matter, she wouldn''t have left her there in the first ce. "A minor matter, don''t worry. Did you find a beast to kill?"


    The pink-haired girl nodded before taking out both of the beast corpses from her inventory. "I found these two. Not very interesting, right?"


    Aurora observed the smaller deer corpse,pletely ignoring therger wolf. "You managed to kill this thing? They are notorious for being able to sense a threat from a ridiculous distance, and escape in the blink of an eye. Not bad at all"


    Recalling how the deer had rushed to kill her instead, Evelyn didn''t know if she should be d or not. Well, her teacher looked very impressed, so at least that wasn''t a bad thing. "Is it very useful?"


    Although her system''s information ssified it as quite useless and normal, she would also not have known about the deer''s special properties if not for Aurora, so maybe there was more to it?


    Unfortunately, her hopes were dashed as Aurora shook her head. "No, it''s quite useless other than being an interesting target to chase and kill by the higher level hunters. In this forest, it''s just prey that tries its best to survive."


    Just as Aurora was about to tell her she would be taking her back to the academy, the pink-haired girl smiled mysteriously. "Say, the disturbances you didn''t want to tell me about, they wouldn''t happen to be some men from Terrazyme, would they?"


    Aurora blinked at her student in surprise. "How did you know? You were so far away hm, no that shouldn''t be then"


    Evelyn would never have taken the initiative to tell Aurora about Craig under normal circumstances. After all, wouldn''t she just save him if she found him? Why would Evelyn want to save her enemy like that? She wasn''t stupid.


    However, the Terran Prince was clearly hatching some plot, and Aurora didn''t seem pleased by the existence of the Terran forces in the forest.


    Evelyn didn''t believe that a cockroach like Craig, who could survive even a sh between the two guardians and the ''Thousand Eyed God'', would die by himself in this forest. Especially not now, when he had some mysterious man and a senior professor by his side.


    In this case, wasn''t it just fine to snitch on him to Aurora, so he could hopefully get in some trouble? And Evelyn could get some ''good girl'' points with her teacher at the same time.


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. "You wouldn''t believe it, but actually, I found some people wandering around not far from here, and they were talking about some ''Terran forces'' they had to reunite within the forest, so I guessed that might have been it."


    The tinum blonde frowned as she considered it for a while before nodding. Since it was toote to keep Evelyn out of it, might as well let her lead the way. "Where did youst see them? Did they spot you?"


    As expected, Evelyn shook her head. "No, I would have already broken the protection bead if that had happened. I saw them leave that way,e on."


    A few minutester, however, they found themselves feeling lost as Aurora looked around but found nothing.


    The tinum blonde sighed. "Well, let''s take you back first. I''lle back to"


    Evelyn shook her head. "Wait, give me a minute, please?"


    She had expected that Aurora would be able to easily find the trio if she gave her the rough direction, but maybe they were using some way to block her from being able to find them.


    Evelyn didn''t know how Aurora searched for them anyway, though she couldn''t just retreat without trying it out with her own technique first.


    After conveying her instructions to Ruru, the little fox jumped around for a while as Aurora watched with interest.


    The biggest advantage of the ''Sacred Lake''s Eternal Ripple'' was that there was no limit to how far she could sense using the technique, though her spirit power consumption would scale with the radius, it was a small price to pay.


    Evelyn just hoped that she found them before her spirit power ran out.


    As for alerting any hostile targets? With a one-shot Aurora turret by her side, the pink-haired girl didn''t feel worried at all.


    More and more spirit power kept flowing through Ruru''s feet as the ripple spread, and only after abined total of almost 800 spirit power was consumed did she finally find what she was looking for.


    "There!"

 Chapter 107: What a Cockroach!

    Chapter 107: What a Cockroach!


    Although their location was quite a distance away from where she had expected, Evelyn knew that the trio she had found hiding in the cave was definitely Craig and Professor Dane''s group.


    Aurora didn''t bother asking her how she found them, and directly flew them over to the location she had pointed out.


    "Here?"


    Evelyn nodded. "Mhm."


    The pink-haired girl thought that her teacher would call Craig out, but Aurora simply waved her hand destroyed the upperyer of the cave using spirit power, exposing the dumbfounded trio within that was now staring nkly at tinum blonde floating in the air.


    Professor Dane was the first one to regain his wits as he pointed at Aurora indignantly. "Y-You!"


    Before he could say anymore, however, Prince Craig gave him an imploring look as he cleared his throat, making the expelled senior professor grudgingly hold his words as the Terran Prince gave Aurora a polite bow. "Lady Aurora, it''s our great fortune to have you rescue us. I cannot express just how grateful I am"


    Aurora waved her hand to interrupt him. "I''m not here to save anyone. Tell me, boy, why are there a bunch of Terran soldiers scuttling around in the wondend? Depending on your answer, I might reconsider your position as a student of the Ancient Academy"


    Prince Craig had known the situation was dire the moment he heard Aurora mention the Terran forces in the forest.


    After all, he knew that Aurora was someone who had already been through several of his kingdom''s failed attempts at capturing the academy. Although the academy itself remained ''neutral'' on the matter, considering that all five of the major powers had attempted the same thing at one time or another, Craig didn''t believe they would tolerate anyone''s encroachment of their territory.


    The Wondend of Doom served as a natural defense barrier as well as the firstyer of protection for the Ancient Academy, and stationing their forces at this zone required anyone to pay a hefty price.


    Craig knew it was impossible to convince Aurora that the Kingdom of Terrazyme would be willing to pay such a price for just one person, even if it was their crown prince.


    And it was indeed true, because they would never sacrifice so much just for him. Even the King''s aide who had perished before was only a little less valuable than him, and the total cost of this expedition was sure to be many times greater than just that.


    Aurora furrowed her brows as she wrapped Craig''s left leg in a bubble. "Speak!"


    Craig opened his mouth in shock, realizing that he couldn''t mobilize his spirit power under Aurora''s gaze at all. He didn''t know when the small little bubbles of water had started floating all around the area, but going by the cold sweat that was now soaking Professor Dane''s forehead, his situation was likely to be the same as well.


    But he still kept his mouth shut. Even when he felt the bubble on his left leg implode,pletely obliterating it from knee down, the boy only let out a whimper as he copsed to the ground.


    Professor Dane gulped. The most he had been worried about at first was the Aurora would humiliate him again, considering she had let him live before, but she looked almost ready to kill the Terran Prince!


    What did that mean? Did she want the ancient academy to go to war with Terrazyme? Had she gonepletely insane?!


    More importantly, regardless of what kind of retribution she would bring upon herself and the academy, didn''t this mean that he was going to die as well?!


    After all if she was going to murder Craig, she would certainly not let him live when he already had a grudge against her and had witnessed this scene.


    Just as Aurora was about to continue interrogating Craig, however, a thunderous roar tore through the area as the ground below the Terran Prince burst open. Before any of them could react, a giant stone spear was already just inches from Aurora''s face.


    The tinum blonde quickly floated back with Evelyn as she flicked off the spear, instantly shattering it with just her palm as she turned her stare to the source of disturbance - a giant brown beetle followed by dozens of cloaked men.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but sigh. ''I can''t believe it if this cockroach Craig really manages to escape from Aurora, I''m gonna flip a table!''


    Aurora frowned as she made Evelyn float behind her, obscuring most of her vision, much to the girl''s regret. "Ah, I remember you daring to call yourself the ''Guardian Beast of Earth'', you think quite highly of yourself, right? Well, you saved that crippled prince, but was it a worthy trade for your life?"


    The beast responded by shooting dozens of stone spears from its mouth as the men quickly scattered and started setting down arrays.


    Unfortunately, they seemed to have vastly underestimated their opponent. Even Evelyn couldn''t see exactly what happened, just that everyone but the beetle beast seemed to spontaneously choke and copse, their eyes turning lifeless momentster.


    The beetle seemed unaffected, and unwrapped the giant wings on its back as it started pping them rapidly.


    Watching the stocky body of the huge bug ascend to the sky was quite horrific, and as her vision became obscured by dust, it became even more ominous. The only thing that brought Evelyn relief was the fact that Aurora looked calm, and the situation should still be under control.


    Evelyn didn''t know what the strange beast was trying to do, but it became clear momentster as the ''sandstorm'' thinned out a little, and she spotted the thing already quite far from their location, still flying away at full speed. It was still quite slow whenpared to Aurora, or even Bree, or it should have already disappeared from her sight.


    Considering Aurora''s earlier words, she couldn''t believe that her teacher had just allowed it to escape. "You''re gonna let it go, just like that?"


    The tinum blonde blinked curiously. "Well, it took him so long to grow to grade eight, you know, it would be a shame if I didn''t give him a chance at all. Mhm, I think it''s far enough away now. How about it, you have a bow and arrow, right? Wanna shoot it down?"


    Evelyn stared at Aurora in disbelief. "M-Me? Can I even hurt that thing?!"


    After all, she knew her limits best. A grade eight beast meant that the thing was at least level 80, and even if she poured in most of her soul power into an arrow, she wouldn''t be able to make a fatal wound on that thing at all.


    Aurora smiled. "Don''t worry, just shoot when I tell you."


    As she allowed her to float down to the ground, Evelyn quickly took out her ''Compact Iron Bow'' and carefully took aim. She didn''t even bother imbuing it with her new trick, because a Soul Searing Arrow with a few points of her soul power and a normal arrow... they were probably just the same to that thing.


    Evelyn watched as Aurora''s whole body started to glow with a strange blue aura and a small sphere of water slowly took shape in front of her.


    The tinum blonde moved the sphere closer to Evelyn''s face so she could take a closer look. "Look, this is a very basic spirit construct, and techniques that utilize such a basic thing may seem weak and useless. This causes many to discard them after learning more advanced constructs, limiting their growth in the future."


    Evelyn nodded, though she felt a little exasperated in her heart. ''Is she seriously trying to teach me about all that right now?''


    The water sphere looked flimsy and weak at first, but the amount of spirit power it could hold seemed to have no limits at all. Aurora kept pouring more and more power of her spirit power into that thing, and just staring at it sent shivers down Evelyn''s spine.


    Aurora smiled. "See? This is the advantage of this simple structure. The moreplex ones can amplify your spirit power more, but there is a limit to how much power they can handle. What is better, hundred times four, or thousand times two? You see"


    Evelyn finally couldn''t help but grit her teeth. "I-I can''t shoot it if it''s too far away, okay?!"


    Aurora blinked in surprise as she nodded.


    Just as Evelyn was worried that the beast really would move out of her range, Aurora finally pushed the water sphere to the tip of her arrow. "Okay, ready! Just shoot whenever. Don''t worry about it moving, it won''t be able to sense your shot."


    Evelyn trusted in her words, and just took aim and let the arrow go. ''Please hit!''


    And momentster, an unholy shriek echoed throughout the Wondend of Doom.


    ~ To be continued ~


    DustyDream:


    Thank you for all your support!

 Chapter 108: Bugs and Thrones

    Chapter 108: Bugs and Thrones


    Craig had never thought that a day like this woulde in his life.


    As the crown prince of Terrazyme, a kingdom that had now grown strong enough to even attack the Lavinian Empire, which had previously been the undisputed strongest power in the continent, to say that he was ''privileged'' would be an understatement.


    The education he received and the resources he enjoyed were far beyond what most could imagine. Even if he was topare himself to the princes of other major powers, he would still be far superior, simply because he had no brothers or sisters, and was the only heir to the throne.


    Even when his father had given him this extremely dangerous mission that hadnded him in some trouble, the number of precious artifacts he had been given might cause even a senior professor like Dane to faint in shock if he knew. Of course, Craig wouldn''t be stupid enough to reveal such a thing openly.


    But today, he had truly felt powerless for the first time in his life. If not for his father''s closest aideing in along with the great guardian of earth at thest moment, he truly would have died.


    No, it wasn''t even that. Craig knew, deep down in his heart, that he wasn''t far from spilling the beans.


    A true Terran does not fear death. Given the choice between death and betraying their kingdom, Terransughed in the face of death.


    He had preached about it often: to soldiers, to peers, and even to his juniors. But today, when the time came to apply it to himself, Craig knew he had failed.


    Even if Aurora hadn''t immobilized his spirit power, he did not have the courage to end himself, and he knew it.


    Thankfully, the moment hadn''t trulye to pass.


    But the price was too great.


    When he heard the unholy shriek of the beast, he knew better than anyone how grim things were.


    Professor Dane panted in exhaustion as he finally found another secluded cave. "W-We should be fine for now"


    Prince Craig continued to stare nkly at the opposite wall. "The Guardian Beast dead. The aide father sent, he''s probably dead too. Heh hehehehe hahaha!"


    The red-haired professor couldn''t help but snort in annoyance. "What the hell is that attitude, Craig? As the smartest student in the past thousand years, are you giving up just like that?"


    The brown-haired boy went silent as he turned his lost gaze to the man. "I-I''m already Crippled. She ruined me! With just one leg, I can''t do the quantum leap! My main technique, professor! It''s useless now!"


    Dane sighed. "Don''t be an idiot, Craig. Although she crushed your leg, it''s not impossible to restore. Even if your kingdom doesn''t have anything, I know for a fact that Aurora is a healer capable of doing exactly that!"


    "What a joke! She''s the one who"


    The red-haired professor scoffed. "So? Isn''t it just right for her to fix what she messed up? I''m sure that if we can reach your father safely, he can somehow get it done. And anyway, there might also be other ways, you can''t lose hope."


    Although Craig realized that the professor was only motivating him for his own interests, whether it was to seek revenge on Aurora or to cozy up with his fatherter, Craig did feel his mood improve just a little.


    He wasn''t stupid enough to believe that his father had the ability to pressure Aurora to do anything, but maybe it wasn''t hopeless to find something to fix his leg.


    That was only a small reprieve, however. "But there''s no mistaking that the Guardian Beast is dead, and I guess my father''s aide who saved me earlier should be dead too, along with most of his subordinates. Even that third guy is gone, huh?"


    Dane nodded. "If he wasn''t crushed by the beast, he couldn''t have survived the battleter."


    Of course, Craig realized what he was trying to imply, and nodded gratefully. "Thank you, professor. If not for you, I would also be dead."


    The red-haired man grinned. "No big deal. But you better remember that Aurora almost killed the Terran Crown Prince. She can''t get away with this, you understand?!"


    The brown-haired boy nodded, his confidence restored. ''I know no one else can do it, and those who can... they won''t care about me But one day, when I''m strong enough, I will tear off her throat myself!''


    Meanwhile, Evelyn poked the mountain-like, motionless carapace of the giant beetle with her foot, unable to believe it had died so cleanly. Even after it was dead, both Ruru and Bree still shivered in fear in her arms, as if they knew they stood no chance of facing the beast at all.


    Even poking its dead body proved to be a bad idea, however, as all of a sudden, thousands of tiny beetles burst out of its dead body, almost scaring her out of her wits. "I-It''s dividing?!"


    Aurora chuckled. "No those are its children."


    Looking at the sheer quantity, Evelyn couldn''t help but gape. "D-Don''t tell me each one of those will grow up to be like that? Wait, didn''t you say it was a ''him'' earlier, howe it was pregnant?!"


    The tinum blonde gave her a weird look. "These are all ungraded little beasts, all level zero. Why would it being male matter? And, um, they''re pretty weak, look"


    And as if to demonstrate, she made one of the fist-sized beetles float over to Evelyn, who held the struggling little thing curiously as she used her probe skill.


    [Checking Status]


    [Great Earth Beetle (infant): Level 1]


    Experience: 0 / 10


    Physique: Insectoid (Regr)


    Physique: 13


    Spirit Power: 2


    Soul Value: 1


    Vitality: 17


    -[ Abilities ]


    [Devour, Unlocks at Level 10]: Consuming the same species, it is able tobine a majority of the two''s stats together, greatly increasing its own attributes. Consuming other species results in a lower stat gain.


    [Evolve, Unlocks at Level 30]: Upon reaching future milestones, it is able to evolve to better adapt to its surroundings and to better face the challenges it usually faces.


    [Dissolve, Unlocks at Level 50]: Upon death, all the remaining soul power can be consumed to leave behind descendants to continue the bloodline.


    [Great Earth Spear, Unlocks at Level 70]: ???


    [Wrath of Terra, Unlocks at Level 90]: ???


    "D-Do you mind if I keep it?"


    Aurora gave her student a weird look. "It may look harmless now, but it has the ability to evolve into a spirit beastter, you know. And you already have a spirit beast pet, one that is far superior to this one. The one I killed earlier was already almost six hundred years old, at least. Their growth rate is too slow for you."


    The pink-haired girl sighed, wondering if Aurora would think she was crazy if she told her she wanted to ''feed'' the beetle to her puppy. "Alright, I guess I''ll let it go then"


    Since its status didn''t show ''contaminated'' or anything simr, Bree''s purification was unlikely to trigger anyway.


    Evelyn didn''t mind letting that little beast go too much, but what she found truly regretful was that she didn''t get any ''experience'' from killing the giant beast. The pink-haired girl wondered if it was because it was her teacher''s ability that had ended up killing it, and not her arrow.


    Aurora seemed to know what she was thinking about. "Are you surprised? You wanted to ''channel'' it to yourself, right?"


    Evelyn blinked in shock. "E-Eh?"


    The tinum blonde smiled. "Well, your growth rate is shockingly high, so you must know a little about spirit absorption and the throne channel, right?"


    "T-Throne channel?"


    Aurora sighed. "Well, don''t worry about it too much. Just think of it like this there are two ways people can get ''rewarded'' for their aplishments, and the paths through which these rewards are obtained are called ''channels''. Are you listening? No one will tell you about this at the academy, very few people know."


    Although Evelyn had been staring nkly at Aurora in shock, she hadn''t missed a single word from her. She had just never expected anyone to really be familiar with the whole ''experience'' system. "I-I''m listening."


    "Mhm. So, for most people, there is actually only the ''World Channel'', which means they are rewarded by the world for their aplishments. Whenever they kill an opponent, for example, a part of its power is channeled to them by the world."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be worried. "H-How are these ''aplishments'' judged, though? Can the world ''think''?"


    Aurora nodded. "In simple terms, yes. Its thoughts are notplex, as it is more on the level of a tree than a beast. Don''t overthink it."


    Evelyn nodded, a little relieved and worried at the same time. If the ''world'' really could think, then the chances of it being hostile to her, if it ever managed to discover her origins, were extremely high. ''Hopefully, no one will ever know that I''m an alien.''

 Chapter 109: Teacher Harassment

    Chapter 109: Teacher Harassment


    Evelyn wasn''t really too shocked to learn about Aurora knowing about the ''throne'' thing, as she had long suspected that her teacher was well aware of it. The only thing she had been uncertain of was to what extent Aurora was familiar with the ''thrones''.


    Given that she had already known of their ''existence'' for thousands of years, and the headmistress had tried her best to make it Aurora''s life goal, it would only make sense for her to have dug into it as much as she could.


    Now that she had brought it up, Evelyn was more relieved than anything else. She could finally be upfront about it and openly ask questions without revealing anything that she shouldn''t, such as her ability to directly see her own and other people''s status. "I think I understand what you mean, though I''m not quite sure what exactly the thrones are?"


    The tinum blonde smiled. "It''s alright. Not many know. Aside from this world, there are three ''moons'' in our world, and they have their own channels. Those who are chosen by any of the three can thus grow at a much faster pace than anyone else, since they have not one, but two channels to fuel their growth."


    Evelyn nodded. "So that means that ''thrones'' grow twice as fast as anyone else, right?"


    Aurora shook her head. "Not even close. To begin with, the baby that is chosen as the throne has to be extremely lucky, born with absurdly high stats. Only then is it chosen by one of the moons, and that is only if the ''position'' itself is empty. There can only be three, after all. So they are already ''ahead'' of their peers, are they not?"


    The pink-haired girl nodded thoughtfully. ''Right. And if they have such stats, they''re unlikely to be a normal baby anyway. Even I had the blessed spirit physique, which puts me at a significant advantage in terms of growth rate even if the throne thing wasn''t there.''


    The tinum blonde smiled. "It is believed that the ones who are ''chosen'' are all ''Nature Spirits'', a tier above even the ''Blessed Spirit'' physique. Of course, it could be something that was just made up, since the only ones who could confirm if it is a lie are the only two thrones."


    Evelyn gulped. ''I-If that is true, I might have just lucked into this throne thing because of the stat boost from my rebirth. I''m definitely no ''Nature Spirit'' after all, my physique clearly states ''Blessed Spirit''!''


    "Also, the throne channel is said to be far more rewarding, though that is an anecdote based simply on the strength of the thrones, and no one knows if it is actually true. Well, no one but myself, that is, since I can see that it is indeed true, having seen a ''throne'' myself."


    Evelyn gulped, even though she already knew Aurora knew about it. "Y-You''re referring to me?"


    Aurora smiled. "Who else? Don''t tell me you didn''t know?"


    The pink-haired girl shook her head. "I knew I was different from others, but there is too much I don''t know. I never had anyone teach me this stuff, you know?"


    The tinum blonde nodded. "Well, that''s fine. Am I not here now? But know that I didn''t tell you all of this for free, and nor am I teaching you out of the goodness of my heart."


    Evelyn tilted her head curiously.


    Aurora frowned. "Don''t look at me like I''m joking? I will definitely abandon you if you can''t pass my test."


    The pink-haired girl nodded. "Don''t worry. If I''m unable to pass your test, I won''t continue to burden you. But can you tell me what it is?"


    The tinum blonde huffed. "I won''t tell you!"


    Evelyn blinked. "Why not?"


    Aurora turned her head away, trying her best to look aloof. "No! I might have told you before, but now I know you will definitely pass it if you know! So I will never tell you. Hmph."


    The pink-haired girl sighed. ''Seriously? Well, it can''t hurt to try''


    And as expected, when she used her probe skill on Aurora, not only did the probe fail, her teacher also angrily turned around to stretch her cheeks. "Y-You bad girl! What did you just do? I felt your spirit power poke me! You can''t do that!"


    Of course, Evelyn would never reveal the deepest of her secrets, not until she was strong enough to take care of the burden that came along with it, at least. So she just kept quiet as the tinum blonde continued to ''bully'' her, though the one whose eyes were wet was herself.


    "D-Dare to harass me, your teacher?! You don''t respect me at all! Un, I won''t teach you if you''re like this?!"


    Ruru, who was arrogant to her bones, obviously wouldn''t care about such a thing, but Bree felt that the tinum blonde ''little girl'' was too pitiful, crying while begging for her mama''s affection, while her mama remained uncaring. She jumped over to Evelyn''s shoulder to lick Aurora''s palm while she was still ''bullying'' her student.


    Aurora pulled her hands back in shock, looking embarrassed. "E-Even your pets are like you! Hmph."


    Evelyn also couldn''t bear it anymore as she patted her on the head. "Teacher, don''t be angry, okay? I''m sorry, I was just trying to see if you could sense it, un."


    The tinum blonde rolled her eyes. "A-As if you can do that?! If it was anyone else, I would have killed them on the spot. Hmph, not even my mother has ever dared poke my spirit! Don''t be so shameless to others, understand?"


    Evelyn rubbed the back of her head. "I-Is it really such a big deal? I just used a little"


    Aurora sighed. "You didn''t even know? Only ''partners'' can probe each other''s spirit! It''s a very intimate act."


    She was too embarrassed to tell her that it was also a part of ''marking'' the spirit egg, and what established the rtionship between parent and child when it came to spirit babies.


    "Un, thank you, teacher. What will you do with this beast corpse, by the way?"


    Aurora''s lips twitched, feeling like she had gone through more expressions today than she had in thest thousand years. "Greedy. You want this corpse?"


    Evelyn shook her head. "Wouldn''t it be a waste to just leave this grade eight beast corpse? It must have a lot of precious materials."


    The tinum blonde pursed her lips as she thought about it. Had it been anyone else, she surely would have dismissed their opinion. "This beast exploited Terra to grow like this, and Terra wanted to exploit the wondend for something. Now that this beast has died here, it is only right for its corpse to feed the forest! This is its destiny, and we shouldn''t interfere. Un."


    Evelyn scratched her head in confusion. "What? Teacher, it attacked you, and you killed it. It''s yours. If you don''t want it, it''s mine."


    "It belongs to the forest!"


    The pink-haired girl sighed. "Okay, if teacher says so."


    Just as Aurora was about to nod, satisfied, her student knelt down on the ground before cing her ear against the ground.


    "Dear forest, do you want this corpse? Oh, you don''t? I can keep it?! Thank you very much!"


    Aurora stared nkly as Evelyn got up with a smile. "Teacher, you heard that, right?"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "Greedy, clever, and stubborn too. Fine, I don''t want to argue with you. Un, but if you''re always greedy, it will definitely bite you one day!"


    Evelyn nodded. "I know, teacher. But I cannot be as kind and free as you, please forgive me."


    Although there was a faint blush on her cheeks, Aurora still looked away. "You don''t need to say that. Un, I know you desperately wish to grow fast. Teacher was insensitive. So, I''m sorry too. I am used to imposing my will on others, not unlike my mother."


    The pink-haired girl smiled. "Well, I''m a selfish person. I don''t care how you treat others, but you have been very kind to me, so to me, you are like a fairy, Aurora."


    Aurora huffed. "W-Who allowed you to call me by my name?"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but tilt her head a little. "You did, remember?"


    The tinum turned her head away as she gave her student a sideways nce. "That was before I knew you were so shameless! Dare to poke your teacher with your spirit power! Pervert!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but pout. "Hey, don''t say that! My friends will misunderstand if they hear it, you know?!"


    Aurora nodded. "That''s right. Don''t do things if you''re too ashamed of others knowing about it. For perverts, it is their destiny to be known for being shameless."


    But although she said so, in the end, Aurora did end up helping her take the giant corpse of the grade eight beast, and Evelyn finally breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried that if Aurora really left without the beast''s corpse, all the materials would be gone by the time Evelyn managed to make her way back on her own. ''Although I can''t see her affection, it must be quite high, right?''


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 110: Maximum Profit

    Chapter 110: Maximum Profit


    The dead body of the earth guardian was obviously a precious treasure, and even though it wasn''t the type of beast that could trigger Bree''s purification or allow extraction of abilities, it was still a grade eight corpse.


    Moreover, Evelyn noticed that the arrow had entered from an already existing opening and thus the outer shell of the beast was almostpletely intact! That had to increase its value, right?


    Even if she had to plead and beg Aurora, the gains should be more than worth the effort.


    Of course, just like the tentacles that had been cut off from the ''Thousand Eyed God'', the beast''s corpse was no longer impervious to her probing skill.


    -[Great Guardian of Earth''s Carapace]


    As a mighty beast that had reached grade 8 during its lifetime, the corpse is a treasure of the same grade.


    The outer shell is intact, and perfect for creating grade 8 armor.


    Most of the insides have been torn apart, and have no value.


    Unfortunately, as was the case with the tentacles, the system only extracted the information of the ''item'' itself, and not the source.


    Evelyn didn''t think it was such a big deal, since she more or less knew what the beast was capable of using the status of its ''descendants''. It was unfortunate that living beings couldn''t be sucked into her inventory, or she would have taken all of these little beetles too.


    If they were killed, however, they had almost no value at all.


    Her teacher didn''t seem to have any way of storing the giant corpse, and simply made it float behind them as they headed for one of the cities.


    Of course, they still had to pass through the academy, and Evelyn was curious how the two guardian statues will react to the grade eight corpse.


    The statues stirred briefly when Aurora came near them, but settled down soon enough.


    "Since you''re so naughty, let me warn you Never bring a living beast past grade five to this valley, even if you have captured and tamed it, alright? If you have to do it, let me know first. Otherwise, the guardians may attack you. They''re not very smart, after all."


    Evelyn blinked. "What about Ruru? Do I have to worry once she grows past a certain point?"


    Aurora shook her head. "No. Ruru is a spirit beast. To the guardians, the difference between us is not that great. You don''t need to worry too much, even if Ruru grows to grade eight. Un, only when she''s grade nine will the guardians disallow her entry without permission."


    Evelyn blinked. "Permission?"


    The tinum blonde nodded. "Un. Anyone who can be a threat to the academy itself cannot be allowed in, of course. Except for those who are a part of the academy itself, and thus have the permission."


    Evelyn looked at Aurora, her eyes shining. "And who grants this ''permission''?"


    Aurora pointed at herself, a little confused. "I do?"


    The pink haired girl put the confused Ruru forward, delighted. "So"


    " I''m not doing that. Un, grow strong enough first, and I''ll think about it."


    Evelyn sighed. "Okay."


    It didn''t take them long to enter the ''Eastern Forbidden City'', and it became very clear to her that Aurora had absolutely no idea how to sell such a thing. Thankfully, when people were faced with an obviously powerful entity, they were very ''helpful'', and pointed her the ''right way''.


    "This greatdy, I''m telling the truth! I really dare not lie! Golden House is definitely the best ce to sell anything here, and a thing like this will only fetch the best price"


    But Aurora''s reaction was a little strange. "No. Tell me where the ''second best'' ce is."


    Helpless, the old man who had been ''tasked'' with guiding this great cmity could only lead them to the second biggest auction house in the city, hoping that they don''t me him for their own decisions.


    Aurora waved him away, and he was all too d to leave. After he left, she gave Evelyn a pointed look. "Remember, in the future, whenever you visit this city, never go to the ''Golden House''."


    Evelyn tilted her head curiously. "Why not?"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "Because it is a part of one of the throne''s forces. Un, although it is unlikely anything will happen, you cannot be careless."


    Evelyn nodded grimly as the person in charge of the ''Emerald House'' rushed over to greet Aurora.


    All he had heard his subordinates mention was that there was a humongous corpse floating in the sky above his hall, and there was someone who wished to sell it right outside.


    From the size alone, they estimated it to be at least grade six, no, grade seven! How could he let such a deal go?


    Aurora''s appearance wasn''t well known outside of a select few high-level people, such as the rulers of the various major powers in the continent, who had the records umted throughout their history. After all, she rarely made a public appearance.


    However, the ''Emerald House'' also had an extraordinary origin, and the person in charge was well aware of who he couldn''t afford to offend within the academy zone. This included all the reclusive pirs of the academy, even Aurora.


    Although he recognized her, however, he didn''t allow it to show on his face, and led them to the negotiation chamber with a smile. Aurora didn''t seem to care about the deal, so it became Evelyn''s smile to ''negotiate'' it.


    Evelyn thought it was a bit funny that this man''s name was also ''Rufus'', just like that moron she had met on the train.


    "Are you also from Terrazyme?"


    The ck-haired man sighed. "No, youngdy, I hail from Lumezarha. What made you think so?"


    The pink-haired girl waved her hand. "Nevermind. So, what''s your offer?"


    Manager Rufus almost groaned, wondering how bad his luck was to be stuck negotiating the deal for a grade eight beast corpse with an eight-year-old girl. "I can recognize that the corpse seems to be the ''Great Guardian of Earth'', am I right?"


    Evelyn nodded.


    Manager Rufus smiled. "Then it is guaranteed to be grade eight, and seems to be in decent shape. I can offer you eight, no, ten spirit cores!"


    This was already a generous offer, given that there weren''t that many uses for the giant beetle corpse aside from making a grade 8 armor. And although such a thing would be extremely precious, most of the ''cost'' would go towards the person skilled enough to make such a thing, and not the material itself.


    The only reason he could offer such a price was because this beast had a great reputation in Terrazyme, and some people would offer a higher price just for its origins. In the best case, the royal family might even make it a prestige issue, and pay them much more than it was worth to get it back.


    Evelyn considered his offer for a while before shaking her head. Although ten cores was a huge sum for her, considering that Cecilia''s ''Mister Chonkers'' had over a hundred cores, she felt that the manager was being too cheap. This was a genuine,plete grade 8 corpse, after all! Well, the insides were crushed, but the manager didn''t know that.


    "It''s too little."


    "Eh? T-Then how about, ten spirit cores, and 20 crystals!"


    Evelyn huffed. "Do you think I''m dumb just because I look like this? Hmph. I know that a spirit core is equal to a hundred spirit crystals, and a spirit crystal is worth a hundred spirit stones! What are you gonna offer next, ten cores, twenty crystals, and thirty stones?!"


    The manager''s eyes flicked towards Aurora nervously as he gulped. "C-Calm down, young miss, it''s just that the offer is already the upper limit of what I can give for grade eight materials"


    Evelyn gave him a skeptical look. "Is it? Then, do you sell artifacts or armor here?"


    "Y-Yes?"


    The pink-haired girl smirked. "How much does a grade eight armor cost?"


    The manager cleared his throat. "U-Un, we don''t have one in stock right now"


    Evelyn frowned. "Do you have anything at grade eight?"


    The manager rapidly wracked his brains, knowing that if he quoted a price, he was screwed. "We have an essory, but I don''t think"


    Of course, what Evelyn wanted from him was a specific number for reference, and wouldn''t settle for anything less. "How much is that worth?"


    ""


    Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "Well?"


    The manager sighed. "Miss, we don''t sell such things precious directly, and they are auctioned off at the right time, to fetch the best price"


    The pink-haired girl knew that it was pointless to argue with him anymore, since he seemed determined to never quote a price, so she could only use her trump card. "Teacher! This guy keeps bullying me and avoiding my question! You ask him, how much did he sell hisst grade eight item for?"


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 111: Scammed

    Chapter 111: Scammed


    Aurora sighed, feeling tired of listening to the two greedy people trying to argue with each other. "How much did you sell yourst grade eight item for?"


    The ck-haired man felt cold sweat drip down his back, and didn''t dare to avoid Aurora''s question at all, let alone lie. "S-Sixty cores?"


    The tinum blonde nodded. "Then give her half of that. We''re done here."


    Half of sixty cores... that was still thirty cores, which was three times what he promised! How could any reasonable person try to propose such an absurd deal?


    Unfortunately, even she was being unreasonable, the manager could only obey her. Hopefully, the higher-ups will understand his circumstances.


    Manager Rufus felt his heart bleed as he approved the transaction. ''That beast corpse isn''t even worth twelve cores! AHHH!''


    If he had known it would backfire like this, he would have called in sick today.


    Of course, he would mark it as ''cost of preventing the ''Emerald House'' from being razed to the ground'' instead of ''buying grade 8 material'', since that is what it was.


    Even if he was crying in his heart, though, he respectfully escorted the two of them out of the ''Emerald House'', and breathed a sigh of relief as they were finally gone. "Finally, it''s over."


    Now all he had to deal with was to get rid of the giant ugly beetle on top of his auction house. Thankfully, his employees were quitepetent, and already working on dismantling the corpse.


    Ruru and Bree had already fallen asleep before they reached their destination. The little fox was of course quite tired from the overuse of her ripple skill, as it put far more stress on her than it did on her master.


    As for the little puppy, perhaps she had just been lulled into sleep by watching herpanion. Evelyn could only helplessly hold onto them carefully in her left hand while Aurora held her right palm.


    As she arrived at the White Lily Pce with her loot of thirty spirit cores, Evelyn still felt that she had been scammed.


    Unfortunately, Aurora wasn''t in a very good mood, so she decided it wasn''t worth annoying her further. Otherwise, she nned to try exchanging the corpse for that choker.


    After all, an actual grade eight item was worth far more than some spirit cores lying in her inventory.


    As Aurora led her student back to the White Lily Pce''s gate, she gave the pink-haired girl a pointed look. "In the future, you cannot use your teacher to bully people, okay?"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but pout. "But wasn''t he the one who bullied me?"


    Had the manager heard her, he might have alreadymitted suicide.


    Aurora sighed. "Okay. Everyone has their own path. I will teach you what I know. But you decide what to learn I understand. Un."


    The pink-haired girl smiled as she happily clutched the tinum blonde''s palm, making the girl blink at her in surprise. "Thank you, Aurora! I never thought I would be lucky enough to meet someone like you in the academy. To be honest, you''re right. I was being too greedy. That beast was your kill, anyway, and these spirit cores are also yours. But"


    Sensing her hesitation, Aurora gave her student an encouraging nod.


    Evelyn bit her lip. "Actually, I''m desperate. You understand, right?"


    Aurora shook her head. "No. I don''t understand. I don''t get your desperation. I never understood my mother''s desperation, either. Why struggle so much? If you cannot help it, just live life as you can, and whatever happens is your destiny."


    Evelyn didn''t agree with that at all, but considering how much Aurora had grown, and how much stronger than herself she was, the pink-haired girl felt that refuting her directly wouldn''t be able to convince her teacher anyway.


    So she could take a set sideways. "What you said is not wrong, Aurora, but this is how I want to live my life. I don''t wish to surrender to ''my fate'', since my fate will be written by myself!"


    Evelyn felt like she had punched empty air after Aurora left with just a nod and no more words, but making her point known to her teacher was also a crucial step for her.


    After all, she realized how much her growth rate could increase with Aurora''s help, and there was no way she could give it up now. Just entering and exiting the ''Wondend of Doom'' would have been a life-threatening ordeal before, but with Aurora, it had been like a pic!


    Moreover, she was incredibly generous and liberal with her resources, which would allow Evelyn to grow by leaps and bounds in a far shorter amount of time than she previously imagined.


    As long as Aurora made these trips to the ''Wondend of Doom'' frequent enough, she would be all set.


    In fact, if not for the interruption by Craig, she would have looked for some contaminated beasts that could be processed using Bree''s purification. However, his interruption did end up bringing her 30 extra spirit cores, so she wasn''tining.


    Moreover, the mighty Crown Prince of Terrazyme even ended up crippled!


    The only regretful thing was that he was probably still alive, but there was little Evelyn could do about that right now.


    After all, Professor Dane wasn''t dead yet, either. Even if she decided to go back and look for them, the one to end up dying might just be herself.


    And the other regretful thing was that due to the ''Terran Infestation'' in the forest, Aurora had canceled her n to train her there for a while. She wouldn''t even be teaching her anymore, since she would be leading a team of pirs into the forest to look into what was going on.


    Evelyn was probably the only student who would know, though.


    Of course, even if she knew, there was little she could do to change anything. Aurora wouldn''t let here along, and insisted that she stay inside the academy during this time.


    Evelyn ced her purple badge on the door, and it opened without a sound.


    Perhaps Vivian had already fallen asleep, but Amara was waiting not far from the door with a concerned frown. "You''re finally back! Are you okay? You didn''t get hurt, did you?"


    Evelyn sighed as she made a shushing gesture to the girl before entering her room first andying down Ruru and Bree on the bed.


    She gave Amara a nod after she returned outside. "I was with Aurora most of the time, so of course nothing dangerous happened."


    "O-Oh, I guess that''s true Still, you have to be careful if she ever takes you there again. I''ve only heard bad things about the ce!"


    Evelyn shook her head with a smile. "Don''t worry, that n is canceled for a while anyway. I''ll just be attending regr sses from tomorrow, I guess."


    Amara couldn''t help but be shocked. "E-Eh? W-What happened?!"


    The pink-haired girl sighed. She didn''t think there was any harm in telling Amara, so she just didn''t bother hiding it. Of course, there was no point in needlessly making her worry, either. "Don''t worry, nothing happened to us, but there were some suspicious activities in the forest, so Aurora decided to investigate on her ownter."


    Amara breathed a sigh of relief. "Ohh. That''s fine, then."


    For a moment, she had even wondered if Evelyn''s teacher had abandoned her, but thankfully that had not been the case. Otherwise, she didn''t know how Evelyn would react, and if she would even be able to console her.


    After all, Amara could feel that Evelyn''s desire for getting stronger was even greater than her own, and losing what was probably her greatest source of growth would surely be devastating for the girl.


    Meanwhile, back in the Eastern Forbidden City, the manager had just started to calm his heart when a panickeddy burst into his office. "M-Manager, this is bad!"


    The ck-haired man gave the obviously disgruntled woman a strange look. This was the person responsible for directing the disassembling team, wasn''t she? A strange, dreadful feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he questioned her. "What''s wrong?"


    "I-I''m afraid we''ve been scammed!"


    The manager almost rolled his eyes, but then he realized that he hadn''t told anyone how much he actually paid for the beast. How could they know? "W-Why would you say that?!"


    The woman gulped. "M-Manager, although the beast looks like it was killed using some strange attack that left its body intact, in fact, everything inside is already destroyed! Only the shell is intact!"


    Although the shell was definitely the most valuable part of this beast corpse, if the insides had been intact, all together they would still be worth about four or five spirit cores. Without it, the shell was only worth about five cores or so.


    That is to say, he hadn''t overpaid them by three times, no, he had overpaid them almost six times!


    And to make things worse, they had never even mentioned anything about the condition of its insides. It was all his assumption he couldn''t even cry if he wanted to.


    In the end, Manager Rufus really fainted.

 Chapter 112: Annoying Augury

    Chapter 112: Annoying Augury


    The next day taught Evelyn why she should always take care of exining things properly to her friends. Even if running away would allow her to rx at first,ter on, it would always cause her a major headache.


    Not only had she already spent almost half an hour consoling Vivian and the others, even when she thought she could rx in the ''Beast Taming'' ss, Amber came to her crying, giving her another headache.


    "Wuu I thought something had happened when you didn''te to ss yesterday!"


    Evelyn patted the girl''s head, feeling a little helpless. Although Amber''s orange eyes looked very cute when they were wet with tears, she also felt bad for making the little girl cry. "My teacher just took me out for a little trip, nothing happened, don''t worry."


    The auburn-haired girl sniffled. "Un, un, I got it"


    Evelyn didn''t know whether it was the absence of Professor Dane or having Amber to keep herpany, but this beast taming ss was far more bearable than what she expected.


    In fact, getting to know a few little tidbits about various beasts in this world while the teacher gave them practical demonstrations as well was quite entertaining.


    Of course, the new teacher seemed a bit amateurish, a young looking girl who looked like she should be an apprentice instead of a professor, but Evelyn preferred someone inexperienced who earnestly tried their best to teach whenpared to someone experienced who didn''t try at all.


    Unfortunately, this wasn''t the only ss for the day, and the next one happened to be the one that Amber had warned her of.


    At first, Evelyn had been a bit happy that she wouldn''t have to attend the ss in Maker''s Mansion today, as not only was the teacher extremely condescending, she had also not had the time to go through ''Arms Codex: I'' yet, since she was quite busy yesterday.


    However, Madam Augury soon proved to her how hateful someone can be.


    "Hey you, standing beside that good for nothing piece of trash, the one with the annoying pink hair! Howe I don''t remember seeing your ugly mug in thest ss?!"


    Evelyn frowned. Although this woman looked like a kind old white haireddy, her attitude was truly just the opposite. "I was with professor Aurora, you can ask her if you have any"


    The olddy scoffed. "Are you threatening me?! Hmph. Disgusting. Bringing out your ''backing'' to cover up for such minor things like missing ss. I assume you''re from one of those trash ''ancient families'', right?"


    Evelyn remained silent, and the olddy sent a wave of spirit power directly to the purple badge pinned on the girl''s chest.


    "Let''s see Evelyn Knox. A privileged princess of the ancient Knox family. As I expected. Alright, let''s see what the affinities of a genius like you look like. Come, it is just right for a privileged brat like you to waste the time for everyone else. Here, channel your spirit power through this stone!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but get a bad feeling as soon as she saw the red stone. ''Don''t tell me it''s fire, right?''


    After all, her affinity for fire element was the lowest.


    Unfortunately, her premonition proved to be right, and the olddy didn''t let go of the chance to mock her at all.


    "Thirty percent! As expected of trash! I mean ''genius''! Ahahaha!"


    There were a few mocking chuckles from the students, and Evelyn spotted the group with Rufus, as well as another strange group that she hadn''t seen in any of the other sses before.


    It wasn''t much of a surprise that she didn''t know them, though, since apart from the introductory sses, all the other years would also be mixed together with them. Perhaps they were just upper year students, though they looked the same age.


    With the olddy''s attitude, it was no surprise to Evelyn why none of the older students had shown up for her ss.


    She had no intention to let the olddy keep mocking her, professor or not. "Fire element is my worst affinity, I''ve already had them tested. Besides, affinity does not"


    Augury pped, interrupting her with a grin. "Alright! Give this one a go, then, I''ll give you another chance to prove that you''re not trash."


    Evelyn knew with just a look at the half-transparent green stone that it must be for testing wind affinity.


    Even if she could have passed off the first one as a coincidence, there was no way that this ''Madam Augury'' managed to pick out two of her worst affinities to demonstrate in front of everyone just like that.


    Evelyn knew that this whole show was just a farce that the woman had probably already nned out, though she couldn''t guess her intentions. ''It''s not hard for her to get a hold of my affinities. They were tested publicly during my ceremony, after all. And for a professor to get a hold of my name and other details can''t be that hard, either''


    Just the fact that this woman dared to call Amber a worthless piece of trash had already put her on Evelyn''s list of scum, but she clearly seemed intent to climb to the top of that list, targeting her like this.


    Evelyn had no intention of cooperating to let the woman humiliate herself further, and turned around to leave with a huff.


    "Hey, who allowed you to go?"


    The door to the room closed itself with a bang, and Evelyn turned around, her brows furrowed in displeasure. "You clearly have something against me, and I doubt you have any intention or capability of teaching me anything anyway, so I would rather leave than waste my time"


    The olddy gave her a cold look as she stomped her foot on the ground, the resounding boom immediately turning the whole room silent. "Hey brat, who allowed you to talk like that to me? Be grateful that I don''t do corporeal punishments, or a piece of trash like you would have been a smear on the floor already. Don''t forget your ce!"


    Evelyn''s mouth had snapped shut the moment the olddy stomped her foot, and she couldn''t open it even if she wanted to. ''T-This woman!''


    Helpless, she could only take out the ribbon that Aurora had given her earlier in case she was in trouble, but the olddy just waved her hands with a smile. "Hey now, don''t show that to me, what am I supposed to do with it? Just take your seat and listen. Maybe even trash like you can learn something."


    Amber squeezed her hand as the two of them helplessly took the backbench. With the door closed, there was nowhere they could go anyway.


    Madam Augury didn''t pay the two of them any attention. In fact, she didn''t pay any attention to anyone in the ss at all.


    Her focus remained entirely on the strange group of ten Evelyn had spotted earlier, eight boys and two girls. The olddy spent the entirety of the ss giving them one on one personal guidance in turn.


    Each of the students in the group also seemed to be quite well versed in wielding the elements as well. ''Strange''


    Unfortunately, with Aurora not being in the academy, Evelyn couldn''t just rush off to her tower toin, and could only gloomily move to the next ss with Amber.


    Of course, Evelyn fully intended toin about this ''Madam Augury'' and everything she had done to Aurora, whether it seemed childish or not. After all, the woman had even dared to ignore Aurora''s ribbon. But that would have to wait till her teacher returned.


    The rest of the ss had probably already reached the hall for ''Physical Combat'' ss, though the two of them should still be able to get there in time.


    The little girl tried her best to cheer her up. "Y-You don''t have to take her words to heart! She''s just a meandy! Un."


    Evelyn smiled as she squeezed her hand back. "Thank you. You''re such a sweet kid."


    Amber looked away, feeling a little embarrassed. "W-We''re the same age!"


    The pink haired girl chuckled. "Right. By the way, did those strange people that Augury focused so much on attend thest ss as well?"


    The orange eyed girl nodded. "Un. She introduced them as a group, though I don''t know their names. Uh, I think they were called ''The Champion''s Club'' or something?"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be curious. "Oh?"


    Amber nodded. "Yep, Madam Augury looked very proud when introducing them, and said thatpared to worthless trash like us, her champions are a thousand times better."


    The pink haired girl nodded. ''Going by their skills in manipting elements, it looks like she''s been training them for a while. And none of them look like they have spirit physiques either, which is just strange.''


    Evelyn felt a little regretful that she hadn''t managed to probe them before Augury cast that restriction on her to make her shut up, thus also preventing her use of spirit power for the rest of the ss.


    ''Well, doesn''t matter. Since they are more or less the same age, it shouldn''t be possible for them to be higher level than myself. In fact, they should be at a significantly lower level. I don''t believe many people have artifacts that can block my skill, and if my guess is correct I should be able to see what''s so special about them soon enough.''


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 113: Easily Bullied?

    Chapter 113: Easily Bullied?


    The physicalbat ss this time was to be held in an open ground instead of the hall they had picked out their weapons in, and the two of them managed to get there just in time for the professors to arrive.


    As beginners, the younger students were paid more attention to by the two instructors on the field, and they quickly picked out a few problem children that they thought required more attention to get started with, including Evelyn.


    The male professor continued to direct students into one-on-one spars against each other, pointing out mistakes in their stance, while the female one seemed to have been the one left to deal with the younger problem children.


    Just like the subject of ''Science'' was divided into ''Physics'', ''Chemistry'' and ''Biology'' after a while, most subjects in this world were no different.


    Physicalbat, for example, would have separate sses for weapons mastery and form mastery. And of course, these subjects wouldter have specializations of their own.


    What made it all really confusing, however, was the fact that the students were thrown into the system all at once, with only a single ss to get themselves familiar with it all before mixing in with the older students.


    As this was one of the first sses for new students, the professors wouldn''t bepletely merciless and ignore them to continue with advanced topics. Which was why most of the older students wouldn''t be attending these sses with them.


    This was why, when E showed up, even the female professor who had been approaching Evelyn was surprised.


    To be able to be appointed as a prefect, her performance in various assessments was, without a doubt, top-notch. Even if the professors were usually aloof, when it came to the outstanding students, they would of course have some favorable impression. "E."


    The girl with seaweed green hair smiled as she approached them. "Professor. It''s been a while since Ist visited your ss, felt like I was missing out so I took some time out today."


    The two of them continued their small talk for a while before E patted Evelyn''s head. "Was there any issue with this student? She''s someone I know, so I might be able to help you teach her, if you like?"


    The female professor blinked in surprise before shaking her head with a smile. "No issue, really. I was a little curious if she was aware of her weapon''s liabilities, but I guess you canmunicate that better with her yourself. I''ll go teach other students, you help guide your friend."


    After that, the professor didn''t pay them any more mind as she really moved on to guide the other students.


    E chuckled once the three of them were ''alone'', as most other students nervously waited for their turns to be ''scolded'' by the professor. "You know, Evelyn, this little thing by your side actually came crying to me yesterday, telling me her friend had gone missing and all. From the look on your face, I guess she didn''t tell you?"


    Amber looked away, her face flushed. "I-I was just a little worried."


    Evelyn scratched the back of her head, also feeling a little embarrassed."It was actually my fault for not letting her know I wouldn''t be attending sses as regrly."


    She knew that Amber hadn''t been very familiar with E, who was just their n leader''s daughter. It must have taken a lot of courage for the girl to approach someone like that for help. After all, she hadn''t even known how familiar Evelyn was with E, and whether or not it would help her case much.


    "It''s no big deal. Anyway, most of the students rarely attend sses after the first two years. We focus mostly on practical experience and leveling up, so I was also somewhat ''free'', so to speak."


    Evelyn nodded. "By the way, can you tell me more about ''Madam Augury''?"


    The green haired girl frowned. "Eh? Why her? Don''t tell me you''re having trouble with elemental mastery? You can''t ck off on that subject, you know. Mastering the elements is quite essential to properly"


    The pink haired girl cleared her throat, interrupting her tirade. "It''s not that I don''t want to learn, she just seems to hold a grudge against me. I don''t think I can learn anything even if I want to. What I don''t understand is why? I''ve never been in contact with her before."


    Amber felt like the older girl would doubt Evelyn''s words, and also nodded in support. "S-She''s super mean! She called me a good-for-nothing piece of trash, and didn''t try to teach any of us anything! All she cares about is that stupid champion''s club!"


    E furrowed her brows, rubbing her chin in thought. "Oh champion''s club? I''ve never heard of it And Madam Augury wasn''t like that from what I remember what the heck?"


    Seeing how instead of getting any answers, all she managed to do was confuse the older girl, Evelyn couldn''t help but sigh. "Alright, since you don''t know, don''t worry about it too much. Look into it if you can, though, and let me know? I''m in the first chamber of White Lily Pce, if you ever need toe. You too, Amber."


    Thankfully, there were no further incidents for the rest of the day, and Evelyn managed to even learn a few minor things before she got back to her ce.


    The first one to greet her at the door was the younger Gilmore sister, Vivian, who crashed into her arms, making Ruru jump to the ground to escape angrily. "Evey is backkk! Let''s yy! Oh, by the way, your friend is also here. Oh, but you''re not allowed to leave with her without telling us!"


    Evelyn chuckled. "Don''t worry. Unless it''s an emergency, we''ll y a lotter. All five of us."


    "Yay!"


    And of course, the person she had been waiting to grab hold of for a while was right there, once again ying ''Kingdom'' with Cecilia on the floor, which seemed to be some sort of chess or checkers, neither of which was familiar to Evelyn.


    Cecilia looked smug as she knocked over thest of Aurora''s pieces. "You lost again, fufu"


    The tinum blonde red at the board, her eyes slightly wet. "I-It''s not fair that my soldiers can''t fight back when you kill them"


    Cecilia chuckled. "Well, professor, that''s how the game works. Your soldiers can''t fight back in my turn, and mine can''t do it in yours. How is that unfair?"


    Noticing her student had finally arrived, Aurora took the opportunity to escape,pletely ignoring the other girl. "Y-You''re here, finally. Let''s go. Un, we can talk in your room."


    Evelyn smiled, wondering how Cecilia got the courage to start bullying someone like Aurora. But looking at the ten-year-old girl towering over the tinum blonde by almost three inches, she felt a little speechless. ''How tragic''


    Of course, she wasn''t dumb enough to point it out, and just led Aurora to her room.


    "How were things in the forest?"


    The tinum blonde shook her head. "We found a few people, but they''re just bugs. Don''t know anything, can''t do anything. I need to find that Craig boy again, before he manages to escape."


    Evelyn nodded.


    Aurora looked her up and down before sighing. "I shouldn''t havee back, but I was worried you would be bullied."


    Evelyn blinked. "Eh? Do I look easily bullied?"


    In her opinion, Aurora was far more easily bullied than herself, even though she was much stronger. She had seen a live demonstration just a few minutes ago, after all.


    The tinum blonde nodded. "You got bullied by that Dane boy on the first day. Hm now that I think about it, you didn''t provoke him first, did you?"


    Evelyn almost rolled her eyes. "Why would you think that? I would never provoke someone for no reason. Moreover, he''s so much stronger than me. That''s just seeking death for no reason."


    Aurora would have believed her, had it not been for her personal experience. "Bad girl, you even tried to provoke me! Am I weaker than him? Un, I shouldn''t just punish people for bullying you in the future. I should check first, maybe you deserved to be bullied. Hmph."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but pout. "Hey, that''s not fair, you know. I really didn''t provoke him! By the way, someone did bully me today, but I guess you won''t help me now. I can just keep being bullied even though teacher said you will help me when you can"


    Looking at her student''s ''depressed'' face, Aurora furrowed her brows. "Huh? Someone really dared to bully you?"


    The pink haired girl nodded. "Mhm. There''s this ''Madam Augury'' who teaches elemental mastery, and she first made fun of my affinities for being too low, and then"


    Evelyn went on to describe the whole event, and didn''t miss a single detail of what happened, including Augury ignoring Aurora''s keepsake.

 Chapter 114: Who Would Dare?

    Chapter 114: Who Would Dare?


    The tinum blonde''s face was gloomy and ''terrifying'', though Evelyn thought she just looked sad and bullied. Unfortunately, this adorable little thing might not react so well if she tried to pet her, so Evelyn could only keep her hands to herself. ''Ruru and Bree are still more adorable, after all It''s okay''


    "W-What are your affinities again?"


    Evelyn blinked, wondering if that was even relevant after everything else she had mentioned. "Oh? Well, my lowest is fire, which is thirty percent, and then wind, which is fifty. My highest is lightning, which is ny percent. Augury said I was a talentless piece of trash. Does she need every student to have maxed out affinities or something?"


    Aurora, who had all her affinities in single digits except for water, almost cracked her teeth from how hard she was gritting them. "A-Augury!"


    Evelyn had already inquired a little about Madam Augury from E the previous day, and knew that she was a senior professor just like Dane.


    However,pared to the red haired professor who was so casually expelled from the academy, Evelyn didn''t think Augury''s ending would be the same.


    After all, Aurora didn''t seem to want to pamper her too much now, and was already quite reluctant to help her without good reason.


    If not for her trying her best to convince the tinum blonde, Evelyn thought that she wouldn''t have done anything at all.


    In fact, she still wasn''t quite sure what to expect as she walked to the elemental mastery ss again. Before she even got inside the building, however, Evelyn got her answer.


    Madam Augury, who was usually so conceited and arrogant, was currently eating dirt as Aurora pushed her head to the ground, stepping on her angrily. "W-Who did you call trash? I-Idiot Augury! I''ll kill you!"


    Of course, the fact that Aurora had waited till the morning to do this meant that she wanted all the students to see Augury''s state.


    The olddy wanted nothing more than to scream indignantly, but she couldn''t even do that.


    This was the most disgusting part about Aurora, which she had always hated deep down. People like her, even if they were only slightly weaker than the girl, wouldn''t even be able to resist her attacks at all.


    It was one thing to know an opponent could defeat you, and another thing entirely to be helplessly humiliated like this.


    Aurora hadn''te alone, and Evelyn wondered who the three cloaked people following her were, to be courageous enough to disturb her in such a state.


    "Young miss, you can''t be so willful all the time. I think you''ve already vented your anger, no?"


    "Augury has been serving the academy faithfully for so long. You already expelled Dane without proper trial just before, if you do this again"


    Aurora huffed. "Hmph. Alright since all of the pirs seem to support you so much, I''ll let you go this time. Pack your stuff and get out of the academy. If I see your face when Ie tomorrow, or hear about you bullying my student again, I''ll definitely kill you!"


    Feeling truly disgraced and humiliated, the older woman didn''t even bother justifying herself. After all, even the pirs had only spoken in her ''favor'' as if it was troublesome for Aurora to expel two senior professors twice in a row. They clearly didn''t value her at all.


    Her centuries of service to the academy were in vain!


    After the older woman left, Aurora realized that if her words spread, Evelyn might really be able to walk around feeling invincible among her peers, and even seniors! That wouldn''t be conducive to her growth at all!


    She cleared her throat. "D-Don''t misunderstand, t-that warning was just for idiot Augury. Everyone else can bully Evelyn, un, I definitely won''t do anything."


    Of course, who would believe her?


    Even after Aurora had left with the three cloaked figures, the rest of the students continued to stare at Evelyn awkwardly.


    Towards this strange girl who had already caused two senior professors to be expelled, none of them dared to have any thoughts anymore. After all, even if they tried to befriend her, who knew what would happen if she got just mildly annoyed by something? It was better to stay away.


    Perhaps only Amber, who already considered herself to be Evelyn''s friend, could continue sticking close to her.


    Of course, ''Elemental Mastery'' had more professors than just Augury, though she was the senior-most professor of the department, and often took the lead when it came to introducing new students to the subject. Not long after Aurora left, several junior professors came to diffuse the situation, and the ''ss'' was soon started while ignoring the oppressive atmosphere.


    Evelyn thought that expelling the senior professor was definitely good for their ss, and even the department as a whole in the end, because she at least managed to learn some things this time. Even if the junior professors were less knowledgeable, they were at least willing to share their knowledge.


    The headmaster sighed as he watched the enraged Madam Augury send her talismans and artifacts flying into spatial storage devices.


    Though they were generallypact, spatial storage devices couldn''t store on another, and their individual storage capacity was, of course, limited as well.


    So it was no surprise that by the time Augury was done, she was already carrying a huge stash of nothing but spatial artifacts ranging from rings and nes to bracelets and belts. She almost looked like a vagrant.


    "Just stay in one of the forbidden cities for a while. I don''t know why Aurora has been so unreasonabletely, but you know her, she will soon enough stop caring about everything and go stare at herke. At that time, I can try to"


    The olddy sneered. "Thanks for the offer, headmaster, but no thanks. I''m done working here, where no one appreciates my work anyway. All I ask is you take care of the children I was bringing up earlier. I won''t care about what she did today on the count that she''s just a stupid little girl on the inside, but if I hear about her harming my kids"


    The ck haired man shook his head. "Don''t worry. I guarantee that I won''t let anyone harm my students like that. Not even Aurora."


    It didn''t take long for the old woman to finish her ''packing up'', and she left without looking back.


    The headmaster didn''t know if she would take his advice to stay in one of the forbidden cities, or if she would really just leave altogether.


    Compared to Dane, who had been thrown out and had all his artifacts destroyed, the ck haired man felt that Augury was surely ''lucky'', since she could easily cross the wondend like this.


    It wouldn''t be wrong to say that half of their strength came from their equipment, and the headmaster was more familiar with this fact than anything else. The difference between Professor Dane, who had all his artifacts destroyed, and Madam Augury, who still retained them all, was like night and day.


    The longer they lived, the more time they had to not only cultivate their own strength, but also to get hold of suitable lucky chances and suitable artifacts. If someone managed to snatch each of his belongings, the headmaster knew that his heart would bleed.


    In fact, he would probably go crazy on the spot.


    Only an abnormal existence like Aurora, who didn''t seem to care about artifacts at all, could im not to be the same.


    And even for her, the headmaster considered the idea foolish.


    After all, even though Aurora was supposedly much stronger than him, the headmaster knew that if he managed to use all his artifacts just right, taking her down wouldn''t be impossible.


    For the strongest of their pirs to be so ''poor'' was really too much, but there was little the headmaster could do about that. "Hopefully Aurora won''t continue doing these stupid things anymore. It''s really starting to get on my nerve. What''s she leading the pirs into the forest for, anyway? Why not at least let me know? I''m the headmaster!"


    Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Terrazyme, word of the ''Guardian Beast of Earth'' being dead finally reached the King''s ears.


    Although the beast itself was more or less ''independent'', it was a well-known fact that it had been living in their kingdom for centuries, and often cooperated with the royal family.


    "WHAT! Who dared to"


    Although the messenger was shaking in his boots, not able to respond at all, the roaring king calmed down on his own as he waved his hand. "Leave. Send in the Second General."


    Very few organizations had the ability to y the beast, and even fewer had the guts. Of course, he knew that the beast had been sent to the Wondend of Doom, in which case, its death must definitely be their doing. "Hmph. They dare to tear their face with us, do they?"


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 115: Tristans Obsession

    Chapter 115: Tristan''s Obsession


    Although Aurora''s actions rubbed many professors the wrong way, there was little they could do about it, and most didn''t think it would end up affecting them much anyway, since they wouldn''t go bothering a particr student for no reason, after all.


    However, there was one professor in particr who cared about the matter very much, and on her, Aurora''s ''warning'' served to have the opposite effect instead.


    When they first met, she had been but an average student, with her only specialty being able to get along better with beasts. And now, she was already a junior professor in the ancient academy. Donna thought that things would remain the same for the years toe, with herself growing to be a senior professor as well, and they would live happily ever after.


    On the day they had been caught trying to escape, Donna had never thought that Dane would soon be getting expelled from the academy.


    Although most of his belongings that hadn''t been on his person were now transferred to her, it didn''t bring Donna much joy. After, all she hadn''t married Dane out of greed, and they had already beenpanions for nearly fifty years at this point.


    At first, she had thought that Aurora had been annoyed with Dane because of his ''disobedience'' of her orders, and that was why he had been expelled, with the little student only being used as an excuse.


    As for why Donna herself was spared, she thought that Aurora probably didn''t consider her worthy of attention.


    However, now that another senior professor had been expelled, and this time there was clearly no other matter except for that very same student, Donna suddenly realized that things may have been much different from what she expected at first.


    "So she really did expel Dane for offending a child seriously?!"


    Even if she wanted to favor the little girl, wasn''t it just as easy to just cancel whatever punishments Dane had ordered, and then just tell him not to do it again? There was absolutely no reason to do it like this! And what she did with Madam Augury was even worse!


    Donna could feel a deep surge of both hatred and helplessness in her heart.


    But even if she could do nothing against Aurora, it didn''t mean she couldn''t do anything against her student.


    Of course, acting against the girl herself directly was out of the question. She would just be another fish on the chopping block once Aurora returned, and Donna didn''t want that, at all.


    It wasn''t that she was selfish. Donna simply preferred to remain a professor and wait for her husband to contact her again. She knew he must be safe, and he must surely want revenge of his own. Only once she made sure he didn''t need her to carry out any ns from the inside would she leave the academy.


    But that brought forth the question how to teach that arrogant little girl a lesson without getting directly involved?


    Well, turns out that she didn''t have to think about it much at all, because there was already a bunch of clowns who made their hatred of the girl all too well known, and they served as the perfect pawns for herself.


    Tristan knew that things weren''t going good from the moment he returned to the academy with his friends. Although their mission had gone well, and they had earned quite a bit of contribution points, all his joy was wiped out in an instant when he heard the name of that ursed girl being mentioned with awe and fear.


    But after learning the truth of the matter, Tristan almostughed out loud. Apparently, the girl had somehow managed to get a senior professor expelled.


    This was just a joke of a rumor that even an idiot wouldn''t believe.


    In the ancient academy, the regr students were the lowest tier of existence, like small fish in arge body of water, simply trying their best to grab as much food as they could to grow more.


    Of course, this food was thrown into their ''pond'' by their masters the professors. As for prefects, they could be considered the ''favorite fish'' of these masters, who would be thrown the most food, and were assured to grow faster than the other fish.


    Even the smallest of these masters, the ''junior professors'', were far beyond the reach of tiny fish like them. That was how Tristan understood it, and that was how everything had been from what he observed so far.


    The mere thought that a fish sshing in the water could in any way hurt the master out of the pond was just hrious to Tristan. Which idiot came up with such a thing?


    ''Don''t tell me that stupid bitch herself tried to spread this around after the teacher got expelled, so she can be famous and get praised here too, just like in the Knox mansion?! Hah, keep dreaming.''


    He couldn''t wait to see her get ridiculed.


    Compared to spending any effort himself, if she ended up doing it on her own, it would definitely be more satisfying.


    Unfortunately, he seemed to have overestimated the intelligence of his fellow students, because he heard not a peep of ridicule about the girl, and just as he was getting impatient, what he heard was an even more ridiculous rumor.


    "Madam Augury got expelled because of Evelyn?!"


    "Y-Yeah, I''m not joking, Tristan. I made sure to check it with multiple people who saw it with their own eyes. Aurora expelled her personally, though what she said next isn''t clear. People keep making contradictory statements about it."


    Tristan furrowed his brows. "Huh? What do you mean?"


    The boy sighed. He had been one of Ryan''s closest followers for many years, and never thought that his friend would end up sticking him with a burden like this while leaving.


    Well, he would still be a subordinate of the Reynolds family after he graduated from the academy, so might as wellplete thest task his future boss had left him with. All he had to do was assist this ''sworn brother'' from time to time, easy, right?


    And it really had been alright, the boy was a quick learner, and had decent social skills. Unfortunately, he was unnaturally obsessed with his younger cousin, and the moment the girl came to the academy, things seemed to have turned for the worse.


    He could only shrug and repeat what he heard. "Some people say that she dered that no one is allowed to bully her student, and some say that she said she didn''t care about it at all. Some others even say that she ''asked'' that people bully her student. It''s all a mess."


    Tristan''s eyes brightened as he suddenly seemed to realize the truth. "I get it now! Hah! That stupid idiot thinks she''s so clever, huh?"


    Obviously, what had happened was that something happened with Professor Dane and Aurora privately, which caused her to expel him from the academy, and that pink-haired idiot took advantage of that to spread rumors in her favor.


    Aurora either didn''t hear about it then, or didn''t care.


    But then, whatever the matter was, it also involved another senior professor! And once she dealt with Madam Augury and expelled her as well, Aurora must have recalled the rumors from earlier, and didn''t want the situation to repeat, so she rified that she wasn''t protecting Evelyn!


    It was all so simple, but the other students didn''t understand at all.


    ''It must be because that bitch is too good at manipting people, making her think she''s better than she actually is!''


    Of course, now that he knew about it, he had to expose her. And he wouldn''t stop there, of course, but he still had to get the first step out first before he could take the next one.


    With the help of Reynold''s group of friends, Tristan didn''t think it would be difficult to bring someone like Evelyn down at all.


    Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine, however, that a professor would approach him at this time, just as he was about to set his n into motion.


    "W-What''s going on? P-Professor Donna, w-why are you here?"


    After all, this was the ''Blue Note Mansion'', one of the biggest boy''s dormitories in the ancient academy, and a ce where the presence of the opposite sex was rarer than hens'' teeth.


    This wasn''t because of any rule from the academy, or the females disdaining the boys. Instead, it was because of the natural array below the blue note mansion, which boosted the natural growth rate of all males in the area, and reduced the same for the females.


    For the boys, this was a heavenly ce to cultivate in, but for the girls, every minute spent here was the same as cutting off a part of their natural growth forever.


    And Professor Donna, though not a female student, was also giving up a part of her ''growth potential'' simply from being here. Whatever her reason was foring here it couldn''t be good.


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 116: Broken Pillar

    Chapter 116: Broken Pir


    Aurora was, without a doubt, the strongest expert in the ancient academy, and she knew it. Even if the other three pirs were stronger than her if theybined their strength, no two of them could confidently say they could beat her in a fight.


    As for the headmaster, although he was stronger than the other three pirs individually, any two of them could easily crush them by joining forces. The question of facing Aurora, therefore, didn''t even need to be asked.


    However, Aurora was also well aware of the fact that she was taken seriously by neither the headmaster nor the pirs. They thought of her as a child, and thought that most of what she spouted was nonsense.


    It was only because of her strength that they still obeyed her. However, she knew that there was a limit to what she could do.


    Even earlier, the pirs had dared to interrupt her when she was administering punishment to Augury, right in front of all the students. It definitely did not feel good, but Aurora wasn''t sure if fighting them over it would be a good idea.


    Especially since currently, none of them seemed satisfied with her, and perhaps a fight breaking out was exactly what they sought.


    Aurora knew she couldn''t give them such an opportunity, because even if she could escape alive in the end, the academy might not be able to survive the aftermath.


    Despite all theplex feelings she had for her mother, the reason she still ''fulfilled'' herst wish of helping the Lotus Throne''s chosen was because Aurora knew that it was the only way for the academy to survive. And if her own actions led to its doom, wouldn''t it all be pointless?


    After all, regardless of how they treated her, it was still her only ''home''.


    The foundation of the academy wasn''t its teachers, or even the students. Even if they all died and no one but Aurora was left, it would only take a few centuries for people to slowly pour in from the outside, repopting it.


    The foundation, and the thing which would attract these people were the ''resources'' that the academy was able to provide.


    In the old world, the highest grade of cultivation technique one could find outside of the academy would still be a low grade one. However, in the ''Tower of Solitude'', such ''treasures'' were like grains of sand in a desert, and not to mention the hundreds of mid-grade techniques, there were even dozens of high-grade ones!


    And unlike other resources, this crucial resource was inexhaustible. The only thing they had to make sure of was that they didn''t lose the disks, and that they were returned to the tower on time, only being used by those they were lent to.


    It wasn''t wrong to say that half the academy''s foundation could be destroyed simply by taking away the ''Tower of Solitude''. This was why all four pirs had their residences surrounding that tower, including Aurora.


    This way, only once someone had managed to get hold of a high-grade cultivation technique through some other means would the academy lose its allure. And even then, they would have to have some means of acquiring cultivation resources that were superior to what the academy could provide.


    As for where these resources came from, most people, including the headmaster and the other pirs, assumed that they must be from the ''savings'' from the past, subsidized by the students'' and teachers'' contributions, but Aurora knew the truth.


    What the students and teachers contributed to the academy was only a tiny fraction of what was given out to them, and the source of all these resources was the academy''s greatest secret, and the reason why Aurora''s mother feared that one day, a throne woulde knocking on their door.


    Aurora had yet to meet the two ''grown up'' thrones personally, but from what she gathered, it was impossible for anyone but another throne to be able to resist one. At least, that is what her mother believed.


    Their rate of growth was too fast, and their skills too unpredictable.


    Having seen her own student raise her strength by at least twenty levels in just a few days, Aurora had already seen how terrifying a throne could be.


    But Evelyn was still a child, and she still needed a ce that allowed her to grow before she would be ready to face another throne. It was a pity that she couldn''t reveal such a thing to others, for she did not trust them. And they kept trying to hinder her growth, which was intolerable.


    Especially the Terrans! Not only were they already invading her student''s home country, now they even dared to invade the wondend of doom! How much more audacious can one get? Just what were they aiming for?


    There was no way she could just sit around and wait for the Terrans to make their move. Although they had always failed before, neither the academy''s strength nor its unity was what it used to be. It was far better to either figure out or foil their ns in advance.


    Of course, the Wondend of Doom was far too vast, even for her, to search through on its own before the Terran Prince managed to escape.


    She didn''t need the other pirs to put in a hundred percent of their effort. Even if they scouted the area as a formality, it was far more effective than dozens of senior professorsbined.


    And as she expected, even though the other three pirs didn''t seem too interested in actually looking for clues, and only performed their surface-level obligations while entertaining themselves, they had already managed to dig out dozens of ''spies'', and she was hopeful that the prince would soon reveal himself.


    Aurora never expected, that at that moment, one of the pirs had already found the prince.


    "Ah, Craig, Dane. Here you are."


    The Terran Prince had already been in a terrible state when he had first been lost in the forest, and now, his condition was far worsepared to that day.


    With one of his legs no more than a stump, and his face pale and dirty, the prince looked no different from a pauper as he pointed a shaky finger at the cloaked man. "H-H-How"


    He had been discretely hiding in that cave with Professor Dane, and had even used his most precious two consumable artifacts,pletely abandoning any hope of saving them. One of them was to hide their presence almost perfectly, as long as the other party didn''t know their exact location, while the other was to alert people with the ''Terran Seed'' nearby.


    Of course, this was ast resort, since the chances of someone just stumbling upon them close enough for the artifact to trigger in thisrge forest wasughably low.


    The cloaked figure chuckled. "Hoho it was impossible for you to not be found. The wondend may berge, but with four pirs searching together, it is not impossible for us to scour through it fully within a week. Ah, grade six artifacts huh? Quite good. But you''re ''lucky'' I came here first. Ahahaha Oh, I crack myself up!"


    Professor Dane gritted his teeth. "I-Is it you, Lord Mantis?"


    "Hoh, your memory is quite good. Did you recognize my voice?"


    The red-haired man nodded, still feeling a little unsure. Even if he couldn''t recognize the voice, he would never forget that annoying way the manughed. But wasn''t Lord Mantis one of the academy''s pirs, as well? If Aurora was hostile to Craig, and Mantis was not just what the hell was going on? Was one of them a traitor?


    Dane soon shook his head. ''What the hell am I thinking? This has nothing to do with me anymore. Fuck the academy.''


    Craig still felt a little confused, squinting his eyes at the cloaked figure. "D-Did you talk to my father? A-Are you here to save me?"


    The cloaked figure chuckled. "What kind of delusions are you having, boy? Did that wound make you lose too much blood, so you now think the Terran King can order me, a Pir of the Ancient Academy? Ahahaha"


    Craig and Dane suddenly shared a look of panic, but before they could react, a ck veil covered them in an instant.


    The cloaked man gave a satisfied nod. "Hmmm The effects are quite good. The headmistress sure nned to leave lots of good things for her daughter, huh. Did she n to make up for her mistakes? Ahahaha how funny. Good thing she entrusted it all to me. Mhm, it''s definitely more useful in my hands."


    Once inside the veil, it was like time had stopped for Craig and Dane, and Mantis could safely store them inside a spatial artifact.


    He grinned while flying away. "I wonder how long that little girl will look for them before giving up to go cry in a corner, ahahaha"


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 117: Champions? Not Really

    Chapter 117: Champions? Not Really


    Aurora had told her she should be able to figure the situation out within a week, but it had already been almost ten days since then, and it didn''t look like her regr lessons with her teacher would be able to resume any time soon, let alone being taken to the wondend of doom.


    The only constion was that Aurora would stille back to meet her every night, to ''see if she had been bullied again''. Evelyn thought it was quite cute, but unfortunately, her teacher didn''t like head pats.


    Amber, on the other hand, liked them very much, and Evelyn provided them generously to the girl whenever she managed to get things right.


    Although Madam Augury had been aplete douche, her affinity stones hadn''t been faulty. However, there was a reason why those things were just a tool, and why the academy didn''t segregate students based on their affinities or physiques, but relied on assessments instead.


    In contrast to what Augury had implied, even with her abysmal affinity, Amber was actually quite good at manipting fire.


    Amber jumped in joy as she finally managed to coat herself in a red aura. "Evelyn, look, I did it!"


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but give her an approving nod as she patted the girl''s head. "Good job."


    Amber grinned. "Ehehehe"


    It seemed like although she couldn''t do whatever she wanted with it, but whatever she managed to do, she did well.


    Evelyn thought that some part of it had to be the credit of her cultivation technique, which also seemed to be fire rted, and some part may be Amber''s own innate talent.


    Currently, the girl had already learned to do a few things, one of which was her own idea, and one came from Evelyn.


    Of course, since she also had an affinity for fire, Evelyn also tried to imitate her skill, but the results weren''t as good as she imagined. Although Amber openly told her the entire process, the exact circuit in which she needed to make the spirit power flow was still a little vague using just words.


    The imitation she managed to create was perhaps only a tenth as efficient as the original, and at that point, she might as well not use it. After all, the original only consumed spirit power to enhance strength, and if it took her ten times the spirit power to do the same, it would just be a waste. Especially on her.


    But if someone relied primarily on physical attacks, the original skill was quite good.


    This was, of course, the ''Strengthen'' skill that she had seen in Amber''s status.


    And the second skill was the one Evelyn had helped her figure out.


    Amber had only known the spirit circuit of the technique from her cultivation array, and had been stuck understanding it halfway through.


    On her own, it might have taken her much longer, and normally this would be where a professor''s guidance woulde in.


    But with Evelyn''s ability to view status, along with Amber not hiding anything from her, it became too easy for her to spot the issue.


    Amber knew of only two techniques from her cultivation method, out of which she was only able to use [Strengthen]. Given that the only other technique she knew of was [Encourage], the likelihood of her half-understood technique being [Taunt] was quite high.


    Of course, had it been something more convoluted, Evelyn might not have been able to help much either.


    As for the skill itself, it was quite strange. With a re of spirit power, a heatwave of sorts spread out in all directions from the user, and whatever it touched would feel a minor ''burnt'' feeling. For most living beings, this would definitely ''aggro'' them into the user.


    However, it couldn''t differentiate between enemies and allies, or Amber''s version couldn''t, at least. On the plus side, it only cost a single point of spirit power, and was effective for ten meters.


    And the strength of the effect itself was really good, because just moments after Amber cast her taunt, a group of ten students rushed over to the two of them in a rage.


    Well, when it came to this particr group, Amber''s taunt was probably only an excuse.


    "How dare you disturb us like this, piece of trash?!"


    Although they only dared to direct their anger at the auburn haired girl, Evelyn was well aware of who the real target of their hate was.


    After all, she was the one who had got their ''benefactor'' expelled.


    Amber immediately cowered as she looked at the ten of theming at her together, most of them taller than both herself and her friend. "I-I didn''t mean to, sorry! I won''t do it again!"


    These were, of course, the so-called ''Champion''s Club'' students. Evelyn had already seen their status, and aside from the fact that they were level fifteen at the age of eight without a special physique, which was quite impressive, there was nothing else of note.


    ''Well, if Augury really managed to get them from level one to fifteen in a year, with that mortal physique maybe they could have deserved the name in a few years, but she''s not here anymore, is she? And they still have the guts to bully my friend in front of me?''


    Evelyn didn''t bother arguing with them, and simply made the ''spirit sphere'' revolve around herself and Amber.


    Of course, it ended up hitting the boy who hade the closest to them, sending him flying with a yelp.


    "Y-You hit me?!"


    Needless to say, assaulting fellow students out of the duel arena or sanctioned fights was against the academy rules, but the rules were subject to enforcement by the teachers, and the junior professor responsible for this ss had been busy on the other corner of the room.


    The professor grimaced as he stared at the boy yelling and crying on the floor while clutching his arm. "What happened here?"


    Two weeks ago, he had finally managed to get the permit to enter an expedition team to hunt in the wondend, but just as he was about to leave, he got called back and told they were short-staffed.


    Although annoyed, he tried his best not to take out his irritation on these little kids, but they were making it really hard not to right now.


    "She hit him!"


    "Professor, that girl tried to kill us!"


    "SILENCE! Was I talking to you? I only want to hear two people speak here, the one who got hit, and the one who hit him. Now, you boy, speak up. What happened?"


    "P-Professor, I was just minding my own business, practicing the elemental channels you showed earlier, when I was attacked by this red haired girl''s spell. When I came to confront them about it, this pink haired girl tried to kill me!"


    The professor frowned as he turned to Evelyn, assuming that she was the pink haired girl that the boy had used of trying to murder him. "And you, what happened ording to you?"


    Evelyn gave him a sheepish look. "Well, I was practicing my spirit sphere to see if I could infuse it with an element, and my friend was trying out her new fire spell. This boy just rushed over and got hit by my sphere. I-I can''t control it too well yet."


    The junior professor frowned as he looked around, and indeed, the two girls were standing right at the spot he allotted them, while the boy was at least six meters away from where he should be. ''These kids sure like to exaggerate unimportant things, and ignore the important ones!''


    "Didn''t I tell you guys to stay away from each other if you''re practicing? And if you try something dangerous, call me over first? Do you all think this is a joke?! No artifact or elixir can revive you from death, and while this ident is nothing, you can very well die easily in an idental skill ssh!"


    He grabbed the boy by the cor, inspecting the wound closely. Noting that it was just a bruise, he put him down unceremoniously. "This will heal on its own. Let the pain be a lesson. Especially those of you below level twenty, pay attention! If you don''t listen to my instructions, don''t expect me to fix up your mess!"


    With a re from the professor, the champion''s club quickly scurried away.


    The professor red at Evelyn as well. "And you too, pay attention! You can''t be oblivious to your surroundings while practicing. With your spirit sphere, restrict its float area to one meter unless you''re in an open space alone, and you, red girl, further apart!"


    As the professor stomped away, Amber sheepishly distanced herself from Evelyn before being pulled back by the winking girl. "Don''t worry, I can control it well enough to never hit you."


    The auburn haired girl blinked in shock. "E-Eh? T-Then did you hit him intentionally?"


    Evelyn tilted her head. "Obviously? How else would he get what he deserved for yelling at you?"


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 118: Green Leaf Villa

    Chapter 118: Green Leaf Vi


    Thankfully, aside from the so-called Champion''s Club, no one else really came to bother her, which almost felt weird to Evelyn given how much trouble she had gone through in the first couple of days here.


    Without further external disturbances, she was able to focus on improving herself and figuring out how to better use her ''new weapon''.


    In the process, she also realized just how much of an advantage her father''s skill had given her in trying to learn a bow. After all, not only was her uracy while aiming improved, she was also able to grasp the skill much faster.


    At this point, perhaps only her own physical limitations, as well as those of her equipment, would be the ''limiting factors'' when it came to how far and urately she could shoot an arrow with her bow.


    Of course, she could always improve that by getting a better bow and enhancing her strength, but that was something she could work on when she had the chance.


    Whenpared to her progress with shooting, the training with the spirit sphere seemed to be almost at a snail''s pace.


    Thankfully, even with her low mastery of the thing, it was still quite useful in the end. Unlike arrows, it wasn''t as prone to breaking, and just like them, she could also infuse her ''searing soul'' into the thing, giving it a lethality that few would expect from its aura alone.


    Another interesting thing about the spirit sphere was that, unlike a bow and arrow, it was also more useful while defending.


    Moreover, Evelyn thought that, given enough time, she could even learn how to use multiple ones together to increase her defensive capabilities as well.


    Evelyn didn''t think there was any need to limit herself to just one weapon, and perhaps abination of them would give her the best result instead.


    ''In theory, I should be able to use a few spirit spheres to protect me and act as ''emergency measures'' while I''m shooting arrows. This way, my ''downtime'' between each shot won''t leave me vulnerable to interruptions.''


    All of this was possible thanks to the fact that, unlike most other weapons, the spirit sphere didn''t upy even a single hand of the user, and could be operated using spirit power alone.


    But in the worst case, she could still infuse it with her cultivation technique and just throw it like a ball. With her strength, it would already be a devastating metal death ball to her peers, and infused with her cultivation technique, they wouldn''t even be left with an intact soul.


    Rufus felt a chill down his spine as he turned to look at the pink haired girl, who was staring at him while bouncing the metal sphere up and down. He hurriedly turned away and pretended she didn''t exist. ''F-Fuck! She''s got that murderer look in her eyes again. When is that stupid cousin of mine going to finally get rid of her?!''


    Ever since that day in the market, he had been reporting which sses the girl went to, but the boy hadn''t taken any action at all.


    "Hey, Rufus, is it really true that you have a crush on Evelyn?"


    Recalling his cousin''s n, Rufus tried his best to not let his face twist into a grimace. "Y-Yeah?"


    The ck haired boy hadn''t known Rufus for long, and thought that although the boy was talented, he was too stupid and needed someone to guide him.


    As a responsible older brother to four little munchkins back at home, Dn felt that it was his job to set the boy straight as well. "I know she looks cute, but take my advice, keep your crush to yourself. Even if she turns out to be nice, just think about how mean that teacher of hers is. It''s definitely better to avoid trouble!"


    Rufus almost sighed, wondering how long he had to keep up this farce. "T-That may be so, but I can''t help my feelings, alright?"


    Of course, while Rufus was giving his very awkward exnation, Evelyn had already turned her sights back to Amber.


    "By the way, where do you live?"


    The auburn-haired girl pointed at herself. "E-Eh? Me?"


    Evelyn nodded. "Un. Who else is there for me to talk to?"


    Recalling the magnificent pce Evelyn had entered when she followed her back on the first day, Amber felt a little embarrassed as she scratched her now blushing cheek. "W-Why do you want to know?"


    The pink haired girl rolled her eyes. "Well, it''s alright not to tell me. I''ll be dropping you off anyway, so I''ll know then."


    "W-Why?!"


    Evelyn knew that she was already the target of hatred for many, including the so-called champion''s club. And she knew that some of them were sure to try some underhanded tricks on Amber.


    After all, even if they couldn''t hurt her directly, they could hurt her friend.


    So, just in case, she decided that spending a few more minutes every day to escort the girl to her ''hostel'' should be the least she could do.


    Evelyn''s first thought had actually been to tell the girl toe live with herself, but that would be too much.


    Of course, she couldn''t really exin all of this to Amber. The little girl was too young, and still quite innocent.


    Evelyn sighed. "Mhm, well, you don''t have to worry about it. I just feel like walking with you. Can''t I?"


    Amber looked away, her face red. "Y-You can, but my ce isn''t that good. Un, I-I also share the room with others."


    Evelyn rolled her eyes as she ruffled the girl''s hair with a smile. "Why are you being so shy? I also share my room with others, though maybe it''s a littlerger than yours? Anyway, I always wee you to my room, and you can''t say no to me either! You said we were friends yourself, did you not?"


    "O-Ohh. Ohhh?"


    Looking at the girl''s stupefied expression, Evelyn couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow. "What?"


    Amber looked down, feeling even more embarrassed than before. "I-I just thought that whole pce was yours."


    Evelyn''s intuition had really been on point, and she was d that she had acted on it as soon as she realized, because she could see a few familiar figures scuttling away as soon as they spotted her.


    After seeing how vicious her five-year-old cousin had been back that day, Evelyn had long realized that not only were the children in this world not any better than the ones in her own, in some cases, they might even be worse.


    Evelyn considered trying to teach them a lesson, but it would be difficult to do without breaking any rules, and who knew if some professor was just waiting for her to make a mistake.


    After all, she had only escaped the previous two times because of Aurora, and she wasn''t here right now.


    Deciding to y on the safe side, Evelyn just escorted Amber to her ''hostel'', which was called the ''Green Leaf Vi'', and was quite a bitrger than Evelyn''s White Lily Pce. Of course, the number of students living here was many times more, and the whole ce looked far less ''immacte'' with all sorts of children littering about.


    As this was their ''home'' in the academy, there were almost no restrictions to their behavior, as long as they didn''t end up harming others, and many students didn''t even bother dressing up properly, running around in just their underwear.


    Evelyn had heard from Cecilia that the Green Leaf Pce was one of the academy''s most ''free spirited'' amodations, with the least amount of rules, and most random of upants.


    There was no gender segregation either, and the only thing that really seemed to matter was that the student couldn''t be over thirteen years old, or perform too well, at which point they would be moved to better amodation.


    "I-I''m sorry about them, t-they''re idiots!"


    Of course, Evelyn hadn''t had a particrly ''good'' upbringing in her previous life, and such ''undignified'' sight didn''t bother her as much as it would have had this been her only life.


    Evelyn squeezed Amber''s cheek. "It looks even bigger than mine, what were you acting all embarrassed for?"


    Amber was too shy to really mention what she was apologizing for, and just looked away. "Uuu"


    The pink haired girl sighed. "Anyway, I''ll be leaving now, but since you agreed to be my friend, you also have to take care of my reputation, understand?"


    Of course, this was her ploy to make sure that the girl didn''t wander around to deserted ces while she wasn''t there. This way, there was less of a chance for her to be troubled by those hoodlums.


    Amber gave her a pitiful look. "I-I don''t get it? What do I do?"


    Evelyn smiled. "It means, you have to stay at home and cultivate diligently till Ie to pick you up again. You can''t ck off! In the future, you want to stay side by side with me, right?"


    "U-Un! I understand!"


    "Good girl."


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 119: The Hidden Schemers

    Chapter 119: The Hidden Schemers


    Over the course of the next few days, the amount of time Aurora spent with her after returning from the Wondend of Doom became less and less, and although the tinum blonde refused to admit it, Evelyn knew that something must be wrong.


    In the end, she felt like she couldn''t let her poor teacher keep banging her head against a wall, and stopped her before she could leave.


    Evelyn frowned. "How can that Craig bastard escape from all of you for so long? Are you sure he''s even still in the forest? Isn''t it possible that he''s not there, and that''s why you can''t find him?"


    Aurora gave her an appalled look. "W-Who taught you to talk like that? E-Especially in front of your teacher!"


    The pink haired girl rolled her eyes. "That''s not the point, anyway, what I said is possible, right?"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "Un."


    Evelyn shook her head. "Then aren''t you wasting your time there?"


    Aurora frowned. "Should I just give up? But if I do that even if he''s not escaped now, he will be able to escape then, right? So"


    The pink haired girl sighed. "Teacher aren''t there other strong people like you looking there too?"


    "Un?"


    Evelyn smiled. "I saw three other cloaked figures that day when you were making that old hag Augury eat dirt, they went with you to the forest as well, right?"


    Aurora nodded.


    The pink haired girl hummed. "So, let them keep looking, and you can focus on what''s important."


    The tinum blonde gave her a skeptical look, wondering why her student seemed so bent on making her give up the search. ''I-It can''t be because she''s feeling lonely, right? I-I forgot that children at this age get lonely very quickly. Un, and she just separated from her parents a few weeks ago, it could be''


    Evelyn sighed as she saw her teacher not agree immediately. Maybe she was thinking what her motives were? In that case, she could only exin first before Aurora misunderstood. "Well, I''ll admit, you being here will be great for me. But well, I could be wrong, but while you weren''t here, something just didn''t feel right about the academy."


    Aurora frowned. "Y-You missed me so much?"


    The pink haired girl scratched her head. "I-I don''t mean like that. I mean like, something sinister was going on. That''s just how I felt. I''ve been meaning to talk to you about it, actually."


    After cultivating in the ''Searing Soul'' to the extent that she had, Evelyn''s understanding of the advantages her high soul value brought had increased greatly, and she knew very well that these ''impending doom'' intuitions stemmed from her soul.


    The stronger someone''s soul was, the ''worse'' the uing cmity would have to be for them to get such a feeling. At least, that was her understanding. And for her to be able to feel anything at all, she would rather not take any chances.


    Of course, to make her teacher consider her words seriously, she also shared this insight with her.


    In any case, Aurora had known about the ordeal in the beast taming ss being caused by her strong soul, so she couldn''t bepletely unfamiliar with the concept.


    Aurora thought about it for a while before nodding. "I-I understand, but don''t be too worried. It doesn''t work so urately. Depending on the total soul value of the people nearby who are directing malice towards you, such feelings can be either strong or weak, but you cannot rely on them being ''true''. But ignoring it is also not a good idea."


    Evelyn nodded. ''So even if they''re not plotting to do anything, as long as I have enough enemies nearby cursing at me, I will get this feeling? That''s fun, I guess.''


    Of course, Aurora''s words only confirmed her conjectures. ''It can''t be just those champion club brats plotting against me. They''re too weak. Even if it ispletely unrted to them, there has to be someone stronger''


    As for who that could be, Evelyn had no idea at all. After all, Professor Dane and Madam Augury had long since been kicked out of the academy.


    Her best guess was that it was some professor who had been close to them, and held a grudge against her for getting them expelled, but there was always the possibility that it could be someonepletely unrted.


    In either case, with Aurora being within the academy, Evelyn could rest better assured, and her growth rate would also improve greatly, so this ''cmity'' at least ended up benefiting her there.


    As Aurora returned to their rendezvous point in the Wondend of Doom, the three of them knew that something was different about her today. Of course, she had always returned a little better after visiting her student, but she looked much more calm than usual, as if she had onlye to convey a decision that she had already made.


    Lord Mantis frowned under his cloak. He had been having so much fun observing the girl huff and pout every day whenever they returned without any decent results, but his fun time was over far too soon. It almost didn''t seem worth the effort!


    The other two pirs breathed a sigh of relief. ''Has she finally decided to give up this pointless thing? Good''


    Aurora cleared her throat, her voice turning dignified. "From tomorrow, I have something to do, so I won''t be joining you three in the search. You continue looking. If you find Craig or any important clue of what''s going on, you can either bring it to me or signal me toe. Un, that''s all."


    Mantis couldn''t believe it his n had backfired on himself!


    And without any further room for discussion or even a single goodbye, she flew back towards the academy.


    The three of them looked at each other, perplexed.


    ""


    ""


    ""


    After a while, the other two still left to continue their ''pointless search'', while Mantis was left alone to wallow in his grief.


    He had almost wanted to pull the bastard prince out right away and quit the game, but then Aurora would know about the veil her mother left behind, which would mean she will learn about everything else, which would mean his head would fly. That little brat can be quite ruthless, after all. And his head wasn''t detachable, after all. If it really flew, he could never fix it back!


    Of course, this could also be used as an opportunity to finally get rid of Aurora, that adorable but annoying little tyke, but it was hard to say whose side the other pirs would take at that time. After all, they all had their own goals, and although Aurora was the strongest, she was also the most ''negligent''. If someone else took her ce as the ''leader'', it was difficult to tell if their freedom would be reduced or not.


    Most importantly, Mantis himself felt reluctant to ''end'' Aurora like that, even if it had been possible. Her ending should be to end devoid of that power she was so proud of, left to rage and pout helplessly while heughed in her face while she cried.


    If he did it any other way, it would be no fun, after all.


    Of course, although Aurora returned to the academy, no one but the three pirs knew of it. And those three were still in the Wondend of Doom, searching for and rooting out any Terrans they could manage to find.


    This was Evelyn''s n to ''lure out'' whatever dangers she could find, and also her way of making Aurora babysit all her friends while she was out, except for Cecilia.


    Of course, since her ''apartment'' was Cecilia''s second home, it was impossible for her to not know of Aurora''s existence. And thus, the tinum blonde felt her burden increase further, as she was also forced to lose ''kingdom'' twenty times a day.


    Evelyn felt that she was quite pitiful, as her current situation was probably not any less frustrating than her pointless search in the forest, but hey, at least she could rest whenever she wanted.


    As long as she didn''t mind a little puppy jumping on top of her head, that is.


    Of course, although Aurora was still in her room, she could arrive by Evelyn''s side within seconds, as soon as she received the signal.


    And not to mention Evelyn''s own strength, she also had the shielding bead, as well as the shield from her grade five belt, so no matter what kind of tricks her opponents had nned, surviving till Aurora arrived shouldn''t be an issue at all.


    Evelyn never thought what she would face would be a direct attack, however, since if the opponent had wanted to do so, there was no need to wait so long, was there?


    Moreover, Evelyn was almost never in an area where sessfully assassinating her without anyone being able to notice would be possible.


    Evelyn knew, therefore, that what she would face would be some kind of indirect scheme. And with how intense the malice directed at her today felt Evelyn knew that it was time.


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 120: Riley & The Trap

    Chapter 120: Riley & The Trap


    Evelyn''s intuition of this day being the one that the schemer''s plot came to y proved to be right, as before Amber and her could head back after the day''s sses were over, an older boy approached them with a smile.


    "Please wait!"


    Amber looked started, because the boy seemed to be almost twice their age, meaning he should almost be about to graduate, and there should be no reason for such a person to approach them.


    "Don''t be afraid, I don''t mean any harm. I just heard about an outstanding student from one of my cousins just as I wasmenting about not having enough people to take with me along a great opportunity, so I thought, might as well give it to you!"


    The boy had short golden hair, green eyes, and a dashing smile. Amber had already let down her guard from his first sentence, and looked excitedly towards Evelyn. "E-Evelyn, y-you ask him, what kind of opportunity?!"


    Of course, she thought that the boy must be making the offer for her friend. After all, Amber thought that Evelyn had to be the smartest in their batch. Who else could this boy consider outstanding?


    Evelyn sighed. She couldn''t me the girl for being bamboozled so easily. After all, she was just eight years old. She gave the boy an unamused re. "What kind of ''opportunity'' are you talking about?"


    The boy blinked at her in surprise, as if not expecting her lukewarm attitude. "A-Ah, forgive me, I was offering it to Amber here, but if you''re interested, you can of coursee along. A friend of such an outstanding girl must be outstanding as well!"


    Amber''s face immediately turned red as she rubbed her head against Evelyn''s shoulder. "U-Uuh, I-I''m not special at all!"


    While they were talking, the pink-haired girl had already probed the boy''s status.


    [Checking status]


    - Riley Reynolds [14]: Level 32 [ Exp: 1,650 / 6,000 ]


    -Spirit Physique


    Physique: 143


    Spirit Power: 137


    Soul Value: 112


    Vitality: 187


    [ Enhancement (avable): Stinker ]


    Stinker: Using ten spirit power, release an extremely foul odor from all pores, causing intense nausea and disorientation, and disabling those with sensitive olfactory senses. Using one spirit power, release a mild odor that is able to confuse beasts with lower wisdom.


    [ Affection: -12% ]


    Cultivation Technique: Forester''s Penace


    -Skills: Stink, Sneak, ???, ???


    ''Reynolds huh, why does that surname seem a little familiar?''


    After thinking about it, Evelyn finally recalled that the ''Reynolds'' was also an ancient family from the Lavinian Empire, one that Cecilia didn''t particrly like. Of course, given the fact that her cousin Tristan had be buddies with the heir of the Reynolds family, it was unlikely for him to be any good either.


    ''But I didn''t think this scheme would have anything to do with Tristan though it''s possible my guess is wrong, still, quite shocking''


    And although this boy was two years older than E, he was considerably weaker than her in terms of stats. Of course, given the difference in their physiques, it wasn''t too much of a surprise.


    For the current her, he was no longer worthy of being considered a threat. She hoped that there were bigger fish waiting to take the bait, otherwise having Aurora on standby would have been just wasted effort.


    As for the both of them being from the same empire or whatever? Even if she hadn''t already known he approached them with bad intentions, the negative affection value made it more than clear. Of course, she was sure that his identity was the reason he had been sent to ''pull her in'' towards the trap.


    The boy grinned towards Amber, as if Evelyn was just an afterthought. "Actually, I know you might find it hard to believe I''m showing you so much favor, since I''m from the Lavinian Empire, and you''re from Aquavahn, but"


    Amber waved her hands hurriedly. "N-No no, I don''t find Lavinians distrustful at all! Evelyn, you believe me!"


    The pink-haired girl patted her friend''s back. "Don''t worry."


    The boy gave them a ''surprised'' look. "Ah, I didn''t know you were also from the same empire, little girl? Good, that makes it easier for me to justify bringing you along as well!"


    Evelyn gave the boy a re. "You still haven''t mentioned what kind of ''opportunity'' you''re talking about? Why would we go along with you?"


    Of course, regardless of whatever half-assed reasons he gave, Evelyn had already intended to y along.


    But she couldn''t make it too obvious, either.


    After all, this was a great opportunity for her to lure out and snipe a real big snake while it still thought she was a small bunny it could easily eat.


    "Oh, sorry, sorry. Actually, we managed to organize a medium-sized expedition party to the forest, but some of our members canceled at thest minute. We don''t want their spots to go to waste, you know, so I was looking for recements."


    Evelyn almost scoffed. ''What ''wasted spots''? Is an expedition to the wondend of doom an amusement park ride, in which you can take people along because you have empty seats? He really thinks we''re totally oblivious to how it all works!''


    Of course, given their age, it wouldn''t be unexpected if they really got fooled due to ack of knowledge.


    The boy gave them what he assumed to be his most charming grin. "How about it? Wouldn''t it be great to have some practical experience? Of course, we''ll protect you well. There''s plenty of strong people in our team, even some official rangers!"


    Evelyn had no idea how many of his statements were actually true, but in the end, she pretended to be reluctantly convinced by his arguments as well as Amber''s enthusiasm.


    "Alright, we will go with you, then."


    Amber jumped in glee. "Eh? Really?!"


    Evelyn smiled as she ruffled the girl''s auburn hair. "Yeah."


    Of course, she knew that the reason Amber was so happy was because she believed that she got the two of them a really good deal because of her.


    The little girl really believed that boy''s words, and thought that they could both benefit greatly from this expedition, though she wasn''t sure how.


    Riley grinned as he stretched out a hand to ruffle Amber''s hair as well, but it was pped away by the pink-haired girl. ''Yikes! That fucking hurts! She''s at least level 20, isn''t she? No wonder they call her a genius. No matter, she''ll be crushed like a bug, anyway.''


    He tried to appear unperturbed by the pain in his hand as he took out a sheet of paper from his bag. "Great! Then, you can go and submit this form to the hall of merits, and then"


    With how excited Amber was, of course she insisted that they go to the hall of merits right away to submit the form, and Evelyn seemed to go along helplessly with her whims.


    Of course, once he was sure that the girls were ''in'', the boy pretended to be busy and left, to make sure his actions didn''t look suspicious. At least, that''s what Evelyn believed.


    With him gone, she didn''t immediately rify the truth to Amber, and instead followed her along to submit the form detailing that they would be leaving with Riley''s group for an expedition tomorrow.


    Amber never realized, but this was pretty much an ''exemption request'' from Riley, in which they agreed that he wouldn''t be responsible for their deaths, and they were following him of their own free will despite him making clear all the dangers of doing so.


    Evelyn had thought that the receptionist would at least rify the matter upon receiving the application, but he just frowned as he took it, shook his head, and epted it.


    ''Does he really not care, or did he get prior instructions from someone higher up not to interfere?''


    Of course, this was something for Aurora to look intoter, not her.


    Evelyn squeezed her friend''s hand. "You know, Amber, I''ve been to your home already, but you haven''t been to mine, right?"


    "E-Eh? I-I''ve seen it, w-when I followed you"


    The pink-haired girl smiled. "Well, yeah, but you haven''t seen what it looks like from the inside, right?"


    When she thought about it, Amber realized that she really hadn''t gone in there yet. But it seemed too daunting to go inside that ce. "N-No?"


    Evelyn of course had no intention of letting her refuse. "Come on then. I''ll show you. Oh, and you can also meet my friends. We''ll have lots of fun!"


    Amber immediately perked up, and unsuspectingly followed her to the White Lily Pce. She was very curious to meet Evelyn''s other friends, and wondered what kind of games they would be ying.


    The poor girl never realized she was being ''kidnapped''.


    After all, even if Evelyn could enter the trap ande out unscathed, she couldn''t risk Amber''s life without being able to make sure she could protect the girl. It was better to keep her in the White Lily Pce.


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 121: Trapping The Trapper

    Chapter 121: Trapping The Trapper


    The auburn-haired girl followed her unsuspectingly into the White Lily Pce, staring around in wonder at the luxurious furnishings and decorations. Once they entered Evelyn''s apartment, Amber was even more shocked to discover that not only the pce itself, but even her friend''s room was amazing!


    "Wow! We can even have a race in here!"


    Evelyn chuckled. "If that''s your first thought, then I''m sure you''ll get along well with Vivi."


    And as if she had been summoned by her name, a short girl with long, blood-red hair shot out of Evelyn''s room. "Eve~ are you back yet?! Huh? Who are you?"


    Once Evelyn had introduced her as a ssmate, Vivian wasn''t as wary, and after a while, the two of them had somehow joined forces to convince her that it was a good idea to actually try racing up and down the hall.


    Evelyn thought about it and decided to indulge them for a while, but it soon turned out to be a terrible idea.


    With Vivian''s fiercepetitive streak, it was impossible for her to not try her best to win each race, and with their physique, the speed at which they could run was already fast enough to create a resounding ''boom'' when they mmed into the wall.


    Of course, they used their hands and feet to brace against the impact, but the sound was still enough to make her ears ring for a while.


    Thankfully, the rooms in the White Lily Pce could iste noise quite well, or perhaps many would havee knocking at their door already to get them to quiet down.


    Their fun couldn''tst long, as Amara soon realized Evelyn had probably returned once her little sister didn''te back to bother Aurora along with Cecilia.


    The little redhead could only give in to her big sister, and sulkily follow her back.


    Evelyn led the confused Amber to her room, where the girl was shocked to see the ''mysterious teacher'' was pouting while a strange, golden-haired little girl yed with her hair, tying it into many uneven braids.


    Even Evelyn giggled, but her face turned stiff as she saw Aurora re at her. "A-Ahem, anyway, Amber,e here. There are a few things I have to talk to you about, okay?"


    Amber had of course never expected that the ''kind'' senior who had given them a lucky chance was actually scheming against them. Of course, Evelyn hadn''t told her that he was actually scheming against her, and just using Amber as a pawn, as that didn''t really matter much.


    Obviously, with Evelyn''s teacher also being there, Amber didn''t think they would joke with her, but she was also a little worried. "I-If it''s like that, why am I the only one staying back?"


    Evelyn sighed. "Because if both of us don''t go, how will we know what they''re nning? Don''t worry, I''m quite strong, and Aurora will also be there to protect me."


    The auburn-haired girl couldn''t help but pout. "I-I also want to go with you, I can help you too! D-Don''t forget, I''m gori strong!"


    Of course, Evelyn didn''t think Amber''s strength was bad for her age. In fact, it was quite good. However, she was awfully unprepared for something of this scale, and taking her along would definitely be a disaster.


    However, she also didn''t want to make Amber feel that she was worthless, or that she looked down on her.


    Evelyn chuckled. "Yes yes, I know. But wouldn''t it be easier for Aurora to protect just one person? And like I said, she''s more familiar with me."


    She gave her teacher a look to get her to help, but the tinum blonde just looked away with a huff.


    In the end, Amber had no choice but to believe them, and thankfully the girl didn''t protest much to staying along with the Gilmore sisters and Cecilia.


    Of course, Evelyn knew that Aurora was quite annoyed with her by now, and decided to soothe her teacher''s anger before they left the next day. Using the excuse of making ''ns'' she had everyone but Aurora move into the Gilmore sister''s room.


    It didn''t take long for her to untie the braids that Bree had made in Aurora''s hair, and after she looked normal again, Evelyn cleared her throat. "Um, thank you very much for taking care of them so patiently. They didn''t bother you too much, did they?"


    Aurora huffed. "Just tell me what you n to do tomorrow."


    The pink-haired girl knew she was angry. ''Hmm I doubt Amara would let Vivian be too willful with Aurora, so it must be Cecilia and Bree bothering her the most, right? Well, I''ll have them make it up to herter, I guess.''


    The next morning, Riley looked ''shocked'' when he heard that Evelyn would be the only one of the twoing.


    "Huh? What happened to Amber?"


    Evelyn nodded, looking regretful. "One of my attendants slipped up and mentioned that the ''Thousand Eyed God'' might still be lurking there, and she doesn''t want to go anymore."


    Riley blinked in surprise. ''Oh right The newbies this year actually saw that thing fight the two guardians, didn''t they? Dang, this little brat must have balls of steel to not be scared. I guess she really does have what it takes, but too bad it''s over for her soon.''


    Of course, given that their target was right here, and Amber was just an excuse, Riley didn''t really mind, and ''reluctantly'' epted it, pretending that he wanted to reject her without Amber, but since he was a man of his word, he would bring her along.


    Evelyn of course sighed in ''relief'', as if she was d she didn''t miss this opportunity, making Riley smile derisively. ''Heh, she pretended to be so reluctant toe yesterday, but when I really mentioned not bringing her along, she showed her real self?''


    Though this much selfishness was to be expected from anyone who had the will to progress, Riley still thought Evelyn was quite hypocritical. ''Well, guess I can understand why so many people hate her now''


    Of course, he didn''t let those emotions show on his face as he led the girl to their rendevous point with a faint smile.


    Evelyn rolled her eyes as she checked his status, just to see if she could see any changes from yesterday, perhaps a new artifact he brought along to surprise her, but nothing like that showed up.


    What she saw, instead, was that his affection dropped from -12% to -22%.


    The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes. ''Well, at least that proves that my acting is good, right?''


    Evelyn hadn''t been sure how much of Riley''s words had been made up, but apparently, he at least had a real ''expedition'' to bring them to, and the trap would presumably be somewhere in the wondend of doom.


    It was quite a risky move, considering that the pirs were still therebing through the forest. How were these brats so sure that it wouldn''t mess up their n somehow?


    Granted, the chance of stumbling across one of them was abysmal, but if she had been the one making the n, she would rather not take it.


    But since she had Aurora on her side, Evelyn didn''t think there was much to worry about. After all, in the worst case, these students would actually have a pir backing them, but wouldn''t her teacher still be able to protect her?


    ''But I have to be cautious. Aurora said she can reach me within three seconds after I break this new bead, and it can protect me from attacks of up to rank A rangers for thirty seconds''


    Evelyn sighed. ''I should have asked her what rank the pirs are they''re probably higher than rank A, right? I''ll break the bead as soon as I sense someone really strong nearby, just in case. Better not let them attack me at all.''


    Since they were heading to the Wondend of Doom, the gathering ce for the ''team'' was, of course, in the ''Southern Forbidden City''.


    The two of them seemed to be one of the first to arrive, and Evelyn ended up waiting quite a while in the so-called tavern that they had set to be the meeting point.


    "You want some? This is quite good stuff, even spirit physiques like us can feel a buzz for about an hour, and it doesn''t hurt to drink at all!"


    In this world, there were no age restrictions on drinking alcohol, but Evelyn felt that Riley''s offer was still out of line. After all, trying alcohol for the first time, right before heading to the Wondend of Doom? What a joke.


    If she really epted it, she would deserve to be called the Queen of Morons.


    "I would rather not. What if I make a mistake because of being drunk? Everyone else will make fun of me, then. I bet even you wouldugh. Hmph."


    Riley chuckled. ''As expected, this girl is quite clever. Too bad for her, that fast little mind of her is gonna be useless against our ns''


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 122: Into The Forest

    Chapter 122: Into The Forest


    Riley Reynolds wasn''t a boy who would ever let emotions rule over his mind. After all, as someone who was exceptional in neither talent nor identity, he did not have that luxury.


    Even if that hadn''t been the case, however, he was a pragmatist at heart.


    When Ryan had told him to take care of any affairs Tristan required of him, regardless of how disdainful he had been, Riley followed the future n leader''s orders due to his constraints.


    However, that didn''t mean he would stop using his own brain.


    When it came to Tristan''s obsession with Evelyn, anyone could tell where that unhealthy ''love'' of his was going to lead. The girl wasn''t just a genius, but also had one of the pirs guiding her personally.


    That alone meant that whoever decided to put themselves against her, unless they also had a simr backing, would be just mming a stone on their own toes. It was foolish to the extreme, especially when done without a decent reason.


    As one of Tristan''s subordinates, Riley knew this better than anyone else.


    But unfortunately, he couldn''t escape, and couldn''t change Tristan''s mind either.


    That only left him with one option get rid of this little girl before they were all doomed.


    He had thought that he would have toe up with a decent n himself, but it seemed like there was some ''mastermind'' helping Tristan out to plot against this girl.


    Riley scoffed. ''It''s her own fault for pissing so many people off.''


    In fact, can this girl really be considered a ''genius'' if she had managed to invite death at such a young age? With this attitude, it''s impossible for someone to be able to get far before being murdered, so at that point, wasn''t their potential ''limited'' instead?


    Thinking about it this way, his own talent was superior to hers. After all, his rise might be slower, but he would go much farther. Compared to a sparkler that burned brightly for a moment before going out, amp that couldst long was much better.


    Both his drink and his musings came to an end as a young girl in her early teens approached them with an overly friendly smile. "Riley, you''re here early?! Is this the little girl you were talking about?"


    Of course, though her attitude seemed friendly, Evelyn didn''t need to look at her stats to know she was hostile to her. But she did so anyway, and as expected, not only was her affection negative, it was even worse than that of the Reynolds boy!


    [Checking status]


    - Mirah Curr [14]: Level 21 [ Exp: 458 / 600 ]


    - Human


    Physique: 27


    Spirit Power: 65


    Soul Value: 71


    Vitality: 134


    [ Enhancements Not Avable ]


    [ Affection: -26% ]


    Cultivation Technique: Enchanter''s Sight


    -Skills: Lure, ???


    Aside from her high negative affection, none of her stats were impressive or notable. In fact, Evelyn could probably kill someone like her by ident. This girl was nowhere near ready to be venturing into the ''Wondend of Doom'', protected by an expedition or not.


    Of course, Evelyn could care less if someone who hated her before they even metnded in trouble.


    Riley introduced her ''politely'', but Evelyn only gave them a perfunctory nod as she kept track of the other rangers and students who soon filled up the ''tavern''.


    The brown-haired girl snorted. "Does this girl not have any manners, Riley?"


    Riley chuckled awkwardly. "Forgive her, Mirah, she''s still quite young, and has a lot to learn."


    Before long, when almost thirty people had gathered, a tall, burly man almost seven feet in height stood up from his table, his booming voice echoing through the hall. "Now that everyone''s here, let me wee you all to Noah''s Expedition Party! Our leader, Noah, is a rank C ranger, and will be leading us all safely around the outskirts. In exchange for protection against stronger beasts, half of any spoils you obtain have to be shared with us, and anything we kill or grab ourselves remains our own! If anyone has a problem with that, they can leave."


    Of course, it seemed like everyone already knew these terms except Evelyn, so no one moved a muscle.


    Gazing at the dashing ck-haired man beside the buff ''announcer'', Evelyn could tell that he was quite strong. ''A rank C ranger um, if I remember right, that means he''s at least level sixty, right?''


    She thought about it for a while, not sure if the man would be able to tell if she had used her probe skill on him or not. After all, he had crossed two more milestones than her.


    ''Well, even if he feels something, there are so many people here other than me, would he even know who the probe came from?''


    In the end, she decided to take the risk, and although their level difference made many details obscured, Evelyn still managed to glean quite a bit.


    [Checking status]


    - Noah Strauss [Age 84]: Level 61 [ Exp: 5,422 / 20,500 ]


    -Spirit Physique


    Physique: 443


    Spirit Power: 317


    Soul Value: 212


    Vitality: 629


    [ Enhancement (avable): Tortoise Shell ]


    [ Affection: 0% ]


    Cultivation Technique: Giant Tortoise Cultivation Manual


    -Skills: Defend, Golden Shield, Fragmented Shield, ???, ???


    Evelyn sighed. ''This guy He''s probably not part of their ns, right? If he was in on a n to get me killed, it''s unlikely he wouldn''t have any negative affection for me at all.''


    Aside from the fact that the strongest person in the expedition wasn''t out for her blood, another good news was that he didn''t seem to have been able to detect her probe, leading Evelyn to affirm her previous theory.


    ''I guess as long as they''re roughly two or three milestones within my own level, they''re less likely to detect my probe unless they have some strange skills to do so.''


    After a short briefing, the group moved out of the tavern as one, and left the Southern Forbidden City to head for the outskirts of the ''Wondend of Doom''.


    Evelyn and Mirah, who were considered the ''weakest'' of the group, were moved to the center of the formation as they moved out, with Noah leading the way, and the lower level rangers forming a ring around them.


    Noah, who had been silent so far, finally opened his mouth as they entered the forest. "Once we''re in there, always try to remain in this position. Even if you have to move or dodge, make sure to move back to the previous position thereafter. If you''re too far out, it''s possible that I can''t protect you."


    Although most of the academy students in their group nodded, the rangers remained mum.


    "So, how much did you pay this time?"


    From the other student''s conversation, Evelyn soon discovered that except for herself, most students had paid a substantial amount of spirit stones to be escorted into the ''Wondend of Doom'' by the rangers.


    That being said, Noah''s group was still considered as one of the cheapest and most generous, and had a shining reputation among the students.


    In the past ten years of their operation, there had only been four deaths, not including the rangers.


    Add on to that the fact that they didn''t lord the students around to just stay in ce and do nothing, and actually let them gain experience unlike the other rangers, Evelyn understood why Noah''s group was so famous.


    For newbie students who were looking to gain experience, this really was a ''golden opportunity''. Even if she had been willing to pay, it was unlikely that she could get into this group without any connections.


    Evelyn knew now that if she hadn''t known about there being a plot against her, she would definitely be moved by Riley''s sincerity.


    Not only had he not taken such a ''hefty'' fee from her, but he also didn''t lie when he said this would be a great opportunity!


    Perhaps she would already ''trust'' him a little.


    Evelyn pretended to give the boy aplex look, just to keep up her act, and while Riley waved his hand with a smile when he saw it, a certain brown-haired girl didn''t like it at all.


    "Hey, you! Pinkie, don''t get any ideas on others'' men just because they treat you a little well, alright?"


    Evelyn blinked as she gave the girl a weird look. "You''re talking to me?"


    Mirah almost popped a vein. "Who else?!"


    Not only was this girl annoying and ungrateful, but she was also good at pretending to be ignorant!


    She gave the pink-haired girl a sharp re, poking the girl''s chest with her index finger. "Little brat, so young, yet already a thieving cat! Listen to me, stay away from my Riley if you know what''s good for you, alright?"


    Evelyn frowned as she swatted the girl''s hand away. Male or female, she never liked it when people she wasn''t familiar with touched her.


    Still, it was quite ironic that this love-struck fool''s advice was actually quite good.


    Seeing the pink-haired little brat nod and then pretend to ignore her, Mirah grinned victoriously. ''Heh, not only despicable, but also cowardly. Not worthy of my Riley at all!''


    ~ To be continued ~


    Thank you for all your support! :>

 Chapter 123: Rampaging Beast

    Chapter 123: Rampaging Beast


    Evelyn didn''t know exactly what trap her opponents had designed for her, so while the group looked out for various beasts, she watched out for both the beasts and the people in the group.


    Most of the students were much weaker than her, and Evelyn didn''t think they would be able to pose any danger even if they used some strong artifact to amplify their strength. Of course, none of them seemed to have any such thing equipped, either.


    But Evelyn didn''t lose her caution because of this, as it was still possible for them to have a trump card hidden somewhere. After all, the probe skill was far from perfect. If she took off herpact iron bow, for example, and stored it in her spatial belt or simply separated it from her body, it would also not show up in her status.


    In contrast to the students, the rangers were quite ''well equipped'', and posed far more danger.


    Most of them were within ten levels of herself, either higher or lower, and four were above level fifty.


    The highest level individual was, of course, Noah, at level sixty-one.


    Moreover, all of them were equipped with artifacts, though mostly lower level and of the defensive type, that was still quite impressive. The mostmon artifact among them, was a defensive cloak.


    Except for a few students including herself, most others had one, as it wasmon for most people to wear heavy cloaks when going into the forest. Since a cloak covered almost the entire body, and had a lot of material to work with, that made it an ideal garment to inscribe protective arrays on.


    Although none of their cloaks were exceptional, there were quite a few grade one and grade two cloaks among the rangers, and a few even had grade three! Evelyn assumed that, aside from their weapon, this must be a ranger''s biggest investment.


    Before long, their group started to stumble into beasts, and though Evelyn remained alert, these ''dangers'' were usually dispatched by the rangers within moments, bing nothing more than free loot that walked right into their pocket, just like that blue deer.


    The buff man who had introduced Noah to the students couldn''t help butugh jovially. "Hey, isn''t our luck today really good? So many of these weak beasts are mindlessly charging at us without a care for their lives, how lucky!"


    Noah''s face remained neutral as he looked around and continued to lead them around the outskirts, always making sure that the outer edge of the forest remained in sight so they could readily escape when needed.


    One thing Noah had learned through years of experience was that, in the ''Wondend of Doom'', nothing was ''normal''.


    On some expeditions, they would returnpletely empty-handed, with nothing to show for hours of effort. It was on days like those that some overestimated themselves and ventured deeper, never to return. Noah had never been so foolish, which was why he was still alive.


    Then there were some days when they came across a strong beast that they couldn''t even hope to face right away, and ran away with trembling legs, sometimes even losing a fewrades. Those were the days that all rangers dreaded every time they headed out, but a risk they knew they had to take when they took up this job.


    Andstly, there were days like today, when it was possible for them toe across a few beasts weak enough to be killed or captured, and those were the golden opportunities that they all hoped for but didn''t dare expect.


    Still, Noah knew that although it was impossible for a bad day to turn good, a good day could turn bad at any moment. Perhaps all these weaker beasts were even running away from a stronger hunter, who knew?


    "Don''t let your guard down. If we attract a stronger beast, be ready to retreat!"


    The reason for his vignce wasn''t just his previous experience, but also because the group size this time was toorge. It wasn''t something Noah could decide for himself, though, so he could only lead them to the best of his ability. ''The leader may be a rank B ranger and an amazing fighter, but he overestimates me if he thinks I can suddenly lead a group twice the normal size safely. Hopefully, today will be a good day, and we won''t lose anyone.''


    When heading off to the Wondend of Doom to hunt, people usually either went in very small groups to be able to easily escape, or if the group was of moderate size, at least a rank C or rank B ranger leading them. A rank C ranger like him could, of course, lead fewer people safely, as his ability to protect them and fend off beasts was limited.


    Even so, it wasn''t umon for casualities to ur inside, even for the most experienced parties. After all, in front of the strongest beasts, even rank B rangers could only flee while abandoning theirpanions, or die together.


    Since it was never truly safe, and there was always a risk of death, making a few ''nonsensical'' changes like increasing the size of his party suddenly wasn''tpletely unheard of.


    Of course, Noah understood that this was a test from the leader of his ranger team, as he was the most hopeful candidate among all the smaller teams to be promoted to rank B. Maybe as long as he seeded in such tasks a few times, the guild would start investing in his growth more heavily.


    If that happened, going to rank B in ten years may not be impossible!


    While Noah was still thinking so the day went from good, to bad.


    "Stay in formation!"


    As the rangers screamed and shouted, the students huddled together in the center, scared out of their wits.


    When they were facing weaker beasts, they had still beenining about how the rangers didn''t allow them to roam more freely out of greed, afraid that they would grab more of the loot. How were they supposed to gain experience like this?


    But once the giant, gray scaled rhinoceros-like beast with six legs rampaged through their group, trampling over two students and one ranger despite their formation and Noah''s shield skill, they couldn''t help but realize how foolish they had been.


    Even Riley, who was supposedly the strongest among the students, was shaking at his legs, though his eyes shone with determination as he rallied the students to stay together and keep calm. "Don''t worry! Although this beast is ferocious, it''s not impossible for ranger Noah to take it down!"


    And his words were indeed true, for otherwise, their group would have already started to retreat.


    Of course, a few sacrifices were inevitable for such a victory, but neither Noah nor hisrades hesitated to ept that.


    After all, as long as the chance to win was over fifty percent, it was worth the risk! If they weren''t willing to take even that risk, perhaps they would never be able to grow.


    Evelyn of course stuck with the students, pretending to be scared out of her wits as well. Riley even tried to ''console'' her, but she pped his hand away, pretending to be too scared to even allow anyone close.


    Of course, what she really thought was ''How can I let this bastard close at this time? Who knows what tricks he''s ying!'', but Riley didn''t know that.


    Evelyn could tell that the beast was furious, though she couldn''t tell if it was just because they had invaded its territory or something else.


    Despite its hulking size, the beast was actually quite fast, which was why it had managed to trample a few of them before they could even realize it. Even her probe skill couldn''tnd on the darned thing because it moved too quickly, always making her miss.


    Thankfully, her spirit power wasn''t wasted each time it happened, as she could simply channel the wasted probe back to her as long as she turned it around before it hit anything, but it still made her quite furious.


    Evelyn was sure that with her soul searing arrow, she could easily inflict grievous wounds to the thing. She almost wanted to gang up with the others to take it down, but if she revealed her strength too soon, wouldn''t she miss whatever great show they were nning?


    ording to the current situation, Noah would either retreat once he deemed the beast too strong, or do the same after defeating it. Either way, their expedition would end here, and Evelyn was sure that whatever her enemies were nning it would happen before this fight was over.


    In the midst of the battle, two more rangers lost their lives, and the formation broke apart as well. The students ran and hid haphazardly as they realized that the rangers were now paying more attention to taking the beast down than protecting them, and even Evelyn separated from the group ''fearfully''.


    And as expected, not longter, when the beast rushed towards herthough not really, she could tell it was going for Mirah, who wasn''t far from herthe Reynolds boy ''panicked'' and rushed to ''save her''. "Watch out!"


    ~ To be continued ~


    Thank you for all your support! :>

 Chapter 124: Mountain Rhinos Rage

    Chapter 124: Mountain Rhino''s Rage


    Although she had already seen Riley''s stats and didn''t consider him a real threat, Evelyn still wouldn''t allow him to just m into her. Moreover, he seemed to be concealing something behind his back, and she didn''t dare to be careless.


    With a speed that made Riley''s mind boggle for a moment, the pink-haired girl leaped out of the way right as he was about to smash into her, causing his ''attack'' tond on Mirah instead.


    The girl cried out in pain and shock, though Riley''s charge did manage to push her out of the way of the beast, who then went on to gore the ranger he had been originally aiming for, tearing right through the hastily made golden tortoise shield that appeared in the way.


    Of course, if Mirah had been its original target, she would never have survived. After all, though the ranger had tried to move out of the beast''s way, the beast adjusted its direction ordingly, leading to the unavoidable tragic oue.


    "Keep attacking!"


    The loss of one more lower-level ranger wouldn''t change much, and with the way the battle was going, the beast had already been injured considerably, and their victory was halfway through. But the moment Riley had smashed into Mirah, something seemed to suddenly change.


    Evelyn had already used her probe skill on what was apparently a broken egg that Riley had ended up mming on Mirah, and the results were as expected.


    [ Stone Rhino Albumen ]


    A substance found inside stone rhino''s eggs.


    Consumption can lead to slight petrification of certain organs if vitality is less than 100 points.


    Restores 5 spirit power when fully consumed raw.


    It was an unremarkable little thing on its own, but whenbined with the rampaging rhino, Evelyn could more or less guess what was going on.


    ''Assuming that beast is the stone rhino, and this was its eggs they nned to smear me with its juice so the rhino focuses on me, right?''


    It wasn''t exactly a bad n, and she had to admit that Riley executed it almost wlessly if not for underestimating her reflexes and speed. He didn''t even take the egg out of his storage treasure until thest moment, even though he had no idea she could use the probe skill to detect it.


    Unfortunately, although they had failed to put the me for killing the beast''s unborn child on her, that didn''t mean the stone rhino would just leave.


    As if it had finally sensed what it was looking for, the beastpletely ignored the ranger''s attacks as it turned its furious gaze towards Mirah, not caring about the damage at all. But the moment its eyesnded on what remained of its egg


    A beastly roar of rage and fury shook the group as even Noah stumbled back in shock. "N-No, don''t tell me"


    Unlike humans, who could smoothly progress through milestones and increase their strength, some beasts had to undergo a process called ''evolution'' to be able to move past certain levels.


    For example a stone rhino could only get to level 69, and to break through into level 70, it first had to evolve into a mountain rhino.


    Generally, such evolutions happened when the beast stumbled into a treasure that could pump them with tremendous amounts of energy or when they entered an enraged or desperate state.


    This was a ranger''s worst nightmare.


    To take down a stone rhino that was at the peak of level sixty-nine Noah''s team could definitely do it after enduring several casualties.


    But if it evolved into a mountain rhino over level seventy


    They could all die.


    Ranger Noah lostposture for the first time since the fight started. "KILL IT BEFORE IT EVOLVES! KILL IT!"


    Of course, the rangers had already been pelting the beast down with all their might, since they hadn''t been eager to loserades even before, and their desperation now only marginally increased the attack''s intensity.


    Needless to say, they failed to kill it before its stony skin thickened by anotheryer, and it expanded in size to almost three times what it was before, now truly towering over them with a height of almost six meters.


    Not to mention the rangers, Mirah, or Riley, even Evelyn felt some dread while looking at the beast. ''S-Should I call her over now?''


    Since the plot had already been revealed, and Evelyn didn''t want to risk being gored to death by the rampaging beast, she decided to send the signal to Aurora right away.


    Although the beast''s eyes now seemed locked onto Mirah, Evelyn didn''t think it would just walk away peacefully after killing that girl.


    "RETREAT! STUDENTS FOLLOW THE RANGERS! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"


    But even as Noah gave his order, the mountain rhino had already charged at Mirah, who screamed desperately and tried to run away.


    "RILEY HELP M"


    Her plea was cut short as she was crushed to death under the mountain rhino''s foot, but the beast still seemed dissatisfied, and continued to stomp on the remains multiple times before turning its eyes to the boy who had the remaining scent of its egg.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but sigh in regret. She knew that Aurora must have been slightlyte, or she wouldn''t have let it happen. Mirah might have been annoying, but she didn''t deserve to die here. ''Well, that''s assuming she wasn''t in on the plot''


    Meanwhile, Riley had already begun running away the moment he realized he might be facing certain death, but unfortunately, it was still toote to escape the mountain rhino with his speed.


    At this moment, a transparent shield formed in front of the boy, causing the mountain rhino to painfully m into it with an enraged roar.


    Riley copsed on the ground, looking at his savior nkly before a grin lit up his face. "P-Professor Donna!"


    The dark-haireddy sighed. ''Although I knew they might fuck something up despite all our preparations, and I had toe in person it''s still disgusting to see it happen.''


    The difference between the mountain rhino and professor Donna might not be wide enough for her to instantly crush it, but it was easy enough for her to form a cage of spirit power around the beast, effectively rendering it immobile for as long as she wished.


    Since the mountain rhino''s greatest attribute was its defense, killing it would be a tedious and taxing task for someone like her, but that''s not what she was here to do anyway.


    "Get up, boy. Tell me, what happened here?"


    The rangers and other students had also stopped escaping when they saw someone higher level hade to their rescue, and Noah stepped forward at this moment, thinking that the boy may be too traumatized to speak properly.


    "Professor, thank you for the rescue. Actually, we"


    "SHUT UP! Did I ask you? Go stand in a corner."


    Ranger Noah was stunned, and could only step back in silence.


    The dark haireddy nodded. "Now, boy, tell me what happened here?"


    Riley shakily got up, knowing exactly what he had to do now. "P-Professor, we were all exploring the forest to gain experience, but that beast suddenly attacked us, and just when we were about to secure a victory, it evolved! At first, I thought it was just our bad luck, but"


    Donna raised a brow in surprise. "Hoh, you mean this is no coincidence?"


    Riley shivered, as if just recalling the previous scene horrified him. "N-No, professor, I-I saw that girl smash an egg on Mirah right before the beast went into a rage! I''m sure it was the beast''s egg!"


    "Hoh?"


    "Yes, professor, I saw how it went into a rage right after the egg was smashed, and then the first person it targeted was Mirah, because she covered in the remains of its egg!"


    Evelyn, who had been pointed out by Riley, remained cold-faced in front of his usations, and let them y out the ''show''.


    Donna smirked, knowing that the girl was too used to getting her way, and wondered what her expression would look like when she realized what true despair really was. "Hey, girl, you''re also from my academy, are you not? To dare plot against a fellow student and cause her death No, she was not the only one who died, was she? What do you have to say for yourself?"


    Evelyn knew that talking to her was useless. In any case, she had already called Aurora over, and she was sure that the tinum blonde must be watching the show as well.


    It was fine to let the monkeys jump around a little, she could also enjoy a good show.


    Seeing her remain silent, Donna frowned, and several students started murmuring among themselves as the rangers looked at each other in confusion.


    "P-Professor, I also saw them having an argument, m-maybe they didn''t like each other, so"


    Once these words were put forth, several other students supported the idea, admitting to having heard Mirah taunt Evelyn in their discord regarding Riley.


    Riley looked devastated. "Oh, my poor Mirah"


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 125: Lie in Wait

    Chapter 125: Lie in Wait


    Evelyn tried her best not to roll her eyes at their farce, just in case they had other cards to reveal before it all came crashing down on their heads, but she was starting to wonder how exactly Donna nned to deal with her now.


    After all, her best bet had been to have the beast kill her, and now that she already stopped its rampage, there was absolutely no justification to allow Evelyn''s death.


    Even if she convinced everyone of her ''guilt'', a junior professor couldn''t just execute a student. Even a senior professor could only expel her at most. And as long as she remained alive, didn''t Donna realize that Aurora wouldn''t just undo everything, but also make them suffer for trying to harm her?


    ''She better reveal her ''genius'' n before Aurora gets impatient''


    The female professor shook her head with a sigh. "For petty jealousy, you used such a vicious scheme that caused the death of multiple students You since you enjoyed using this beast as a tool to murder, you might as well show us how well you can control it!"


    As soon as her words fell, walls of spirit power surrounded Evelyn as well, and with a wave of her hand, Donna made Evelyn''s cage slide towards the mountain rhino''s.''


    Not to mention the students, even some rangers flinched when they saw the little girl being locked in the cage with the beast, with the professor clearly intending to get her killed.


    Some of the students obviously knew of Evelyn''s identity as Aurora''s student, and felt terrified when they thought of the tyrannical way thatdy dealt with anyone who offended the little girl.


    If they were part of the group because of which she got executed


    "P-Professor Donna, s-she''s!"


    Donna snorted as she mobilized her spirit power to forcefully shut the boy''s mouth. "It doesn''t matter who she is! All students are equal in my eyes."


    Some of them couldn''t help but look at each other in both perplexity and fear. It was one thing for it to happen identally while they were out to gain experience, but for a professor to do it


    Evelyn also realized from their interaction that perhaps, in this group, only Riley had been a part of Donna''s ns to frame her, and the rest were unrted. ''If she intends to dispose of them allter to erase evidence it makes sense to lose only one pawn, and makes the whole thing look more credible if everyone in the group is unrted to her''


    As their cages were stuck together, and only a thin wall of spirit power separated her from being gored to death, Donna stared at the girl''s face closely to savor her look of despair, but found only a smile.


    Emilia chuckled. "Was this your n? Getting me killed by this beast, and then? Will you somehow convince the others to never speak of it? Ah, if they believe that I was a treacherous and vicious viin who killed her fellow student, they really might"


    After all, everyone knew how much Aurora doted on her. The students and rangers wouldn''t want their ''savior'' to die for punishing the viin who brought cmity onto them, right?


    And even if some of them didn''t really believe in Donna and Riley''s narrative, the chance of them willingly putting themselves into a conflict between a professor and a pir was unlikely. Most would simply wish to forget that they were ever involved in such an incident, and consider themselves lucky to escape alive. ''If Amber really came, they probably nned to get her killed as well. After all, someone who is already familiar with me is much more unlikely to remain silent. No It''s not just that!''


    Donna smiled coldly. "Shouldn''t you worry about yourself a little more instead of worrying about what happens after you die? How about this, as long as you can survive against this beast for ten minutes, you can be considered as someone with considerable potential, and I will let you go."


    Evelyn would have to be an idiot to believe that this woman, who had been scheming to get her killed, would ever let her go when she ''finally had the chance''.


    Donna had clearly wanted to see some fear or apprehension on her face, but Evelyn would never give her the pleasure. Even if her situation had been desperate and she truly was facing death, she would still not delude herself into believing this woman.


    The pink haired girl smiled. "Professor Donna''s expectations are really too high. A newly admitted student who hasn''t lived past a decade is expected to defend against a level seventy beast for ten minutes to be allowed the chance to live, huh? Please, you clearly intend to murder me, but don''t want to leave behind evidence, right? This mountain rhino is the perfect tool, and since that is so"


    Evelyn turned her twinkling pink eyes to the stunned crowd, and grinned. "I wonder, would you really leave these witnesses alive? Isn''t it easier to just get them all killed the same way? Ah, a higher-level beast wiped out another expedition party, nothing too strange, right? And most importantly, it would have nothing to do with you."


    The students and rangers felt rmed at the girl''s words, suddenly realizing that the woman they had been thinking of as their ''savior'' might just end up ughtering them herself. Previously, they only thought she was ruthless, but when they considered that she might kill them allter they couldn''t help but regret returning earlier. Wouldn''t it have been easier to just keep escaping and never look back?


    However, now that they realized it, none of them wanted to stay here any longer. "P-Professor, we"


    Donna snorted. "No one is allowed to leave here and put the students'' lives at risk! I will lead you all back myself, but before that, I have to deal with this miscreant. If anyone dares disobey, I will toss them into the cage as well, understand?"


    Evelyn sighed. ''As expected this woman sure likes toying around with her ''prey'' though, she''s still leaving them some hope that she''ll let them go, even though it''s obvious she ns to kill them.''


    It was definitely not a foolproof n, and quite pathetic given how much time they had to n it out, but it wasn''t impossible for it to work if Aurora wasn''t already here.


    Evelyn had already started using [Advanced Spatial Maniption] the moment her cage had been mmed into the mountain rhino''s. After all, even if she could take this thing down, it would be a pyrrhic victory. Not to mention that she hadn''t even brought Ruru along today, so she couldn''t use some of her strongest skills.


    If push came to shove, she could only rely on her perfect cloaking skill.


    Donna snorted. "Unrepentant to the end, huh? Well, let us see if you will regret it once you feel what the girl you schemed against felt"


    With her words, the barrier separating the two cages disappeared, and the mountain rhino''s eyes instantly locked onto the now vulnerable girl.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but gulp. ''D-Don''t tell me she''s still not here, right? Do I really have to use the cloaking skill here?''


    After all, she was sure that her teacher wouldn''t let any of the innocent students die, and if she showed her cloaking skill in front of them, it would no longer be a secret trump card, but was likely to be a known skill that enemies could be then wary of.


    Gritting her teeth, Evelyn really couldn''t bring herself to take any chances, and since the barrier had disappeared and she could die at any moment, she immediately crushed the protection bead that Aurora gave her. ''Hopefully, she''ll show up before this thing runs out of energy Or I''ll really have to use it''


    Of course, the moment Evelyn had sent the signal, Aurora had rushed to her location immediately. By the time Donna had trapped the mountain rhino in a spirit cage, she was already there. The only one she couldn''t have saved was Mirah.


    However, the reason she didn''t reveal herself wasn''t because she wanted to tease or punish her little student, but because she could feel that there was another familiar existence nearby. As she had arrivedter, and her ability to hide was superior, they probably couldn''t detect her existence at all.


    At the same time, though, she also couldn''t tell exactly where the other person was, or even who they were. That was why she had been waiting in case they made a move and revealed themselves.


    Evelyn had already assured her that as long as she was given a little time to prepare, she could hide herself perfectly and be impervious to damage, making it so no matter the situation, Aurora didn''t need to worry about her while handling the threat.


    However, it seemed like her student didn''t understand the full extent of the plot, and thought that professor Donna was the real mastermind, as was clear by her confused and distressed face.


    Aurora couldn''t help but feel conflicted, but soon calmed down. ''No this kind of opportunity won''te by again if I let it go. They will be infinitely more cautiouster.''


    The tinum blonde nodded to herself. It was better to let Evelyn suffer a little here to pick out this hidden thornpletely. Unless the girl really couldn''t endure it anymore, Aurora decided to wait!


    ''Sorry Evelyn but you have to endure it for now.''


    ~ To be continued ~

 Chapter 126: The Real Target

    Chapter 126: The Real Target


    Evelyn had no idea of her teacher''s ns, but one thing she knew for sure was that if she gave up on her prepared cloaking skill and decided to fight with the beast first, she surely wouldn''t get another chance to set it up.


    To be fair, despite her earlier whining, Evelyn didn''t believe that it was impossible to take down this mountain rhino if she went all out.


    After all, even if she was only level 46 and this beast just broke through level seventy, its greatest attribute was its defense which was useless against any of her searing soul techniques.


    The beast didn''t intend to give the girl time to consider her decision carefully, and roared as it charged towards her.


    The pink haired girl gritted her teeth in rage. ''No, with this obnoxious teacher''s spirit cage restricting my movements, there''s a pretty good chance I''ll fail to avoid this beast''s enraged charge. Even if I take it down I''ll be in a sorry state, if not dead.''


    That being so


    Evelyn immediately disappeared.


    The enraged mountain rhino crashed into the spirit cage wall with a roar, kicking up a cloud of dust.


    Many students screamed, wondering if the next sight they would see would be that of the gruesome remains of the pink haired girl.


    But as the dust settled down, it only revealed a confused mountain rhino looking around, wondering where its previously trapped prey had vanished.


    Not to mention Donna, the students, or the rangers even Aurora was left gaping in shock.


    Cloaking skills that allowed someone to hide their presence, be it from sight, smell, or other senses, may not be verymon, but they were not unheard of.


    Most people above a certain level ofprehension in their respective fields were able to utilize it to cloak themselves somehow, and once they reach a high enough level, it was possible to hide from the naked eye using spirit power alone.


    That being said it was impossible to do so perfectly.


    Even at Aurora''s level, she knew the ws of her own concealment method, and knew under what conditions someone would be able to detect her. From farther away, her technique was truly ''wless'', but as she got closer and closer, higher-level people could feel the pulsing of the tremendous amount of soul power that her body absorbed from the surroundings topensate for what the technique was consuming.


    As for the higher-level enemy hiding in this area, his cloaking skill allowed even her to be unable to pinpoint who he was or where he was hiding, but she could still tell that someone was there, and she had felt the ''presence'' of this person before.


    That is to say, if they were from the academy, it was either one of the senior professors, pirs, or the headmaster himself.


    And Evelyn''s method was wless.


    Even with the tremendous gaps in their strength, if she couldn''t detect the girl when she vanished right under her eyelids it was truly shocking.


    But


    Aurora narrowed her eyes. ''She guaranteed to me that she could defend herself no matter what, but she was relying on this? Even if she hides herself and manages to avoid a few attacks, the beast might still end up killing her.''


    ording to her best estimates, Evelyn was still almost thirty levels lower than the mountain rhino. It was impossible for her to allow her student''s life to be in such danger right now, even if it meant that the real mastermind would escape.


    "It missed? S-She disappeared?!"


    Just as Donna was looking around in confusion and shock, her spirit power cage shattered like ss, and a tinum blonde little girl appeared right where Evelyn had previously been.


    Immediately, the dark haired professor felt the blood drain from her face, while the students feltplicated at the arrival of this entric professor. On one hand, they were there watching her student get framed, and this overly doting little professor might vent on them as well. But on the other hand, now that there were two professors of opposite camps here, it was impossible for them to suffer an unjust death. At most, they would be punished a little using some excuse.


    Aurora knew that the mastermind wouldn''t reveal himself now that she showed up, and would definitely escape, so she could only make do taking out this smaller thorn for now.


    "For you" Just as she had started speaking, however, Aurora suddenly snapped her hand up to put it in front of her eye, and a loud ''clink'' echoed through the area along with a smattering of purple sparks from her palm.


    It was only a momentter that anyone realized what happened, when a thin slit of red appeared on Aurora''s palm, followed by droplets of bright red blood.


    At first, many couldn''t believe that professor Donna had the guts to attack someone that was clearly far above her rank, but going by the dark haired woman''s nk face, they soon realized that she had nothing to do with it at all.


    The tinum looked a little perplexed as she stared at the cut on her hand. "Mantis? It''s you?"


    Even her voice was a little confused, as she wasn''t sure if the attack really came from him, or if it was someone trying to impersonate him.


    The loud, boisterousughter from the woods, however, confirmed her suspicions. "Ahahaha I''m ttered to see that little Aurora still remembers my skill."


    The tinum blonde furrowed her brows as the ck-cloaked man exited his cloaking skill, and appeared at the edge of the clearing with a grin.


    "Actually, I''m more surprised that your dumb little brain can even process the fact that anyone could be a threat to you. I almost thought that you would end up taking that shot to the face with your supreme overconfidence. Wouldn''t it have been funny, if you died just like that? Ahahaha"


    Despite his taunts, however, Aurora could only feel uneasy about something else entirely.


    The reason she had been so certain that no one would reveal themselves after she showed up was because there was only a single person hiding nearby, and there was no one in this academy who could defeat her in a one-on-one battle.


    Mantis was no exception.


    But for him toe out like this only meant that either he was an overconfident fool who had forgotten who she was, was expecting significant support soon, or, most likely his real target was never her, but Evelyn.


    "Hey Donna, kill these leftover rats, will you?"


    The moment his words fell, the students and rangers who had previously been staring at their confrontation in shocked silence immediately panicked. Unsurprisingly, none of them dared spare even a single thought to anything else before they all bolted.


    The dark haired professor felt her blood freeze in shock, but soon snapped out of it. ''R-Right Lord Mantis is also a pir! What am I scared of?!''


    Aurora''s eyes turned darker as she saw Donna head off towards the escaping group. She knew that she couldn''t abandon Evelyn and chase after that woman, and even if she tried to kill her from here, Mantis would be able to stop her attack. "Forfeiting your life, professor Donna?! And you, Mantis! How dare you"


    Lord Mantis chuckled as he swaggered closer, his eyes that were ck as a void scouring the area around Aurora curiously. "Now now, little girl, don''t be so shocked. A little monster like you is annoying enough, but just imagining another little monster, just like you, but also able to hide so perfectly? It gives me the chills."


    The tinum blonde had guessed as much, but having it confirmed still made her blood boil. "Is it not our good fortune if a student is gifted? Do not forget that the future of our academy is still"


    Mantis scoffed. "Seriously? Do you genuinely believe that lunacy that your mother used to spout? Our academy has been safe and sound for hundreds of thousands of years, and will remain the same in the future. You''re delusional if you think we actually ''need'' any of these so-called bright students. They''re fine as a means to pass time, but nurturing threats like that pink brat? Nah, I''d rather not."


    Aurora had no time to pay attention to anything else while fighting someone like Mantis. She could only trust that now that she was no longer restricted to a limited area, her student could hide far away using her invisibility.


    The tinum blonde could only sigh. "Evelyn, if you''re still here run away and hide. Wait for me to deal with him first."


    As long as she killed Mantis, it would be easy enough to deal with Donna and rescue the remaining students.


    The dark haired manughed. "Ahaha you really believe I''ll waste time looking for and killing her? Oh, you foolish little child. Today, the one I''m going to kill is you."

 Chapter 127: Cascading Rain

    Chapter 127: Cascading Rain


    Despite her small size and usually docile appearance, Aurora''s dark re at the moment was terrifying enough to make even Mantis to flinch back for a moment, even though he had always despised her in his heart.


    But when he thought of how terrible it would be to have someone with simr capabilities as Aurora who was also able to hide herself perfectly, the dark-haired man felt even more terrified.


    He had to end this threat before it was toote!


    Aurora may be strong, but they were both at a simr level, and she was already inflicted with his poison. As long as he yed his cards right, taking her down wasn''t impossible.


    And as long as Aurora was dealt with, that little student of hers was no longer a threat. Mantis may not even bother himself to go look for her, as it was unlikely that she would be able to grow enough to be a threat without Aurora''s guidance.


    Neither of them argued anymore as a dark aura started rising around the cloaked man, while Aurora waved her hand to materialize a floating veil of water around her.


    Of course, Evelyn hadn''t left her spot at all, and had a front-row seat to observe the battle of the two pirs. Even if she wanted to follow Aurora''s instructions, her teacher didn''t know the exact details of her skill. As long as Evelyn stayed where she was, she could remain invincible.


    As long as her spirit power didn''t run out, that is.


    Evelyn, who had over five hundred points of spirit power, could easilyst for over eight hours before exhausting herself. She doubted that Aurora would take that long to defeat Mantis. She believed in her teacher.


    Mantisughed as he materialized some of the darkness around him in his hand, forming a long, darknce. "Raiment of Dedication? I recall you used that to beat a level fifty kid when you were level thirty-five, right? Ah, but that disgraceful method of enduring attacks and waiting for your opponent to exhaust himself doesn''t this mean you already admit I''m stronger?! Ahahaha"


    The tinum blonde didn''t grace him with an answer. Even when Mantis flung that spear of darkness towards her heart, she didn''t even flinch. The veil that flew around her automatically intercepted the attack.


    Evelyn almost felt her heart skip a beat when some of the spear''s energy managed to leak through what she assumed was Aurora''s defense. The resulting collision still had the same purple sparks, though this time it ended up destroying a part of Aurora''s frock, revealing her bare belly.


    Looking at the scratch two inches above the girl''s navel, Evelyn couldn''t help but have a bad feeling. It was only now that she noticed the skin around the scratched area bing purple did she realize that the same phenomena had urred where the previous attack struck Aurora.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but curse in her heart. ''If only I was strong enough to protect her, I could have brought Bree along. With her innate ability, purifying whatever poison he''s using would be easy.''


    Unfortunately, she could only hope that it didn''t affect Aurora too much, and didn''t cause any permanent damage before they could return to her room to get it treated.


    Unlike her student, Aurora seemed to care neither for her wounds nor the poison, and stretched her left hand forward while moving the right one up behind her, her body nting slightly into a bow, and then she started dancing.


    "Esoteric Water Maiden Raindance? Hahaha foolish, too foolish!"


    When she had first shown herself, Mantis really had hesitated for a while, but at this moment, he couldn''t help but shake his head at his earlier overestimation of this girl''s abilities.


    Over thousands of years she hadn''t grown at all.


    Even as numerous orbs of water rose from the ground, each containing enough energy to easily kill a beast like that mountain rhino, Mantis easily avoided them all. The dark-haired man chuckled as he formed another dark spear in his hand, this time condensing four times the energy he had earlier. "The same old healing and defense technique that same old water dance you used to deal with the beast wave too boring! Not to mention challeging, you won''t even be able to make this fight fun!"


    With a thunderous roar, the dark spear this time easily passed through Aurora''s defensive veil, only losing a third of its power, and directly pierced into her shoulder.


    Evelyn almost screamed. ''N-No way why didn''t she dodge?!''


    Of course, Aurora couldn''t dodge even if she wanted to. It would mess up her rhythm. Even as blood leaked out of the hole in her shoulder, and a purple hue started spreading at a rapid pace, Aurora continued her dance.


    Mantis continued flinging attacks at Aurora, and she continued ignoring them. Evelyn soon breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that maybe Aurora''s injuries weren''t as bad as they looked, though she still felt a pain in her heart. Whether it was the veil itself or another ability, it was allowing Aurora to recover from her injuries rapidly, though it still couldn''t keep up with the damage that Mantis was dealing.


    Her teacher had to end it soon, or the oue would definitely not be in their favor!


    Fortunately, the each of the water orbs that shot out of the ground towards Mantis was stronger and faster than thest, and even if he was avoiding them right now, making them shoot into the sky futilely, he couldn''t keep doing so forever.


    Evelyn assumed Aurora''s technique could only increase in power slowly like this, and required such a cumbersome setup. But it should be ridiculously powerful at the end enough to take down a pir!


    Mantis also started to frown, having realized the same thing. "Bitch, you think I''ll let you? Such basic skills, even if you modified it a little to continuously increase in power you really underestimate me too much if you think you can deal with me like this!"


    Each of the current water orbs that shot out of the ground every time Aurora moved to the next step of her dance could instantly kill even a level 80 ranger, but they weren''t yet fatal to someone like Mantis.


    Aurora''s spirit and soul power had always been disgustingly ridiculous, and she had always steamrolled over both her peers and seniors using the same. To bet on her running out of steam was a fool''s errand, and Mantis knew it.


    Gritting his teeth, he decided that could no longer rely on killing Aurora using his quick darkness moves, which was the strongest attack he could execute while dodging the darned things.


    He had to kill her in one go, even if it meant getting injured. As long as he could finish it within the next ten attacks, he would still live, and Aurora would be dead!


    Having made up his mind, Mantis paused his movements and glowered as he took out a ball from his spatial artifact. "Let''s see if you can keep dancing after this, little girl, you forced my hand!"


    Evelyn blinked in shock at the thing, wondering if she was guessing wrong, or if what Mantis was holding was a type of spirit sphere, which was generally considered on the weaker side of weapons. Going by his overconfident look, he should be quite sure it could help him take Aurora down.


    At this moment, Evelyn wished that the thing would somehow malfunction, just spontaneously explode, anything! It absolutely couldn''t be allowed to be used against Aurora as she was now, where she seemed intent on tanking the attacks and relying on her defense and recovery.


    Evelyn knew that thing could instantly kill her.


    It seemed like it was a truly high-grade artifact, because even someone like Mantis couldn''t use it immediately and while he was channeling his spirit power to charge it up, the next water orb of course hit him in the guts.


    Mantis immediately wheezed in pain, but his channeling didn''t pause at all, a vicious grin lighting up his face.


    But that was it.


    Mantis couldn''t see it, but Evelyn clearly saw that the moment the man allowed one of the orbs to touch him, his forehead lit up with the mark of a pure white water lily.


    At the same time, Aurora''s eyes snapped open, and her dance stopped abruptly as she mmed her heel down.


    And as it reached the ground, countless orbs of condensed water rained from the sky. But this was no ordinary rain


    Even though she was littered with scratches and wounds of various severity, and her skin covered in patches of blue and purple while her clothes were in tatters, Aurora still smiled, and Evelyn couldn''t help but think it was beautiful, despite her current state.


    "Your fate is sealed."


    Mantis immediately felt the blood drain from his face, his heart dropping down to the pit of his stomach. All of the countless attacks he had dodged


    "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

 Chapter 128: A Pillars Fall

    Chapter 128: A Pir''s Fall


    Lord Mantis had once heard the previous headmistress say that even a barrier that could resist the push of a hundred beasts could not stand the gnawing of a billion ants.


    And as hey defeated on the ground today, he finally realized what it meant.


    When he had first seen Donna sneaking around and stealing a ''low level'' beast''s egg, his curiosity got the best of him, and he of course interrogated the flustered woman.


    Under the pressure of a pir, she had no choice but to spill the beans after being caught red-handed.


    Of course, the woman expected expulsion, or worse, but much to her surprise, Mantis hadn''t punished her at all. Instead, he even wanted to support her. After all if it goes against Aurora, it''s all good fun. And getting her student killed super fun!


    It is possible that the little brat won''t care for her student dying in the forest identally, but she would definitely be supremely annoyed. Moreover, he could always tease herter about how pathetic her choice of a student had been.


    However, he never expected that Aurora would protect the girl so fiercely. Even stalking her while on an expedition! This was clearly absurd, but Mantis no longer had the mood to make fun of Aurora, nor did he dare to take matters lightly at that point.


    Evelyn was too much of a threat.


    Mantis had too many secrets, and letting go of someone who could hide so perfectly and sneak around the academy right under his nose impossible! She definitely had to die!


    As for Aurora, despite his words Mantis never intended to kill her. But to reveal that little girl, he first had to defeat Aurora and pretend that he was going to kill her, only then would the little girle out of hiding.


    And if she didn''t wouldn''t that prove to the dumb little brat that the pink-haired girl wasn''t worth nurturing or protecting?


    Once that was done, he could kill the little girl at any time.


    Unfortunately he lost.


    Currently, his body was in tatters, with not a single strip of cloth left to preserve his dignity. Even his treasures and artifacts that had been inside his spatial artifact were all gone, as it had been shattered by Aurora''s attack.


    When a spatial artifact broke, generally its contents would be spilled through the pocket dimension, and could appear anywhere in the universe. Perhaps a few things would drop right where it broke, while the rest were scattered billions of light-years away.


    However, with the mega-formation over the wondend of doom Mantis knew that all of his artifacts and treasures would only be scattered within this zone.


    As long as he could get out of this situation and recover quickly he wouldn''t lose too much!


    The dark-haired man wheezed, trying his best to remain calm as he fixed his gaze on the little girl not far from him. "A-Aurora you''ve really grown, huh"


    Aurora frowned. "Why were you scheming against my student? I don''t understand Even if you saw her technique as a threat, you couldn''t have known about it before Even I didn''t know about it."


    Mantisughed, though it turned into coughs halfway through. "I was j-just having fun t-that woman has n-nothing to do with me"


    Of course, the tinum-blonde didn''t believe him at all. Unfortunately, the junior professor had long since vanished from her senses.


    It was impossible for her to have gone so far so quickly, so the only other possibility was that she used some artifact that hide herself. In that case, it would be difficult to search for her in this forest, especially in her current condition.


    Mantis thought he knew Aurora well, after thousands of years observing her. The girl may appear quite ruthless, but she generally spared those she considered even moderately talented. Be it Professor Dane or Madam Augury, neither of the two had been killed despite clearly getting on her bad side.


    Perhaps only once she was certain of the threat their continued existence could bring, such as those of an enemy faction, would she use lethal attacks.


    It was impossible for her to kill him, a pir, an integral part of the ancient academy''s strength!


    Or so he thought, but he could feel that there was a foreign energy slowly condensing further and further inside his head, as if ready to


    Mantis couldn''t help but panic. "Wh-what''s this? What''s this thing in my head?"


    Even though he tried to expel it with what little strength he had left, it was like a child trying to move a mountain. There was no effect at all.


    Aurora watched calmly as the dark-haired man''s expression changed, turning uglier and uglier with every passing second.


    "I-It feels like it''s going to e-explode?!" Mantis gritted his teeth, pointing his mangled arm in Aurora''s direction. "H-Hey you won''t kill me, right? H-Hey, get rid of this thing."


    Seeing her remain silent, the dark-haired man''s eyes turned red. "I-I''m a pir you know. Y-You can''t kill me. Won''t the academy get weaker without me? D-Don''t you care? And why?! For the little girl? She''s not showing up even now. See how easily she abandoned you and ran away?! Can''t you see?!"


    In the end, Aurora sighed. "I won''t kill you you''re already dead."


    "Huh?"


    "Evelyn? If you''re still here,e out. He''s not a threat anymore."


    The pink-haired girl had of course been overcautious, and didn''t daree out of hiding before Aurora called her out.


    After all, if she revealed herself believing that the battle was already over, and got caught by the opponent instead, turning the tides against her own teacher that would be such a joke! Evelyn refused to be so foolish.


    Only once Aurora assured her that everything was fine did she cancel her skill, and appear right where she had been when the mountain rhino had first charged at her.


    "Teacher."


    Aurora smiled. "So you were right here, huh? Amazing"


    Evelyn chuckled, feeling slightly embarrassed.


    Meanwhile, Mantis had already started beating his mangled fist on the ground in rage. "Stop this nonsense! Listen to me! I am your father."


    The dark-haired man had expected Aurora''s expression to immediately morph into rage or disbelief, but the tinum-blonde girl just tilted her head curiously, making his already erratic heart clench painfully in his chest. "A-Aurora!"


    Hadn''t she been curious at all who her other parent had been, all these thousands of years? It was true that the headmistress had never married, but with her strength, Aurora should have been easily able to tell that her spirit egg had more than one parental signature! Did she not care at all?!


    Mantis couldn''t believe it, and in his despair, he couldn''t help but start sobbing. "Y-You can''t kill me! YOU CAN''T! I''m your father! Aurora! You bitch! Unfilial whore! Stop this at once!"


    The tinum-blonde shook her head, and Evelyn couldn''t tell whether her teacher was regretful or didn''t care at all. "In this condition, there is only one person in this world who can save you and I''m not her."


    And as if that was the final nail in his coffin, Lord Mantis, an ancient powerhouse and a pir of the academy exploded into bits and pieces, which further kept exploding until there was nothing but a thin mist. And that, too, vanished shortly.


    Even Evelyn had been shocked by the abrupt explosion of the man''s body, and if not for Aurora shielding her, she might have been momentarily covered in gore.


    Of course, with Aurora''s personality, she immediately wanted to leave, and given that her teacher didn''t appear to be in a good condition, Evelyn also didn''t want to dally any longer.


    However, before she left, she didn''t forget to grab the ck spirit sphere that Mantis had taken out to deal thest blow to Aurora.


    Aurora felt her eyebrow twitch as her greedy little student returned to her side with a sheepish smile.


    "Y-You''re poisoned. L-Let''s go get my aunt."


    At first, her teacher had insisted that the poison would be cleared from her system naturally within a few days, though it would have been lethal for many.


    However, once Evelyn also understood a little about Aurora''s position in the academy by now, and once she reminded her of the possible repercussions of a pir''s death, her teacher could only agree to the treatment.


    And despite Aurora''s and heavily bruised and poisoned appearance, she was still able to fly them all the way back to the White Lily Mansion swiftly. Of course, Evelyn gave her one of the hundreds of dresses she had lying in her cluttered inventory, as her teacher might otherwise be embarrassed to show up in front of her friends practically naked.


    Given that Aurora was about the same size as her the little red frock fit her perfectly.


    But even in new clothes, when Cecilia and the Gilmore sisters saw Evelyn return with Aurora covered in bluish-purple bruises, they of course immediately panicked.


    "Kyaa!"


    "Aurora?!"


    "W-What happened?!"

 Chapter 129: A Spot Left Vacant

    Chapter 129: A Spot Left Vacant


    Little Ruru, who had been anxiously waiting for her return, quickly jumped on her shoulder to lick her cheek in worry, and Evelyn patted her little fox in constion while leading Aurora towards her room, where she knew Bree must be sleeping. "Don''t panic, we''re both okay!"


    Although she could tell that Amber had already started to cry, and both Cecilia and Vivian were distraught, the most important thing was to get her teacher fixed up first. They could always be consoledter. As it was now, only Amara was keeping them in check, preventing them from disturbing Evelyn and Aurora.


    Evelyn knew that there was no way to tell when the after effects of the other pir''s demise woulde, and it would be a disaster if her teacher wasn''t ready at that time.


    Aurora had already known about Bree''s existence, even the fact that she was used to be a high-level powerhouse, capable enough to be a senior professor at an age of less than fifty.


    An achievement that even Aurora could never boast of.


    Regardless, at her level, she hadn''t been someone worth noticing if not for Evelyn. Even with her rare bloodline.


    Bree had been sleeping in her human form, and Evelyn only had to pick her up for the girl to slowly stir awake. Barely had her groggy eyes opened that she spotted her new braiding toy looking quite battered.


    "Mama! You can''t y with her so rough!"


    Evelyn felt her lips twitch, both in amusement and exasperation. If she had the strength to beat Aurora up, she would instantly be able to solve most of her problems, wouldn''t she?


    The pink haired girl could only pat the tiny blonde girl, wondering how exactly she would be able to purify the poison. "Why don''t you try touching her, Bree?"


    The girl looked confused on why her mama would ask such a strange thing but still put her hands on Aurora''s frowning face.


    Unfortunately, it had no effect at all.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but furrow her brows. "Strange"


    Hadn''t her purification triggered automatically when she had put her on top of the tentacles of the ''Thousand Eyed God''?


    ''Maybe it could be because the tentacles had been practically oozing poisonous miasma, and it had infiltrated!''


    Evelyn''s eyes lit up as she realized it, but soon enough she came across another problem.


    There was no way to send the poison in Aurora''s body to Bree, was there? Plus, even if she did so, what if only the part send in Bree''s body was purified?


    Aurora sighed. "Have you figured it out, or should I tell you?"


    Evelyn blinked as she pointed at her teacher in disbelief. "EH? You knew? Why didn''t you say so earlier?!"


    The tinum blonde shrugged. "I wanted to see if you''d be able to figure it out. Anyway, with her bloodline and the strength of the poison in my body, I only need a single drop of fresh fluid from her to be purified."


    "A-Ah so I just need to prick her a little, and you can No wait, wouldn''t her spit work?!"


    Bree looked delighted. "Spit! Spit! Where do I spit!"


    Aurora''s face turned dark as she pulled the little girl into herp, and squeezed her chubby cheeks till she cried out. "Uwawawa! My toy is bullying me! Mama! Help!"


    Evelyn just blinked in shock, wondering what her teacher was doing. "E-Ehm, Aurora, t-that''s my aunt, you know"


    Her teacher ignored her and continued squeezing Bree''s cheeks, and sure enough, the little blonde burst into tears.


    As soon as they fell, Aurora immediately swept up a drop with her finger, and put it to her lips.


    Almost instantly, the purplish bruising on her body started to recede, and Aurora breathed a sigh of relief.


    Evelyn, meanwhile, was busy consoling her now extremely aggrieved aunt.


    "S-She bullied me, mama! You beat her some more!"


    The pink haired girl didn''t know whether to cry orugh, and could only pat her aunt''s back while hugging her close. "You were just too cute, so she couldn''t help but squeeze your cute little cheeks. But don''t worry, you can braid her hair in whatever style you wantter. Won''t you forgive her?"


    Thinking about ying with her toy again, Bree''s eyes lit up as she finally stopped crying. "O-Ohh okay."


    With the immediate concern dealt with, Evelyn finally allowed her friends toe in. Cecilia was the first to crash into her arms, while Amara held Vivian on herp by the bedside, and Amber stood beside them awkwardly while wiping her tears.


    When it came to Cecilia, Evelyn knew that she had recently been neglecting her too much as she was busy with one thing or another. However, given how much Cecilia had tried to help her before, she couldn''t help but feel guilty as she ran her fingers through the girl''s ash blonde hair.


    "Why is everyone crying? Aren''t we both fine?"


    Cecilia didn''t calm down at all. "T-Tell me what happened first!"


    Evelyn hesitated for a while, but after Aurora nodded, she could only sigh and dictate everything in full.


    From Riley''s trickery to the attack by Mantis, the girls couldn''t believe that so much had happened in such a short period of time.


    Amber was the one in most shock. Riley really did scheme to get her friend killed! And not only that, he really would have seeded if not for her friend''s teacher protecting her! The auburn haired girl felt as if her entire worldview had been flipped.


    It had taken her a while to get them all to calm down, but in the end, the Gilmore sisters ended up taking Amber back to their room to sleep, while Cecilia refused to leave, and Evelyn could only let her stay in her own room with Bree, who was already back to sleep.


    Evelyn thought that it was fine for them to sleep together, since the bed was quite big, but Aurora only waited till Cecilia fell asleep before getting up to leave for her own tower.


    "I-Is it because it''s too crowded?"


    The tinum blonde shook her head. At this moment, how could she sleep?


    Aurora knew very well that this matter was far from over. Professor Donna was of little consequence, no matter if she escaped alive or not, but the disappearance of Mantis would surely rock the upper echelons of the academy to their core.


    A pir had more duties than just acting to defend the academy in times of need, or carrying out a few missions when people of higher strength were needed.


    No, their core, most important job, was to take charge of the four towers surrounding the ''Tower of Solitude'', and make sure that the formations remained fully functional.


    Such a position cannot be left vacant for long. In fact, ideally, the next pir would already be ready before the previous one abdicated.


    In any case, Aurora had to make sure that the aftereffects didn''t hurt her student. "There are many things I have to take care of soon. This event cannot be hidden from the headmaster and the other pirs. The formation at the tower Mantis lived in should have already deactivated along with his death."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but gulp. "W-What happens when they find out?"


    Aurora sighed. "Usually, the first matter would be to decide who to promote to be a pir and take up the position left vacant by Mantis. And next to investigate his death. But since I already know, this matter is easily resolved."


    Although she wanted to believe in her teacher, Evelyn couldn''t help but worry. "I-Is it really going to be like that? There won''t be any trouble?"


    After all, Mantis alone had already put Aurora in such a state. Given that she would be ''discussing'' things with the two other pirs and the headmaster, how could Evelyn rest assured?


    Aurora nodded. "Don''t worry."


    Evelyn sighed. She knew that even if she asked more, Aurora wouldn''t tell her, and taking her along was even more impossible. But that wasn''t the only thing bothering her. "Um, when you said there is only one person who can save ''him'', who did you mean?"


    The tinum blonde frowned. "The skill I used on him only deals more than half its damage minutes or even hours after it has been used, depending on a number of factors. However, it cannot be ''deactivated'', not even by the user. This type of skill is like a knot that you have tightened using your maximum strength. Some of them can be easily undone with a simple pull, but this is one of the worst."


    Aurora demonstrated a few patterns in the air using her spirit power as threads, and Evelyn nodded.


    The tinum blonde sighed. "To undo this ''knot'' only someone who has superior mastery over water and is also stronger than me can do it. And as far as I know, there only exists one such person The Conqueror of Oceans, the Blue Moon Throne."

 Chapter 130: Responsibility

    Chapter 130: Responsibility


    Just as Aurora expected, it didn''t take long for the headmaster to notice that one of the pir formations had deactivated, meaning Mantis had either betrayed them or died.


    A betrayal made no sense, since if someone at his level was to do so, they wouldn''t stop at simply deactivating their tower''s formation, and would certainly try to either cause as much damage as possible, or steal what they could find before running away.


    Since neither of these had happened, that left only one possibility, which was that someone had managed to kill one of their pirs without them even noticing.


    Once that fact was established in his mind, the always confident headmaster couldn''t help but feel a chill up his spine.


    Of course, his first instinct was to immediately call back the remaining pirs, and that was exactly what he did. Only once he was done sending the signal of recall to their badges and received three confirmations did he breathe a sigh of relief.


    Aurora had already been on her way to the headmaster''s pce when she received his signal, so it was no surprise that she was the first to arrive.


    The headmaster''s panicked expression eased immediately upon spotting her, and he audibly breathed a sigh of relief. "It''s good that you''re here. Where are Lord Kaizen and Lady Kaling?"


    The tinum blonde shrugged. "On their way here, probably."


    The ck-haired man couldn''t help but jolt up from his chair and start walking back and forth in worry. "Should I go out and escort them back? No no, I think both of us should go out and get them back in the academy safely! Whoever can take down Mantis can surely do the same with Kaizen and Kaling! There''s no time to waste"


    Aurora sighed. "No need to worry, nothing will happen to them."


    The headmaster couldn''t believe it even at this moment, when one of their pirs had been killed, Aurora was still acting so chill.


    Can''t she bring herself to care, for once?!


    In his rage, he couldn''t help but m his fist down on the table. "What the fuck, Aurora! I usually treat you with respect, but this is too much! Lord Mantis died, you know! Is this really the time for you to be so uncaring? If something happens to the other two pirs, will you take responsibility?"


    Aurora opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the headmaster had already started another tirade.


    "No, in the first ce, this is all your fault! When you were investigating the Terran movements, you should have been more careful! All of the pirs should have stuck together! Even if you think the Terrans aren''t strong enough to warrant that, there are still horrors like that Thousand Eyed God roaming around!"


    Aurora waited for a while as the headmaster huffed angrily, and only after he remained silent did she sigh. "Are you done, now? Can I say something?"


    "Huh? O-Oh yeah? No, wait! We should first go and"


    Looking at the tinum blonde''s stare, the headmaster gulped and changed his mind. "A-Alright, l-let''s listen to what you have to say first, Lady Aurora, then we can go and escort the other two back."


    Aurora nodded. "You''re right when you say that the death of ''Lord Mantis'' is my fault. I killed him."


    The headmaster stared at her nkly for a while before bursting into nervousughter. "Ahahaha Haha Haha N-Nice one, Lady Aurora. I really was too nervous back then. I-I feel a lot better now."


    "I don''t joke."


    The ck-haired man felt his legs shake for a moment. "I-I was hasty and unbridled to say such a thing, Lady Aurora. No one could have expected this to happen. Spreading the pirs out to search the forest wasn''t the wrong decision. The death of Lord Mantis is definitely not your fault! Please don''t me yourself!"


    Aurora sighed. "Listen carefully, headmaster I killed Mantis. His body exploded into bits and pieces, and those bits and pieces exploded into tiny little particles, which evaporated till there was nothing left of him. I cannot be any more clear than this, can I?"


    There was pin-drop silence in the headmaster''s meeting chamber, as time passed by minute by minute, and the headmaster felt his vision repeatedly turning dark as he tried toprehend Aurora''s words, and what it meant for him if that was true.


    Although he had repeatedly theorized fighting with Aurora, and how he could take her down using his superior artifacts and fighting experience, the reality was he didn''t dare to go against her at all.


    When he had been but a small boy, Aurora was already used to punishing senior professors, and she did so quite frequently. Back in the day, before the headmistress perished, the terror that Auroramanded in the academy was a sight to behold, and anyone who grew in such an environment would never dare go against the girl.


    And the most terrifying part was that it was impossible to tell when she was truly angry. People could only guess her mood through the intensity of her punishments. Thankfully, after the headmistress died, Aurora seemed to have mellowed out a lot, and only took care of matters that required her attention.


    Right now, there was no one else aside from Aurora and himself in the room, and the headmaster felt, for the first time in thousands of years, that his life was truly on the line. He couldn''t help but send his spirit power into his spatial artifact, getting ready to call out all his defenses to turtle up like a proper coward until the other two pirs arrived. Maybe then the three of them could gang up together to survive.


    But as minute by minute passed, and Aurora still didn''t make a move, the headmaster finally felt some of his fear fade away.


    Right. If she wanted to kill him, wouldn''t he be already dead?


    "L-Lady Aurora You see U-Um, can you tell me why you killed Lord Mantis?"


    To his relief, Aurora didn''tsh out, nor did she re. The tinum blonde gave him a nod before turning to stare at the door.


    "Wait for the other two to arrive. I''ll exin it to all three of you together."


    Although he had already concluded that the other two weren''t killed by her based on her earlier words, hearing it again from her mouth still brought the headmaster much relief.


    Still, he only rxed when the two cloaked figures finally rushed into the headmaster pce and arrived at the meeting hall.


    "Emergency Summons? What happened?"


    "Huh? Lord Mantis is still not here? I thought he''d be here before us."


    Aurora indicated for them to take a seat, and the two pirs gave her a bow before doing so. They were quite curious about what caused such a summon. Going by how Aurora was already there and they had been called back, perhaps whatever scheme the Terrans were cooking was already figured out, so there was no need to continue their search.


    Maybe Mantis was even out dealing with them? The man was quite whimsical, though, so the two of them weren''t sure if he wasn''t justte.


    Interestingly, the headmaster remained silent, and didn''t even greet them.


    They thought that they would have to wait for Mantis to arrive first, but unexpectedly, Aurora tapped the table to get their attention.


    "Please listen carefully, all three of you, I will only exin once."


    Aurora considered her words for a moment before she started speaking. "A few days ago, I became aware of a scheme that threatened my student''s life, so I decided to tail her in secret to protect her if needed. Today, the scheme was finally executed, and I''m uncertain of the fate of all the students who were in the same expedition as my student, and they are very likely already killed by professor Donna."


    "Donna?!"


    "That puny little junior professor?! She dared to kill a student right under the eyelids of a pir?! Deserving death!"


    Aurora shook her head, and the two pirs immediately apologized for interrupting her. "Doesn''t matter. Anyway, Donna is not dead, she may either be hiding in the Wondend of Doom, or could have already escaped."


    Not to mention Kaizen and Kaling, even the headmaster was shocked. How could a puny little junior professor escape from Aurora?


    No way.


    Even if she didn''t want to kill the woman for her offense, she still should have at least captured her! Unless Donna could present a very strong reason for doing so, she was sure to be executed by the academy''s rules!


    As the prime enforcer, it made no sense for Aurora to have let her go.


    Of course, her next words immediately cleared all their doubts.


    "When I interceded to stop her, I was attacked by Mantis. I care not for his reasoning, nor can I be bothered to exin it to you. But since he attacked me, he perished. That is all."

 Chapter 131: Headmasters Turn

    Chapter 131: Headmaster''s Turn


    Three gulps sounded in the room simultaneously, and the two pirs looked at each other first, and then turned to stare at the headmaster.


    Strictly going by the rules, Aurora should have put forth clear-cut reasoning along with irrefutable evidence in order to justify her actions, and if she refused to do so, they should forcefully interrogate her till they found out theplete truth of the matter.


    If the three of thembined their strength, subduing Aurora really wasn''t too much to ask for. However, the problemy in the fact that they would also be putting their neck on the line.


    Aurora had already made it clear that the primary offense of Mantis, who had been the strongest among them after the tinum blonde, was attacking her.


    That being the case, if they attacked her, even if their reasoning was to just force her to spill the truth, she was sure to retaliate in the same way.


    Even in the thousands of years they had spent observing her, no one had ever seen Aurora use anything but the most basic of skills. They would have to be incredibly stupid and nave to believe that all she had was those. Clearly, it made far more sense to believe that no one had managed to make her bring out any of her stronger arsenal, and whoever had never lived to tell that tale.


    Moreover, just as they knew Aurora, they also knew Mantis.


    The guy was a joker with a bad sense of humor, too confident in the invincibility that was assured by his position and strength. Sometimes, he did things that made no sense, and took his jokes a little too far. Even trying to molest Aurora, as suicidal a thought as it was, wouldn''t be past a madman like him.


    If they really united their strength, it was possible that Aurora would be able to kill one of them still, and even if that didn''t tip the scales in her favor what happens then? Wouldn''t they die of regret if it turned out that Mantis really tried to molest Aurora, and she killed him for it? Would they lose another pir and risk the future of the academy for such a thing?


    Most importantly which one of them wanted to die?


    Neither Kaizen nor Kaling were willing toy down their lives to seek justice for someone like Mantis. In fact, the only reason they could bring themselves to even try to muster such a thought would be if they feared they would be next after him. But Aurora already said that Mantis attacked her first, and they would never be stupid enough to do that. And now that he was already dead, and Aurora had exined her ''reasons'', that was good enough in their books.


    The headmaster could tell what they were thinking even from his seat, and shook his head in both disappointment and relief.


    In truth, if he saw their determination, he really would have attacked.


    Not to interrogate Aurora, but to kill her.


    She was clearly too big of a threat, and had now even shown herself to be not stable enough.


    Unfortunately, he had neither the strength nor the conviction. Right now, they were already short of one pir. He couldn''t make that two, or even worse if there were more causalities. And attacking her in this state, when he couldn''t even be sure of the stance of the other pirs, was simply foolish.


    The headmaster cleared his throat. "What''s done is done, we can always discuss thister. The most important thing right now, however, is to fill the empty pir position!"


    Aurora could tell that the headmaster was dissatisfied with her, and would have surely pursued the topic further if the odds were a little more in his favor. Perhaps he even intended toter use this as an excuse to move against her, as the topic wasn''t closed yet ording to him, and they were only going to prioritize filling the pir position first.


    But the tinum blonde couldn''t bring herself to care about such a thing. After all, no matter his attitude, she didn''t have an expert of his level to rece him with. Even Mantis had been irreceable for the academy for now, and Aurora would never have killed him had it not been for thetent threat he had made himself out to be towards Evelyn.


    The other two pirs didn''t think so deeply of the matter, and only nodded in relief. As long as they didn''t have to fight for their lives in a losing battle, it was all good.


    Unfortunately, their next discussion wasn''t so peaceful, and arguments over which senior professor would be the most suitable to fill the emptied pir positionsted well into the next morning.


    In the end, no matter which candidate the headmaster tried to put forward, Aurora rejected him on the basis of the candidate being too weak.


    The headmaster couldn''t help but m his fist down on the table. "You''re being impossible now, Lady Aurora! At this point, you''ve already rejected all of the senior professors. Are we supposed to beg some outsider to take up our pir position then?!"


    Although neither Kaizen nor Kaling wanted to get into an argument with either of the two, they also couldn''t help but agree with the headmaster.


    "H-Headmaster is right, Lady Aurora. We understand that the academy has certain standards, but we have to adjust ording to our requirements. And who''s to say that professor Han can''t grow after getting the pir position?"


    The female pir also nodded. "I also support him for this, as he''s the most qualified among the senior professors, and also the strongest. His only drawback is that he''s a tad too biased against non-Terrans, but his core loyalty still remains with the academy."


    Aurora shook her head in rejection. It wasn''t that she had never considered these candidates, or had anything against them. The other three simply weren''t taking the most crucial factor into ount if they thought that simply filling up the position with the most suitable candidate among their choices would work.


    "The three of you keep rmending one or the other senior professor, but think of the consequences. Let''s take Han Stonehardt, for example. Yes, he can fulfill the basic duties of being a pir, and can operate the array of the second tower, albeit to a lower efficiency but what about the main defensive array? Can he take up the fourth position to power it?"


    The other three looked at each other after listening to Aurora''s words, their expressions nk.


    Main defensive array?


    In thousands of years, when had they ever needed to use that thing?


    Even before they became pirs, they had never heard of the thing being used.


    The headmaster couldn''t help butugh, and the other two pirs also chuckled along. "Lady Aurora, you can''t be serious, right? The main defensive array ispletely irrelevant to us! We only need to ensure that the monitoring formation around the ''Tower of Solitude'' is working properly, and a senior professor will be barely sufficient for that right now."


    Aurora furrowed her brows. "I agree that the tower of solitude needs to be properly protected, and for that the pir position should be filled as soon as possible, but I refuse to ept anyone that cannot power the main defensive array! Without it, we will be truly sitting ducks if a throne attacked us!"


    "Ahaha"


    "W-Why would a throne attack us, Lady Aurora?"


    "Don''t scare us like that. Although the old headmistress used to joke around, when has such a thing evere true?"


    Seeing that three of them truly had no intention of listening to her this time, Aurora couldn''t help but feel a sense of helplessness from her heart.


    And the worst part was that she couldn''t even force them to ept her solution, because she had no solution in the first ce. After all, no one here was strong enough to take up the position, except


    Suddenly, her eyes lit up and turned to the headmaster, who sat up straight in his chair in shock. ''W-Why is she looking at me like that? D-Don''t tell me''


    And the worst of his fears dide true, because the next moment, Aurora smiled. "Headmaster I just remembered that there indeed is a candidate suitable to be a pir. However, he sits in a position of power that gets him far more practical benefits."


    The two pirs also realized who she was referring to, and their eyes also lit up. Right! Didn''t the headmaster fit all the criteria required by any of them to a T? Plus, he also satisfied the strength requirement to power the main defensive formation!


    Although he would be giving up a lot of his administrative power and privileges in the academy, they were sure that he would be willing to do it. After all, it was for the academy, and the headmaster cared for that more than anything else. Right?

 Chapter 132: Stepping Down

    Chapter 132: Stepping Down


    The headmaster felt a chill up his spine as he faced the gaze of the three pirs. ''Fuck!''


    Just as the student prefects had their monthly stipend of a hundred spirit stones per week, and the junior and senior professors had their own sries, the headmaster also received his fair pensation'' from the academy''s coffers.


    Of course, what he got was far, far better than anyone else in the academy, even the pirs. After all, if not for Aurora''s overwhelming strength, the headmaster''s position was actually superior to that of a pir, and strictly going by the hierarchy, she should be listening to his orders.


    But as it often is in the world, the strong don''t need to follow the rules of the weak. Aurora would only be bound to follow his orders if she herself felt like it, or if she was forced to do so by someone stronger than her. Since neither of these was true, she would, of course, do as she pleased.


    On the other hand, he had to follow her orders and advice whenever she put them forth, because her strength was superior to his own.


    Technically, there was no loss of face for him as the headmaster to be following Aurora''s orders. After all, the pirs were the senior-most members of the academy, and could have easily taken the headmaster position for themselves if they wished. Not to mention that the position of the headmaster was also decided by votes from the pirs.


    All three remaining pirs seemed to have decided on it already. Even if he protested, they could still revoke his headmaster position. In that case, it was better to step down gracefully.


    Anyway, a pir also received about half thepensation that he used to. It wasn''t too bad, though it will surely hurt his growth in the long term.


    The ck haired man couldn''t help but lean back on his chair with a sigh. "Who will take up the headmaster position, then?"


    Evelyn had, of course, stayed in her room for the day along with her friends, and also implored Amber to do the same.


    Since her teacher hadn''t told her what the situation was going to be like, the pink-haired girl was of course worried that something could go wrong, and they would be caught up in the mess. In that case, it was better to stay in a position where Aurora could quickly find them.


    Not everyone listened to her as obediently as Amber, though, and while Evelyn was still waiting for her teacher to return, the ash-blonde finally returned.


    "Why are you out, again? Didn''t I tell you to either wait with us here, or stay in your own room?" Evelyn couldn''t help but frown as Cecilia slid past her with a sheepish grin.


    Cecilia scratched the back of her head with some embarrassment. "W-Well, although I do understand the situation is quite serious from what you said, but we wouldn''t have any idea what''s going on if all of us just stayed in ce, right? Plus, I''ve been in the academy for so long, nothing will happen to me by roaming a little more."


    Evelyn rolled her eyes as she led the girl to the sofa, where Amara was teaching Amber and Vivian some tricks in ''kingdom'', as both of them had been frustrated after being repeatedly bullied by Cecilia.


    Amber flinched as soon as she spotted the ash-blonde girl. "Ah! S-She''s here again!"


    Vivian, on the other hand, was fearless. "Hmph. This time I''ll defeat you for sure! Bullying me just because you know more tricks!"


    Evelyn shook her head as she motioned for Amara to calm them down, and the older redhead quickly distracted the two.


    Although she didn''t like that Cecilia had gone out to take such a risk despite her advice, at the end of the day, the girl had her own free will. Plus, now that she was back safe and sound, there was no point in nagging her too much.


    "How do things look? Any announcements in the Hall of Merits?"


    Cecilia nodded. "That''s what I''d been waiting for. They announced that the headmaster position will now be handed over to Han Stonehardt. I didn''t hear anything about a pir dying, though. I''m guessing they want to keep it under wraps."


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but frown.


    It made sense that the academy would want to keep this thing a secret. After all, infighting between the top echelons wasn''t exactly something glorious. If they could hide it, why wouldn''t they?


    What she was worried about, however, was that she knew the name of the new headmaster, and he hadn''t left her with a good impression at all.


    Evelyn could clearly recall that, on her first day in the ''Maker''s Mansion'', the man had clearly shown favoritism towards the Terran students. And he seemed to favor that annoying brat Rufus especially, which Evelyn thought might be due to them having the same surname. Perhaps they both originated from the same family, and Rufus might even be a descendant of Han!


    If he just showed a little favoritism, that was still eptable. But Evelyn felt that he was also someone who wouldn''t mind resorting to underhanded tactics just to boost his own ego. She could sense that thepetition he had conducted on the first day wasn''t exactly fair, and even if she had made her submission ten times better, it still would have lost to that of Rufus.


    Cecilia couldn''t help but be curious when she saw Evelyn look so gloomy after hearing the news. "Why do you look so depressed? It doesn''t really concern us much, does it?"


    Evelyn bit her lip in thought. "Actually, I just feel like this Han guy is bad news. And now that he''s so high up, taking the position of the headmaster I just have a bad feeling."


    The ash blonde girl scratched her cheek, feeling a little confused. "Han Stonehardt? Uhhh From what I remember, he was a rather pompous, buff looking guy who focused mostly on forging weapon type artifacts I don''t recall him being like that?"


    Evelyn blinked. "I-Is that so? Maybe I had a bad impression just because of one incident, and he''s actually not bad But it''s also possible that what I felt was right. I''ll talk to Aurora anyway. She must know something about him, at least, though she may not be personally familiar with the guy either."


    Cecilia nodded. "Right, that would be the best. Honestly, I still can''t believe that anyone in the academy would dare to attack Aurora. Whenever I heard someone talk about her, it was with such reverence and awe, as if talking about some invincible existence. I could believe it even less that he managed to injure her like that I guess she can also get hurt You should also be careful"


    The pink haired girl sighed. "Don''t worry."


    Of course, although the death of a pir could be hidden from the students, the same couldn''t be said for the teachers. Shortly after the headmaster stepped down from his position, the death of Lord Mantis was already a well-known fact among both senior and junior professors alike.


    Whether it was the headmaster or the pirs, they all agreed that hiding it would only be worse. After all, some of the senior professors were very likely to have be aware of the event and sensed that the pir tower belonging to Lord Mantis became deactivated.


    Although the reason behind said death wasn''t publicized, it wasn''t like they werepletely without clues.


    On the same day that Lord Mantis died, another professor also went missing. Of course, professor Donna was only a puny little junior professor, and one of the weakest among them, at that. None of them were stupid enough to suspect that she killed Mantis. That would be a joke.


    The mostmon theory among the professors was that Junior Professor Donna was killed by Lord Mantis. As for why he did so, who knows?


    Of course, a pir killing a junior professor could either be a minor thing, or a serious offense. It all depended on why they did, and whether or not there was someone who could and would enforce the rules to their fullest.


    Assuming that Lord Mantis did not have a good enough reason for killing Donna, or was even trying to hide some guilt against the academy itself by doing so, there did indeed exist someone who could and would punish him so severely for the fault.


    As long as Aurora judged that Lord Mantis hadmitted something truly egregious and must die, it was possible that she either executed him herself, or the other pirs assisted her in doing so, thus leading to a silent death for Lord Mantis.


    And thus, these two facts soon becamemonly agreed upon by the professors.


    First Donna was killed by Lord Mantis.


    And second Lord Mantis was killed by Aurora.

 Chapter 133: Into The Forest

    Chapter 133: Into The Forest


    Meanwhile, although the professors at the academy had collectively assumed her to be dead, Donna was very much still alive.


    Of course, the woman had no idea which one of the pirs won the fight, though she certainly hoped that it had been Mantis. But even though she hoped for such an oue, Donna wasn''t stupid enough to go back to check, because her fate would be disastrous if it turned out otherwise.


    If Mantis had won, then neither Aurora nor her student would have survived, and Donna''s vengeance against them for what they had done to her husband would be fulfilled.


    But if Mantis had lost, then Aurora should already be looking for her, and her best bet would only be to go deeper into the wondend to hide, or escape altogether.


    In either case, going back to the academy made no sense.


    The ck haired woman couldn''t help but sigh. "I wonder if it''s foolish of me to be looking for Dane in the forest maybe he already escaped"


    But whenever she thought about the fact that her husband had lost all of his artifacts while being cast out of the thunder array, she couldn''t help but grit her teeth in rage.


    Without any artifacts at all, was he supposed to wrestle with the beasts using his fists and legs? It would be a miracle if he could even survive against a slightly lower-level beast, and certain death if he ever had to face one of a simr level to his own.


    How could she just leave him be?


    "I-I''ll just go around the central area once, and then check the outskirts. If I still don''t find him, that means he must have already left Yeah"


    Donna had no idea that Craig and Dane had already been captured by Lord Mantis, and the artifact containing their bodies in a stasis had flown through a rift straight into the very depths of the wondend''s core region.


    However, they had only escaped the lion''s maw only to end up in a tiger''s jaw. Because before they had even managed to awaken from the restraints of the mysterious veil used by Lord Mantis, they had already been picked up by a ''Tree Demon''.


    Although it was called a ''tree'', it was actually a beast that often disguised itself as flora in order to fool and ambush unsuspecting prey.


    Its branch-like tentacles boasted a poison that was able to fully paralyze people even ten or twenty levels above its own.


    Suffice to say, as a beast capable of surviving in the core region of the wondend of doom, it was definitely capable of immobilizing even a senior professor like Dane.


    Right now, the red haired man found himself dangling upside down helplessly as the poisonous branches of the tree demon continuously leeched off his spirit power.


    Prince Craig''s face was already pale, as other than paralyzing him and leeching off his spirit power, the tree demon had already torn open the wound from his destroyed leg. Without the ability to heal himself in this helpless state, Craig could only panic while both his blood and spirit power leaked from his body.


    "P-Professor! Save me! You have to save me!"


    The red haired man was still reeling from the fact that they had been captured by a pir, and had no idea how they ended up in the hands of a tree demon, of all things, but when he turned his head to look at Craig, his blood ran cold.


    The boy''s face was already covered in blood, as it flowed down his dangling body from his foot, and dribbled from his hair. Even if the tree demon intended to use them as ''rationed food'' for a while, it didn''t really seem to care if the ''smaller morsel'' expired a little earlier.


    Their fates were already tied together, and he couldn''t let Craig die.


    Dane could only grit his teeth. "Calm down. This thing might have caught us in our moment of weakness, but in the core region, its strength shouldn''t be too high. Tree demons are also quite dumb, and we can use this to our advantage."


    Craig nodded shakily. "W-What do we do, then?"


    The red haired didn''t dare to turn his head around to check, though he was sure he could do so. After all, if the tree demon wanted to, it could easily paralyze their head as well. But this dumb thing seemed to like hearing its prey''s screams.


    "Wait, I have a n. We just have to hold on!"


    Of course, Evelyn had never forgotten about Craig''s escape from Aurora''s hand that day.


    Previously, she still had some hope of Aurora finding them in the forest. However, now that Donna had also escaped, and the search for the Terran prince had long since be the least of the academy''s priorities, she couldn''t help but worry.


    Craig was injured and in a bad state when he escaped, while Dane was without most of his artifacts. That being the case, the two of them still had a low chance of escaping the wondend without help.


    Knowing that professor Donna was the wife of professor Dane, Evelyn assumed that the woman must have taken most of his precious possessions with her, along with those of her own. Since she had made such a move against her, knowing Aurora''s stance, she must have long been prepared to escape the moment things went south.


    And considering her luck, it was entirely possible that this woman would be able to reunite with her husband and Craig. With her resupplying and reinforcing them, it would be far easier for the three of them to escape the wondend of doom together.


    Once that happened, Evelyn would forever have to be wary when she went out to explore, and even have to consider the safety of her friends from these vengeful bastards. And with Craig''s status and influence it was entirely possible that she would be losing someone dear to her, no matter how thoroughly she prepared.


    Such an oue was uneptable for Evelyn, especially now that she was growing by leaps and bounds.


    "But Aurora already said she will be busy the next few days, making sure that the previous headmaster is able to operate the defensive array with them her most optimistic estimate was a month"


    No matter how she thought about it, Craig and the two exiled professors would surely be able to escape in that time.


    Evelyn shook her head. "No Although Aurora will be mad, I have to take care of this. I can''t let them go!"


    At first, Evelyn had only intended to take Bree and Ruru with her, as she could easily protect them and hide using her advanced spatial maniption when needed.


    However, this time, her friends weren''t quite as easy to convince.


    Cecilia had her arms crossed in front of her chest as she stood blocking the door. "Little Eve you can either take me with you, or stay here like a good girl."


    Amara also nodded. "Although I understand why you feel the urgency, don''t forget that Aurora won''t be with you this time around. Plus"


    The pink haired girl waved her hand with a sigh. "Okay, Cecilia, you cane along. Actually, Amara and you too, Vivian. Everyone cane along, however, I have certain conditions!"


    She wasn''t making such a decision hastily, of course. Evelyn had long since been debating about it after watching the other students entering the wondend to gain experience.


    Granted, yesterday''s expedition was a bad example considering that everyone was probably dead, but it still meant that the students who wanted to grow almost always took the risk to venture out into the forest.


    With Vivian and Amara having already learned their respective cultivation techniques, it would only be conducive to their growth if she allowed them to follow her into the wondend of doom, provided that they didn''t die.


    Of course, with her ability to use the ''Eternal Ripple'' to scout ahead, ensuring that they avoided the most lethal threats should still be possible.


    Moreover, Cecilia wasn''t exactly a newbie, and could also hold her own against many beasts.


    Evelyn wasn''t being overconfident in her friends, though. She knew very well that they would all be wiped out the moment they came across a level eighty or higher beast.


    But that was a risk they had to be willing to take, if they were going to choose to follow her.


    If they couldn''t grow stronger at a faster pace, then they would foreverg so far behind her that they would always find themselves helpless against the threats she attracted.


    Protecting them by keeping them contained would only hurt them in the long run.


    The two Gilmore sisters had only wanted to prevent her from leaving, and never expected Evelyn to actually allow them to follow her into the wondend. Vivian pped, looking delighted, while Amara nodded gravely.


    Evelyn gently rubbed Ruru''s fur while giving her friends a serious nod. "If you choose to follow me, understand that I can, and will, venture out by myself to explore at certain points, and you''re only allowed to move when I tell you to. Of course, you should escape if your life is endangered, but no exploration without my lead, understand?"

 Chapter 134: Ranger Team

    Chapter 134: Ranger Team


    Although Cecilia tried to argue that she shouldn''t head out alone even to scout, and that at least one more person should go along, Evelyn remained firm on her conditions, and the ash blonde could only helplessly agree in the end.


    Even as she checked her spatial storage to confirm her preparations for the trip, Cecilia couldn''t help but pout. "Little Eve won''tpromise at all You''re really taking advantage of my sincerity, you know?"


    The pink-haired girl only rolled her eyes. "Didn''t I alreadypromise enough by letting youe along?"


    The ash blonde had nothing to say to that, and could only go sulk in a corner while Amara made sure to drill some discipline into her little sister. After all, they couldn''t really afford her ying around while in a dangerous zone, or it might just end up costing them dearly.


    Of course, Vivian wasn''t dumb, and also understood such a thing herself. But she could only bear her older sister''s lecture silently, courtesy of being so naughty all the time while pretending to be ignorant.


    In the end, however, she couldn''t help but groan. "Big sis, if that forest is so annoying, isn''t it better to burn it all down? I can do it, you know!"


    The older redhead bonked Vivian with her fist, making her yelp in surprise. "Do you think it''s so easy to burn down? Even if your cultivation method is of a superior grade, don''t get ahead of yourself, understand?"


    Vivian rubbed her head while grumbling. "I was obviously joking, kind of. Why hit me? That''s not fair at all."


    While the two redheads argued, Evelyn was also debating on whether she should keep Bree in her human form, or make her change into a puppy.


    Of course, while her stats remained the same in both forms, and she wasn''t in any state to fight during this expedition, both had their own advantages.


    In human form, Bree would be able to easilymunicate with others, and also be able to wear her grade two dress for protection. While in her puppy form, Evelyn would easily be able to carry her along on her shoulder, and also hide with her whenever required.


    "Well, the dress only offers minor protection anyway, and it''s not like Bree will gain much even if she fought in this state She''s already quite high level, after all, even if her stats are reduced right now."


    Evelyn nodded to herself after deciding so, and instructed the golden-haired little girl to turn into a puppy and get on her shoulder.


    Of course, no such debate was required when it came to Ruru, since her extremely tiny human form was hardly able to do anything be squeak pitifully. As it was, the only thing it could be good for was entertainment.


    "Well, let''s go."


    Apparently, there was even a service to forward a message to friends while leaving for the forbidden cities, though it did cost ten spirit stones to use, and the message could only be left at the first minor teleportation array.


    Evelyn thought it was worth it to leave a letter that could be forwarded to the ''Green Leaf Vi'', so that Amber wouldn''t worry.


    Of course, she only mentioned that she may not be attending the sses for the next few days. This way, the girl would most likely assume that she was with Aurora, and could focus on her own studies worry-free.


    Cecilia, being Cecilia, had already paid the fee while Evelyn was still writing the letter, and Evelyn could only helplessly shake her head with a smile.


    With the ash blonde''s status as a prefect, the process of getting out of the academy and arriving at the southern forbidden city wasn''t difficult at all. And from there, it would only take them a few minutes to enter the forest.


    Of course, while bringing Cecilia along came with its advantages, it also had its drawbacks.


    "Please, Evelyn! You know, I''ve been waiting for so long just for this day!"


    The pink-haired girl sighed as she gave her pleading friend a helpless look. "Isn''t it a waste of time to go register at the ranger''s guild at this moment?"


    Cecilia could only hold Evelyn''s hands and widen her warm brown eyes pitifully. "Please! I waited for you for so long, and didn''t officially register into a team just so we can form our own. Now that we''re going on our first expedition together, why not make our own official team? The ranger''s guild is on the way to the forest, and it won''t take us long at all, promise!"


    In the end, Evelyn could only sigh and agree.


    To Cecilia''s credit, the ranger''s guild really was on the way to the forest. And it seemed like the girl had already made some arrangements beforehand for whenever she needed toe in and register a team, because the receptionist at the desk just shook her head with a smile as she handed them a paper.


    The ck-haired woman chuckled. "So you have finally found some willing sacrifices, huh? It seems I shall be free from your torture from this day forth, Cecilia."


    Cecilia made a hushing motion, afraid that her friends would get embarrassed by all the weird looks being thrown their way. "Don''t be like that, Jenny! I only came by once a week to make sure the process hadn''t changed, right?"


    The receptionist rolled her eyes. "Yeah, once a week, every month, for thest three years! I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to actually register, or forever going to annoy me like this."


    Cecilia rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Ehehehe."


    Much to Evelyn''s relief, the registration form was actually extremely ''simple'' to fill. She had been quite worried that it would bepulsory to share a lot of information with them, which she didn''t feelfortable doing.


    After all, for her to be handing over anything that could be used against her, she would first have to weigh what advantages she could get. And if they weren''t satisfactory, why would she ever do that?


    Thankfully, they only needed to pour a little of their spirit power into the seals on the paper, and then they would be registered as a team. Although it seemed like increasing their rank would eventually require going through some tests and some additional processes.


    The primary purpose of this registration was actually to designate a clear leader and make public the distribution of profits from any expeditions the team went on.


    Cecilia had already marked herself as the leader when she handed the paper to Evelyn, making the pink-haired girl roll her eyes.


    But since she didn''t care about the ranger team thing anyway, she decided to just get it over with, and after pouring in one point of spirit power, passed it over to Amara. Of course, the Gilmore sisters followed her lead, and poured in their spirit power without even looking at the thing.


    The ranger''s guild didn''t register beastpanions or even spirit beasts, so even if Cecilia wanted, she couldn''t include Ruru and Bree in the team. Of course, Evelyn could make Bree change into her human form, but that would be another unnecessary spectacle she was in no mood for.


    After all four of them were registered, Cecilia handed the paper back to the receptionist with a grin.


    The ck-haired girl epted the registration form, and started processing it right away. "Okay, five members, and the team name will be seriously, Cecilia?"


    The ash blonde rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Ehehe"


    The receptionist girl gave the other team members a skeptical look, but since the girls didn''t seem to care, she just shrugged and marked it as epted. "Fine As you said before, I''ve marked it as a five-member small team for now, so you can add one more member to your team without requiring re-authentication from everyone."


    Evelyn blinked in surprise. "Are you having some absurd dream that Aurora will actually ept being in your team, instantly boosting it up?"


    Cecilia stuck out her tongue. "Nope. I just kept the slot for your friend. You know, the one with reddish-brown hair? Amber, wasn''t it?"


    The pink-haired girl nodded. "Alright. Although you''ll need to be a lot stronger to bring her along."


    "Oh?" Cecilia blinked curiously, wondering what that meant. An ability that could boost growth? Was there such a thing?


    Evelyn smiled. "Don''t worry, I''ll exin itter."


    Although she didn''t think that a taunt skill was anything too rare, it still might be a bad idea to reveal it here in the ranger guild''s hall. After all, if misused, Amber was the perfect ''bait'' that every high-level team would rejoice to have to lure in all kinds of monsters.


    The receptionist smiled. "Alright then, since Cecilia already cleared all the necessary requirements before, and is already a rank F ranger, the ranger team ''Cecilia and her Wifeys'' is from now on an official F-rank team!"

 Chapter 135: Vivians First Kill

    Chapter 135: Vivian''s First Kill


    Evelyn couldn''t help but do a double take as she heard the team''s name, but Cecilia covered her lips with a palm before she could even think of forming a response.


    "W-We''re in a hurry now, so let''s go!"


    The pink haired girl sighed as she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. ''But although it''s strange it shouldn''t matter, right? Besides, getting the name changed will just waste more time''


    Of course, although she thought so in her mind, that didn''t mean Cecilia didn''t have to be chided for her prank.


    As soon as they were out of the ranger''s guild, Evelyn immediately pulled her friend''s ear. "What''s with that name, huh?"


    Cecilia grinned, not minding the mild pain at all. "Ehehe I kept thinking of something cool and domineering, and when I was doing so, my mind wandered to that huge centipede thing, you know?"


    "The ''Thousand Eyed God''?"


    "Yep, and when I thought about it, I also recalled what we talked about when I was first telling you about it, and this name just came to me, and I just you know"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but roll her eyes. "Seriously"


    Of course, even while she was pulling Cecilia''s ear, they kept moving toward the city''s gate, and before long, they were already walking through the valley protected by the two guardians.


    This was only the second time that the Gilmore sisters were looking at the huge ''statues'', and their first experience had been quite terrifying, but the girls held themselves remarkably well when they passed them by, their fear being only vaguely noticeable.


    It gave Evelyn a little more confidence in her expedition.


    Of course, she had already checked all of their statuses and levels beforehand, just to make sure she was up to date with their current capability. Though the internal details and some skills would still remain unknown in most people''s statuses, her high affection with them allowed Evelyn to easily get an urate estimate of their strength.


    Currently, their team''s lineup wasn''t bad at all, as both Ruru and Cecilia were over level thirty, and Evelyn herself had the strength to take care of even level sixty beasts, though her actual level was only forty-six.


    The Gilmore sisters, on the other hand, were most desperately in need of experience points, as Vivian was only level eleven, even after obtaining the grade nine cultivation technique, while Amara was at level eighteen.


    Of course, having a grade nine cultivation technique meant that they also had superior skills, and their levels alone weren''t enough to judge their real strength.


    As it had been with the expedition with the rangers, encountering their first beast after entering the forest didn''t take long at all. Though this time, Evelyn was nowhere as rxed.


    After her encounter with the blue-furred deer that had rushed to suicide against her attacks, and learning that they would usually avoid battles, Evelyn had realized that perhaps there was something about her that the beasts could sense, and it attracted them to attack her more fervently.


    Normally, such a thing would have been difficult to test out, especially since Ruru was unable to feel any animosity towards her anyhow, and was of no help in the matter.


    However, the stone rhino in the expedition had clearly not focused on her from the start, which was in stark contrast to the blue deer she killed when she went out with Aurora.


    Evelyn didn''t think that the difference in the beast''s strength or their species had anything to do with it, since the horned wolf had also disyed the same properties as the blue deer, and neither their strength nor nature had been the same.


    That only left her with one conclusion between her fight with the blue deer and the day of the expedition, something had changed within herself, and that was precisely what had attracted these beasts to her.


    Thankfully, Evelyn hadn''t met the deer before the day she consumed the chaos bead, because she would never have been able to point out which of her numerous changes  ranging from getting rid of that fragment of strange soul to simply acquiring a greater understanding of soul  caused the phenomenon.


    As it was there had only been one change, and that was her understanding of ''Chaos''.


    The day she had hunted the blue deer, Evelyn''s ''Preliminary understanding of Chaos Essence'' had been shown as 3% in the hidden system panel.


    She had always thought that she would be able toprehend and acquire a new skill once it reached a hundred percent, and given how ridiculously useful ''Chaos Incarnate'' already was, Evelyn had of course tried her best to use it to refuel her soul power using spirit power whenever she could.


    Her efforts paid off, and her ''Preliminary understanding of Chaos Essence'' was already at 4 percent.


    One percent ofprehension was obviously not what made the difference, but Evelyn knew through her frequent practice that she still had a little bit of aura of chaos around her before she managed to fully absorb it, which was basically just wasted energy from converting spirit power to soul value and that was precisely what caused the strange behavior in the beasts, or so she assumed.


    The pink haired girl grinned as she watched the muscr ape stare in their direction with both caution and greed. "Get ready! I''m gonna try something, and it''s gonna focus fully on me. Remember what I told you earlier, okay?"


    [Checking status]


    [ Wrestler Red Ape : Level 27 ]


    Experience: 1,153 / 1,600


    Physique: Beastly


    Physique: 113


    Spirit Power: 65


    Soul Value: 8


    Vitality: 89


    -[ Abilities ]


    [Lunge], [Jump], [Bite], [Refine]


    [ Enhancement (Not Avable)]


    Killing Experience: 400 EXP


    "Yes!"


    "Don''t worry!"


    Hearing their affirmation, Evelyn immediately took out herpact iron bow, and shot an arrow straight towards the beast.


    Although it had already been alert and dodged, if Evelyn had really wanted to hit it, it wasn''t fast enough. However, with its measly eight soul value, if her soul searing arrow even grazed it, the poor thing would just keel over, leaving her friends with no experience and barely improving her own strength.


    Of course, as far as the killing experience goes, it would only channel into whoevernded the hit that killed the beast.


    [Soul Value: 1,666  1,665 / 1,666]


    Evelyn grinned as the beast roared in rage.


    [Chaos Incarnate Activated!]


    [Spirit Power: 520  510 / 520]


    Soul Value restored by 1 point!


    [Soul Value: 1,665  1,666 / 1,666]


    The whole point of wasting a single point of soul value and then converting her soul power to restore it, was to use her ability to simte the aura of chaos.


    Previously, the beast had been unable to decide whether or not the group was worth attacking, since while it could sense some weaklings, it could still feel a threat. But at this moment it seemed topletely lose its mind as it stared at Evelyn feverishly, and lunged!


    Evelyn had already instructed her friends to follow hermands in a way that allowed them to make the most out of any situation.


    In case they encountered an ''easy kill'', as was the case now, they would leave thest hit to Vivian, as she needed experience the most, while the others would only defend themselves.


    "Go, fire hamster, attack!"


    Evelyn would of course never spout such nonsense at such a time, and she couldn''t help but roll her eyes at Cecilia as she easily dodged the enraged ape''s lunges. "Is this any time to be joking around?"


    The ash blonde stuck out her tongue. "As good as any. It will teach little Vivi not to get distracted!"


    Evelyn hated to admit it, but Cecilia wasn''tpletely wrong. Even if someone made jokes, or screamed, one shouldn''t let themselves be distracted during a fight, or it might cost them their lives.


    Evelyn blinked. ''Wait a minute that doesn''t mean that our own teammates should be trying to distract us either! That''s sabotage!''


    To Vivian''s credit, though, the girl really didn''t get distracted, and charged towards the ape while it paid her no attention at all.


    "To Ashes!"


    Of course, it cost the beast dearly, because as soon as the little girl managed to tap it, its whole body was lit on fire.


    An agonized roar burst out of its throat as it immediately ignored everything else to ram into a nearby tree, and then it started rolling on the ground. Of course, no matter what it did, the fire didn''t go down at all.


    Evelyn wasn''t even sure if the fire was limited to just the surface level, or if it burned from within, because each time the beast breathed or roared, a ze of mes burst from its body.


    For a few, glorious moments, the [Wrestler Red Ape], whose only decent attribute was its physique, seemed to experience the mastery of fire element. Unfortunately, it soon turned to ashes, its momentary enlightenment goingpletely to waste.

 Chapter 136: Buffs and Beasts

    Chapter 136: Buffs and Beasts


    Of course, the ''fire hamster'' had already locked onto her next target, and flew towards the ash blonde girl who had been taunting and teasing her in a rage.


    "Stupid Cecilia!"


    Evelyn chuckled as she picked Vivian up by her cor before she could reach Cecilia, who looked even more smug than before, teasing the girl by sticking her tongue out.


    Vivian''s legs dangled helplessly two inches off the ground as she gave her pink haired friend a distressed look. "S-She keeps bullying me!"


    Evelyn nodded. "Right. Cecilia is a big bully, and a meanie. We''ll definitely punish her properly once we return, but you have to be a good girl while we''re here, okay? No fighting amongst ourselves."


    Once the younger redhead nodded, Evelyn finally let her off before turning towards the suddenly meek looking Cecilia. "And you I don''t even know what to say"


    Cecilia rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "T-There''s no need to force yourself to say anything, if you don''t know"


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help the twitching of her lips as she gave her friend a dark re. "As the oldest one in our group, be more responsible from here on, okay?"


    "Okay, wifey!"


    " Next time you say that, I''ll take half of the money from Mr. Chonkers, okay?"


    Cecilia gulped. " O-Okay, I understand. I''ll be good."


    Ignoring Cecilia''s goofiness, Evelyn focused on Vivian to check her status so she could confirm her theory.


    -Vivian Gilmore: Level 13 [Exp: 121 / 130]


    [BUFF] Applied: Arcane Restoration [All Natural Recovery +1000%]


    -Duration: 27 minutes 36 seconds left.


    [BUFF] Applied: Arcane Mystery [All Spirit Power Consumption -50%]


    -Duration: 8 minutes 21 seconds left.


    -Buff Source: Amara Gilmore


    Affection: 71% (Stable)


    Special Physique: Blessed Spirit


    Strength: 49 = 147 KG


    Spirit Power: 114 / 124


    Soul Value: 52 / 52


    Vitality: 521 Years Left


    [ Enhancement (avable): Pyromaniac ]


    -Cultivation Method: Eternal Ember [Grade 9]


    -[ Skills ]


    [Ashes to Ashes], [Burn], [Eternal Agony]


    -Passives: [Pyromaniac]


    Evelyn couldn''t help but pat Vivian''s head with a smile. ''As expected, killing a level 27 beast directly boosted Vivian from level 9 to 13''


    Although finding Craig was one of her goals on this trip, simply wandering around this enormous forest without a goal would be pointless.


    However, doing things this way, she could allow her friends to grow rapidly as they hunted the beasts. At the same time, she herself might get some significant boosts whenever they encountered appropriate enemies.


    Evelyn chuckled. ''Besides, I''m sure that if Craig or that Dane guy saw me, they would never let the chance to kill me pass them by. Hunting like this, as long as they''re nearby, they''ll show up by themselves eventually.''


    Of course, she wasn''t stupid enough to look for death. She knew very well that Dane was a senior professor, far beyond the level she could possibly handle. However, since she was luring the beast out, she already had a n to deal with it.


    However, before they moved on, Evelyn found herself in a dilemma. As she had be a habitual hoarder because of her inventory, the thought of leaving anything useful that she could grab didn''t sit right with her, but Vivian''s attack hadn''t just cooked the poor ape but already turned it into ashes.


    The pink haired girl looked at the pile of ash with a sigh before turning to her friend. "Cecilia would the ashes of this thing be useful for anything?"


    The ash blonde blinked. "Uhhh I don''t really think so?"


    Evelyn nodded. Since Cecilia was not sure


    "In you go"


    The rest of the team watched nkly as their de facto leader stored what was essentially over a hundred kilograms of worthless trash in her spatial storage.


    While Evelyn wasn''t too familiar with the wondend of doom herself, efficiently using the Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple allowed her to quickly and thoroughly scout the areas ahead.


    This way, she was easily able to avoid beasts that would be too much trouble, even for her, and led the team while cutting through easy or moderate difficulty opponents.


    Although this method was good, it wouldn''t be nearly as effective if not for Amara''s buffs.


    Evelyn couldn''t be any happier with her choice that day, and the fact that Amara had chosen to trust her with her future. Amara''s direct battle power might be quite low for her level, but the buffs she provided to her party members boosted their efficiency greatly.


    With a ridiculous thousand percent boost to natural recovery from the ''Arcane Restoration'' buff, their entire team was already restoring their maximum spirit power to full almost every hour. Moreover, they could barely feel any fatigue before it was gone, just like that. Even with their blessed spirit physiques, none of them could im to be able to work at this machine-like pace without Amara''s buff.


    And although the second buff seemed much less ''overpowered'', to Evelyn, it was even more ridiculous. With their spirit power consumption halved, the skills that previously cost twenty spirit power would now only cost ten.


    In an ongoing battle, this could be a huge advantage!


    Moreover, for things that didn''t have a fixed spirit power consumption, this wasn''t simply allowing someone to cast them twice as frequently it was multiplying their power!


    Although she still had to verify this theoryter, Evelyn felt confident in her analysis. Anyway there were plenty of test subjects around to help her confirm.


    After dozens of easy targets and a couple of ''good workouts'' for the team that left several level thirty and forty beasts pulverized, Evelyn finally spotted an ''extra juicy'' prey that she just had to have for herself.


    Of course, having scouted ahead with the [Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple], she had the luxury to n ahead.


    After having Amara cast both the buffs on her, Evelyn immediately set off. Unfortunately, she still couldn''t look through its stats thoroughly before it noticed her presence. Sadly, she couldn''t use her probe and cloaking skill at the same time, so there was no way to avoid alerting the more sensitive beasts while using a probe, especially those at a much higher level than herself, such as this one.


    With Evelyn''s lower level and the ''taunt'' from Chaos Incarnate, the ''Hallucigenia Mortalis'' had of course immediately attacked her, perhaps even feeling some contempt at this puny prey and immediately came to regret its decision.


    The girl was ridiculously quick on her feet, and impossible to catch even with its flexible jaw. Moreover, she continuously shot off puny little needles that really shouldn''t hurt but hurt they did! Not its flesh, but something deep inside!


    With an enraged screech it immediately decided to run away.


    "Fuck! This stupid thing! Fight like a proper beast, bastard!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but grit her teeth as she chased after the strange level 65 creature, quickly firing off another soul searing arrow without breaking her pace.


    "Don''t run! Have some pride!"


    She had already left her friends far behind after instructing them to stay put until she returned. After all, this thing was far beyond their level, and could prove to be a major threat if let loose in their vicinity. Having already scouted ahead, she could only skirt around it or kill it herself.


    Of course, Evelyn wouldn''t be herself if she let such a good opportunity to grow pass her by. This strange orange creature that looked like a centipede with twelve long furry legs on each side and twice as many and just as long yellowish ck spikes on its back was actually a toxic beast!


    That meant that Evelyn wouldn''t just be able to obtain some experience and loot, but she could also finally test out Bree''s special ability!


    Seeing her sweet loot try so desperately to get away, the pink haired girl was of course quite unhappy.


    "Just how much soul power does this thing have? I should have already torn through most of it" Gritting her teeth, Evelyn decided that she''d had enough. Although it would be a huge waste if it missed, she still decided to imbue her arrow with over enough soul power to make it stronger than fifty of her normal shots.


    "If it still lives well, I''m still not gonna let it go. Fuck destiny, you''re mine!"


    The creature seemed to have sensed that perhaps death was approaching, and while rapidly scuttling through the forest, it screeched in horror and desperation.


    Howe this strange thing didn''t fall for its poison? Why was it not lost in dreams and waiting to be eaten already?!


    There was a good reason why the Hallucigenia Mortalis dared to live at the edges of the core region, despite being only level sixty-five. After all, it could live quite freely outside, but beasts of this level would still have a chance to be prey in the core region of the wondend of doom.


    But for this particr beast, even the stronger beasts never dared to try their luck. Not only was fighting and killing it extremely difficult, and there was a good chance they might end up bing prey instead it was also a useless endeavor.


    After all, even the stupidest of the beasts should be able to sense how poisonous its flesh was.


    In its final moments, the poisonous beast vaguely heard death whizz through the air.

 Chapter 137: Stoned

    Chapter 137: Stoned


    Although its flesh was extremely poisonous, and the hallucinations induced by its aura extremely tricky, the Hallucigenia Mortalis still never really dared to go too deep into the core region, and remained mostly in the outer edges of the zone.


    After all, even if killing it wasn''t beneficial, some stronger beasts might still do it simply due to it encroaching their territory, or maybe even for entertainment.


    However, while trying to escape from death, the strange creature didn''t care about how deep into the core region it went. Even if it encountered some stronger beast, all the better. It might help take care of the maniac following it with murderous intentions, and it might even have a chance to escape!


    Unfortunately, whether it could be considered lucky or not, they really didn''t encounter any other beast that could hinder the girl''s chase, and while its feeble soul was already teetering on the point of copse, another attack came  even stronger than the ones before.


    The level seventy-five beast didn''t even have the time to roar in rage and regret, but someone else did!


    It was only when the beast realized that it was still alive that it realized something was wrong. Very wrong!


    Evelyn cursed when she saw that the beast she had been so close to killing ''jumped'' suddenly, making her arrow miss by a hair''s breadth.


    However, the enraged, guttural roar that echoed through the forest made her jump back in rm as Ruru jumped down to activate the [Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple].


    Only then did she realize what had happened.


    An enormous beast stood in front of her, looking identical to a tree, with long, swishing branches.


    -[Checking Status]


    Error! The Skill ''Basic Probe'' failed: Target level too high!


    "As expected"


    With only a fading outline visible even through the Ripple skill, Evelyn could tell that this was an extremely high-level camouging opponent.


    Its attack when it snatched up the level seventy-five Hallucigenia Mortalis right in front of her eyes while her arrow was still in flight was enough to show Evelyn how ridiculously fast its attacks were. Evelyn hadn''t even realized that the beast hadn''t jumped on its own and was instead snatched up by this thing''s branches!


    However that was only within its own range.


    The branches may strike like lightning, but the roots moved at a snail''s pace! Well, that wasn''t exactly correct, as the beast was able to hobble at a rtively decent pace, the same as a mortal man who wasn''t in too much of a hurry.


    Thankfully, there had been quite some distance between the Hallucigenia Mortalis and herself, so Evelyn didn''t get within this beast''s range when it struck. Otherwise, even she might not have been able to escape so easily.


    Evelyn tried to scan through the thick branches to see whether the Hallucigenia Mortalis was still alive or if it had been already torn apart but found another surprise waiting for her.


    "Craig and Dane?!"


    Of course, since she could see them, they had also long since spotted her.


    Professor Dane, in particr, had already heard the sounds of a dispute heading in their direction, and had been excitedly waiting for the long-awaited opportunity.


    He thought that it was likely a high-level ranger or even a professor. As long as he yed his cards right, with Craig''s identity, getting them to help wouldn''t be hard at all.


    Unfortunately, his joy turned to disbelief when he noticed that the ''high-level ranger'' turned out to be a very familiar pink-haired little brat.


    Of course, crying for help to her was impossible, and both of them knew it. Not to mention anything else, this girl definitely didn''t have what it took to defeat the ''Tree Demon''. That being said, they also hoped that she would simply step into the tree demon''s range while it stilly in ambush. Unfortunately, the girl''s luck was too good, and the tree demon too stupid. It revealed itself by attacking right in front of her eyes, while she was still out of its range!


    With how slow the tree demon waspared to her, it would be easy for her to escape.


    Gritting his teeth, Craig finally made a decision. "Evelyn! You have to help us!"


    "Eh? Help you?"


    "Yes! You have to stay away from the tree demon, and get someone at least level eighty toe and help us!"


    "Craig!"


    "Don''t worry, professor. Although she may not be on best terms with us, we''re still from the same academy. In face of beasts, she wouldn''t betray her own kind."


    Evelyn rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore their yapping. Anyway, arguing with them would be a waste of time.


    "Let''s see this thing should be a little over level eighty? Going by its enraged roar when my fifty soul power arrow hit, it''s quite strong, but not invincible for my level. Should still be doable"


    Giving the ''Tree Demon'' that was trying to crawl in her direction a pitying look, Evelyn dashed back a few times before charging up her soul arrow again.


    Of course, what she aimed at was not the tree demon but Professor Dane.


    With the twang of her bowstring, the arrow whizzed through the air before striking dead center on Dane''s forehead, making the man let out an enraged howl as it left a dark purple bruise. "FUCKING TREACHEROUS BRAT! HOW DARE YOU STRIKE AT A TEACHER?!"


    Evelyn frowned as she saw how easily her arrow had shattered after striking the man''s head. "Talk about being thick-skulled thankfully, the soul searing arrows will hurt regardless of how thick his skin is, or it might have been really hopeless to get anything done today."


    Seeing the girl load up another arrow, not to mention Dane, even Craig almost felt his soul fly away. Seeing the red-haired man howl in pain, the brown-haired boy gulped. "P-Professor, h-how is she able to hurt you like this? Even if the ''Tree Demon'' is restraining your spirit power, don''t you still have ''Red Dragon Scales'' from your cultivation method?"


    Of course, how would Dane know? And even if he knew, he was in no mood to answer Craig''s question as he felt a paining from deep within his body, every time an arrow shattered against his head.


    There was a limit to how much soul power a single arrow could carry, even with Evelyn''s understanding of searing soul, and after ''wasting'' her third arrow on Dane''s thick skull, Evelyn couldn''t help but frown. "Arrows aren''t cheap, and I don''t have many of them. I can''t waste them all killing this one useless guy."


    Dane almost threw up blood in his rage. "YOU BITCH! I''LL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"


    Nodding to herself while ignoring the shrieking man, Evelyn picked up a stone from the ground, and infusing it with her soul power, she flung it straight at Dane''s nose.


    "HOW DARE YOU!"


    Of course, her aim with stones wasn''t quite as good as her arrows, andbined with the swaying branches of the ''Tree Demon'' as it tried to hobble towards her ''while she was distracted'', her stones ended up hitting Dane in many different ces.


    Thankfully, though, they didn''t miss, or her soul power would go to waste.


    Although the stones could only carry a single point of her soul power, whenbined with her spirit sphere, Evelyn was already smacking Dane with almost three to five soul points worth of soul tearing per second.


    Continuously moving back from the ''Tree Demon'' as it hobbled forward allowed her a constant supply of fresh stones, though sadly not very many. Thankfully, Ruru and Bree were quick on their paws, and happilypeted with each other to see who would fetch her the most stones, one at a time, giving her an endless, consistent supply of ''ammo''.


    The horrendous screeching from the man had already caused Craig to start ttering his teeth in terror. He''d already been terrified when they had been captured by the ''Tree Demon'', but this demonic girl was even worse. Forget about trying to help them, she didn''t hesitate at all when aiming for the professor''s life when she saw them in a helpless state.


    Craig had no delusions about his fate being any different from that of the professor once this girl was done with the man, though perhaps he wouldn''t have to suffer so much, given the condition he was already in.


    The Terran prince shook his head. ''N-No! I can''t give up like this!''


    Considering that girl could whittle away at professor Dane''s vitality like this, Craig couldn''t help but have an insane idea. "EVELYN! Listen to me! I know you must have a vendetta against professor Dane, and I won''t get in between the two of you. Your vengeance is yours. However, know that if you can defeat this tree demon, rescue me, or even get someone else to rescue me in time, as the Terran Crown Prince, I promise you once the Kingdom of Terra takes control over the Lavinian Empire, we shall provide your family with the status of a royal branch!"

 Chapter 138: A Huge Leap Forward

    Chapter 138: A Huge Leap Forward


    Although Evelyn didn''t look over in his direction, Craig could still tell that she paused for a second after hearing his words.


    A spark of hope lit up in his despairing heart, and the brown-haired prince couldn''t help but grin. As expected of a little girl who just left her home, she was still quite attached to her family. "That''s right! Not only that, I will also ensure that your family stays safe during the war!"


    Of course, although he promised it so readily, Craig had no way to actually make any of his promisese true. After all, Crown Prince or not, there was a limit to what he could do.


    Evelyn pursed her lips as she ignored the boy''s rambling promises, and continued to pelt the roaring red haired professor with soul searing stones.


    [Soul Value: 1,035  1,034 / 1,666]


    [Soul Value: 1,034  1,033 / 1,666]


    [Soul Value: 1,033  1,032 / 1,666]


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but curse. "How in the hell is this guy so tough?! He should be dead already!"


    Not to mention Amara''s shorter duration buff, Arcane Mastery  which had already expired  even the longer duration buff ''Arcane Restoration'' only had fifteen minutes left.


    Just as she was contemting whether she should just burn through her remaining arrows first before going back to stones to prevent any mishaps, professor Dane finally exploded.


    The explosion was as fiery as it was fierce, and the brunt of it was taken by the Tree Demon as it roared in rage and pain.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but gulp.


    If she hadn''t stayed so far away to avoid the Tree Demon, perhaps even she would have be toast, along with her two little pets.


    The pink-haired girl sighed. "It must have been some special skill or something If only I wasn''t so low level, I could have used my probe to check beforehand, and then be more on guard. If not for the threat of the tree demon, killing someone like Dane would still have been a suicide. My luck was quite good this time."


    Craig''s anguished screaming echoed through the area alongside the Tree Demon as he too was set on fire, though he was lucky to not have been instantly turned to ashes thanks to the Tree Demon''s branches absorbing most of the mes.


    Evelyn imagined it must not feel very good to be cooked alive like that, but before she ended his misery, she decided to collect her rewards first.


    After all, with the Tree Demon rampaging like that, she feared with every passing moment that a higher level threat might show up. Now that she had so much level-up ''material'' at hand, it was worth the risk to take a few moments to level up.


    [ Killed high-level Hybrid Human (Dane Redal): Experience +120,000 ]


    Unfortunately, Ruru had still been busy fetching stones for her when Dane exploded unexpectedly, making her miss the juicy killing experience.


    Current experience exceeds requirements. Level up!


    -Level 46 [126,280 / 13,000]  Level 47 [113,280 / 14,000]


    All Attributes +5!


    -Level 47 [113,280 / 14,000]  Level 48 [99,280 / 14,500]


    All Attributes +5!


    -Level 48 [99,280 / 14,500]  Level 49 [84,780 / 15,000]


    All Attributes +5!


    -Level 49 [84,780 / 15,000]  Level 50 [69,780 / 15,500]


    [ Milestone level 50 reached!] All Attributes +50!


    -Max attribute bonus per level increased from 5 to 6.


    All Attributes +6!


    -Level 50 [69,780 / 15,500]  Level 51 [54,280 / 16,000]


    All Attributes +6!


    -Level 51 [54,280 / 16,000]  Level 52 [38,280 / 16,500]


    All Attributes +6!


    -Level 52 [38,280 / 16,500]  Level 53 [21,780 / 17,000]


    All Attributes +6!


    -Level 53 [21,780 / 17,000]  Level 54 [4,780 / 17,500]


    All Attributes +6!


    Of course, although Ruru had missed on professor Dane''s killing experience, and the little fox didn''t seem to care about the missed opportunity, Evelyn still rubbed Ruru''s head in constion as she imed the red mission for killing an extremely high-level threat.


    [Red Mission: Kill Professor Dane!]


    -Source: Worldly Threat


    -Clear Condition: Kill Dane Redal [Fulfilled!]


    Experience: 250,000 points.


    Strength +10 points permanently.


    Vitality +10 points permanently.


    Spirit Power +10 points permanently.


    -Current experience exceeds the requirement, level up!


    -Level 54 [254,780 / 17,500]  Level 55 [237,280 / 18,000]


    All Attributes +6!


    -Level 55 [237,280 / 18,000]  Level 56 [219,280 / 18,500]


    All Attributes +6!


    -Level 56 [219,280 / 18,500]  Level 57 [200,780 / 19,000]


    All Attributes +6!


    -Level 57 [200,780 / 19,000]  Level 58 [181,780 / 19,500]


    All Attributes +6!


    -Level 58 [181,780 / 19,500]  Level 59 [162,280 / 20,000]


    All Attributes +6!


    -Level 59 [162,280 / 20,000]  Level 60 [142,280 / 20,500]


    [ Milestone level 60 reached!] All Attributes +60!


    -Max attribute bonus per level increased from 6 to 7.


    All Attributes +7!


    -Level 60 [142,280 / 20,500]  Level 61 [121,780 / 21,000]


    All Attributes +7!


    -Level 61 [121,780 / 21,000]  Level 62 [100,780 / 21,500]


    All Attributes +7!


    -Level 62 [100,780 / 21,500]  Level 63 [79,280 / 22,000]


    All Attributes +7!


    -Level 63 [79,280 / 22,000]  Level 64 [57,280 / 22,500]


    All Attributes +7!


    -Level 64 [57,280 / 22,500]  Level 65 [34,780 / 23,000]


    All Attributes +7!


    -Level 65 [34,780 / 23,000]  Level 66 [11,780 / 23,500]


    All Attributes +7!


    -Level 66 [11,780 / 23,500]


    Evelyn''s body was no longer the same after her previous leap through the levels, when she had almost ended up perishing. This time, although there was some pain, she was still able to cross over twenty levels, all the way to 66, without any negative effects.


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but feel emotional. "To think that Dane alone was worth over twenty levels Ah, that''s right!"


    Recalling that both Craig and Dane had their own yellow missions along with imable abilities, though Craig''s was yet to be fulfilled since he was still alive, Evelyn hesitated a little before shaking her head. "No, I have to take care of that prince first. With his luck, he was even able to escape from Aurora. Even if it takes only a minute to im the rewards, it''s better to be safe than sorry."


    Of course, she had made sure to keep the rampaging Tree Demon in her sight even while she was absorbing the experience.


    With the Tree Demon''s speed, no matter how enraged it was or what kind of tantrum it threw for being set on draconic mes by its own food, it couldn''t get far.


    Although the big lump of burnt humanoid meat in its branches didn''t resemble anything living at all, and most would presume that he was already dead, Evelyn knew for a fact that Craig was still alive.


    He may have stopped screaming, and even breathing, but one use of Eternal Ripple still showed his spirit signature in light blue.


    Evelyn smirked. "Pretending to be dead, huh"


    Nocking an arrow in her bow, Evelyn took aim and prepared to shoot the meat lump, but before she could, the Tree Demon swiveled around and threw the meat lump in the opposite direction.


    "What the heck" The pink-haired girl''s lips twitched in exasperation, but she didn''t dare dy at all and chased after the princely meat lump at full speed, Ruru and Bree following her closely.


    She didn''t know if Prince Craig''s luck was just that good for the Tree Demon to fling him away, or if the beast itself had finally had an epiphany from being burnt alive, sessfully realizing that she was focusing more on the ''food'' hanging on its branches.


    Maybe it thought it could get away alive if it gave her what she wanted and ran away.


    Of course, it was true that Evelyn considered killing Craig a much higher priority than hunting the Tree Demon.


    While the Tree Demon itself was slow and couldn''t get away too far in the time it took her to kill the Terran Prince, even if it managed to escape as a result, Evelyn would still be willing to pay that price.


    After all, letting the dumb Tree Demon go only meant one more high-level beast in the core region, but letting Prince Craig live now would mean leaving an extremely toxic thorn embedded in her side.


    Sooner orter, it would fester, and there was no telling if she would be able to recover from, or even detect the damage before it was toote!


    Although Evelyn was a little annoyed with how far the Tree Demon had managed to throw the princely lump of meat, it wasn''t difficult for her to find him lying motionlessly on the ground near a tree.


    It really looked like he was dead.


    Of course, Evelyn still nocked her arrow all the way back, and charged up with searing soul before taking aim at the ''dead'' lump of meat, which immediately resurrected with a roar.


    "Ruthless bitch!"

 Chapter 139: The Frogs Last Leap

    Chapter 139: The Frog''s Last Leap


    The damage from the explosion caused by the red haired professor''s explosion may have been mostly absorbed by the Tree Demon, but the damage that Craig suffered still wasn''t small.


    Even with his strengthened physique, most of his upper body looked it had been made from wax but left exposed under the sweltering sun for too long. Not to mention any clothing, even his spatial artifact was gone!


    The Terran Prince wasn''t sure if it had been destroyed, or if it was still somewhere in the forest. He could only regret not having it at hand, however, because the threat of this little girl had far exceeded his imagination.


    Although he did have some hope that she would take his word for ''saving'' her family if she got him out of here alive, Craig didn''t like leaving his fate in the hands of others.


    Instead, professor Dane''s death had given him the idea of faking his own at the same time. Even when the Tree Demon threw him away, Craig didn''t let go of this pretense.


    In case the girl decided to ignore the ''dead prince'', with the Tree Demon no longer restraining him, Craig could make ast-ditch attempt at finding any Terrans looking for him in the forest.


    And in case she decided to try rescuing him, he could simply wait till she was vulnerable enough before dealing her a fatal blow. Of course, he would only do that once he was assured of his survival chances, and would keep her alive until she had outlived her use.


    All such vain hopes were dashed, however, the moment the ruthless bitch decided to attack even his ''likely dead'' form. Had he not known better, he would have assumed that the girl must have some deep-seated vendetta against him.


    After all, the only conflict they had was that he didn''t take her side in the carriage ride to the academy. Other than that, they barely had anything to do with each other.


    Of course, he''d had many ns and thoughts about this particr girl in his heart, but she didn''t know that, and thus they couldn''t be the reason behind her actions.


    And if just that little conflict was enough for her to chase after him like this, then this girl was really the most ruthless little bitch he''d ever seen.


    In that case talking to her, begging her to spare him, or even negotiating was all useless. He had to kill her!


    Before the pink haired girl could release her arrow, Craig had already leapt from his prone position, shooting off like a bullet towards the girl.


    "Ruthless bitch!"


    A thunderous boom echoed through the area as the tree behind Evelyn exploded into splinters while the girl stood frozen in shock, her face pale with fright.


    Craig had missed her shoulder by just a few inches, or he would have definitely got Ruru. A few inches more and he could have had her head.


    Evelyn gulped as her hands shivered while holding thepact iron bow in her hand. "H-He was so fast"


    Thankfully, she had the foresight to once again try checking his status as soon as she spotted his ''corpse'', and had already seen the ''Lethal Leap'' skill.


    Combined with the rumors of him being a toad, she had already been prepared for a lightning-fast lunge from his ''corpse''. With or without weapons, she didn''t dare take him lightly.


    But when it really came, nothing could have prepared her for the sheer speed at which he moved. Her eyes barely caught a flicker before the tree behind her exploded.


    It was only thebination of her quick response and Craig''s poor state, even having one of his legs missing entirely, that greatly reduced the uracy of his trajectory and saved her life.


    Of course, she had already let the arrow loose, and it had embedded itself deep into the boy''s head.


    He wasn''t professor Dane, who had some sort of absurd physical defense to protect against her arrows, nor was his vitality in a state to allow him to survive even a full-strength punch from a same-level cultivator, which Evelyn could very well deal if needed.


    But as it was now he was as dead as could be, though Evelyn only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming it herself.


    -[ Killed high-level Human (Craig Maenhardt): Experience +50,000 ]


    Current experience exceeds the requirement, level up!


    -Level 66 [61,780 / 23,500]  Level 67 [38,280 / 24,000]


    All Attributes +7!


    -Level 67 [38,280 / 24,000]  Level 68 [14,280 / 24,500]


    All Attributes +7!


    -Current Level: Level 68 [14,280 / 24,500]


    [Checking Status]


    Half-molten humanoid corpse [Low quality]


    -Race: Blessed Spirit


    Heavily refined physique: Can be used as an alchemical ingredient


    ???


    It was a little unfortunate that she couldn''t see the entirety of prince Craig''s status while he was still alive, as the situation had been quite urgent, but Evelyn preferred staying alive inparison.


    Looking at Craig''s corpse, Evelyn considered it for a moment before nodding. "Although disgusting, I can just have him float separately from the other stuff. Anyway, there''s plenty of trash in my inventory, who knows when it will be useful?"


    With her continuous level-ups, the space had only been getting bigger, and had the dirt in the Wondend of Doom had any special properties, Evelyn might have just started chucking that in there as well.


    Ever since the day that Craig had gone missing, knowing that he harbored ill intentions towards herself, Evelyn had felt as if a heavy weight was constantly pressing down on her chest.


    With his status as a Terran Prince, as well as his personalbat prowess that had been far above her own in the past, to say that Evelyn felt apprehensive would have been an understatement.


    And when he had escaped into the forest after the confrontation with Aurora, the feeling had only kept getting worse and worse, to the point where she felt desperate enough that she took the chance to sneak into the Wondend of Doom while Aurora wasn''t there.


    But now this huge thorn in her side was finally dealt with, Evelyn was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. "I should probably consolidate my gains from all the missions first, and then head back to Amara. Ruru, make sure you keep an eye on the surroundings, okay? But make sure you remain in contact with my skin."


    The pink fox gave her a soft yip, and Evelyn closed her eyes to rapidly sift through herpleted missions.


    To her disappointment, there really wasn''t a mission issued to kill Craig. "This channel thing probably only rewards when a much higher level ''threat'' is killed, huh? Given that I was already level sixty-six, and Craig should have been just around level seventy or lower,bined with his miserable state probably resulted in it not being considered a ''reward worthy achievement''?"


    It really was a pity, considering she could have easily gotten a high reward red mission, or at least a yellow one, as long as Craig had attacked her while he was still at his full potential, or if their level gap had been higher.


    Of course, she might have died in that case. And considering that she already got a red mission reward from Craig, she couldn''t me him for being too useless, could she?


    Nodding to herself, Evelyn quickly started iming her rewards.


    The first one was a yellow mission issued for professor Dane, the source being her cmity skill.


    [ Yellow Mission, Target: Dane Redal ] [Completed!] [im!]


    -Source: Cmity


    -Clear Condition: Fulfill any one of the following:


    Kill (or) Completely defeat Dane [Fulfilled!]


    Raise Dane''s affection to the maximum level [-100% affection]


    -Rewards:


    Experience: 1,000 points


    Acquire the ability [Draconic Scales]: Able to coat the outeryer of skin with draconic scales, making it extremely resistant to physical damage.


    -Damage resistance is proportional to both current strength and the amount of spirit power spent while creating the scales.


    -The scales will lose strength over time, losing the equivalent of ten spirit power per day.


    -Retracting the scales will immediately refund all spirit power without loss.


    Strength permanently raised by +10 points


    Vitality permanently raised by +10 points


    -Current Level: Level 68 [15,280 / 24,500]


    Although the experience gain wasughably low for her level, Evelyn was ecstatic about the ability.


    Wasn''t this the same annoying thing that had allowed professor Dane tost so long against her before? Not only did she now know why he was so tough to kill, she could even use it for herself!


    The mysterious skill that had made her grit her teeth in fury immediately made her almost jump for joy.


    When professor Dane''s body had exploded, Evelyn had been a little upset at the fact that, even in death, the professor continued being useless. Couldn''t he at least turn into some good material? But professor Dane managed to prove her wrong!


    "Thank you, professor Dane! At least you taught me something valuable with your death Well, taught is the wrong word, but hey, I got something good!"

 Chapter 140: Rage and Despair

    Chapter 140: Rage and Despair


    Just like professor Dane, prince Craig had also had a yellow mission in his name, and that was the one Evelyn imed next.


    [ Yellow Mission, Target: Craig Maenhardt ] [Completed!] [im!]


    -Source: Cmity


    -Clear Condition: Fulfill any one of the following:


    Kill (or) Completely defeat Craig [Fulfilled!]


    Raise Craig''s affection to the maximum level [-100% affection]


    -Rewards:


    Experience: 1,000 points


    Acquire the ability [Lethal Leap]: Channeling the spirit power through the legs, leap forward with an immense momentum. For the duration of the leap, the physical strength and toughness of the body are greatly increased.


    Strength permanently raised by +5 points


    Vitality permanently raised by +5 points


    -Current Level: Level 68 [16,280 / 24,500]


    "I''m not quite sure what the criteria is for which ability is harvested using the Cmity skill, but it should be either their most prominent or most unique ability, right? For Craig, it was the ''Lethal Leap'', and for professor Dane, it was the ''Draconic Scales''"


    The more she thought about it, the more Evelyn thought her hypothesis was true.


    If this was so she didn''t necessarily need to be able to probe someone to know what kind of skill she will get by conquering or killing them. It was most likely to be their most unique ability.


    Going one step further, if there was a particr skill she required, she could simply look up who had something simr, and


    Shaking her head to clear the strange thoughts, Evelyn decided to take care of her immediate concerns first. She still had a lot of experience to absorb, and the sooner she did it, the better she could handle unexpected circumstances in the future.


    Focusing her attention back to the mission panel, Evelyn shifted back towards the red missions, and directly imed the one that had been issued on the carriage ride to the academy when she had first met Craig.


    [ Red Mission: Craig''s Will ] [im!]


    - Source: Worldly Threat


    - Clear Condition: Fulfill any one of the following conditions


    Prevent injury or death from source Craig Maenhardt for the next two years.


    Kill Craig Maenhardt. [Fulfilled!]


    - Rewards:


    Experience: 240,000 points.


    Strength +10 points permanently.


    Spirit Power +10 points permanently.


    Recalling how she had dreaded it at that time, Evelyn couldn''t help but shake her head with a smile. She imagined that Craig must have felt far more desperate than herself when she was about to end his life, and even more unwilling when his soul was finally shredded under her arrow.


    Current experience exceeds the requirement, level up!


    Level 68 [ 256,280  / 24,500 ]  Level 69 [ 231,780  /  25,000 ]


    All Attributes +7!


    Level 69 [ 231,780  / 25,000 ]  Level 70 [ 206,780  /  25,500 ]


    [ Milestone level 70 reached!] All Attributes +70!


    -Max attribute bonus per level increased from 7 to 8.


    All Attributes +8!


    Level 70 [ 206,780  / 25,500 ]  Level 71 [ 181,280  /  26,000 ]


    All Attributes +8!


    Level 71 [ 181,280  / 26,000 ]  Level 72 [ 155,280  /  26,500 ]


    All Attributes +8!


    Level 72 [ 155,280  / 26,500 ]  Level 73 [ 128,780  /  27,000 ]


    All Attributes +8!


    Level 73 [ 128,780  / 27,000 ]  Level 74 [ 101,780  /  27,500 ]


    All Attributes +8!


    Level 74 [ 101,780  / 27,500 ]  Level 75 [ 74,280  /  28,000 ]


    All Attributes +8!


    Level 75 [ 74,280  / 28,000 ]  Level 76 [ 46,280  /  28,500 ]


    All Attributes +8!


    Level 76 [ 46,280  / 28,500 ]  Level 77 [ 17,780  /  29,000 ]


    All Attributes +8!


    Level 77 [ 17,780  / 29,000 ]


    Only after she was done iming all the rewards did Evelyn breathe a sigh of relief. "Level 77 huh that''s only five levels off from aunt Bree''s level!"


    The golden puppy on her left shoulder yipped happily upon hearing her name, and Evelyn affectionately rubbed her golden, furry little head.


    Thinking of how she had been in such awe not so long ago, and it had seemed like a goal that would take her forever to reach, Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a little emotional.


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but smile. "Of course, Bree isn''t an average level eighty-two, and she''s a genius with a unique physique."


    Checking her own status though, she couldn''t help but be proud.


    -Evelyn Knox: Level 77 [17,780 / 29,000]


    [BUFF] Applied: Arcane Restoration [All Natural Recovery +1000%]


    -Duration: 7 minutes 12 seconds left.


    -Buff Source: Amara Gilmore


    Hybrid Physique: Blessed Spirit, Lotus Throne


    Strength: 764 [+37] = 23031 KG


    Spirit Power: 820 / 1123 [+3]


    -Final dimensions of the inventory space: 105.97 meters long x 105.97 meters wide x 105.97 meters high


    Inventory Status: 83% Empty


    Soul Value: 1,523 / 2,249


    Vitality: 737 Years Left


    -[ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    [Hunter], [Artist], [Basic Spatial Maniption], [Basic Probe], [Minor Shield], [Disease Immunity], [Poison Immunity], [Advanced Regeneration], [Cmity], [Advanced Spatial Maniption], [Chaos Incarnate], [Soul Searing Shot], [Draconic Scales], [Lethal Leap]


    -Cultivation Method: Searing Soul [Grade 9]


    [Soul Avatar: Basic]


    [Soul Dominion]


    -Equipment:


    [Kittykat Blue Halter Dress: Grade 2]: Physique +25


    [Shiny Bracelet: Grade 1]: Spirit Power +3


    [The Untainted: Grade 5]


    [Compact Iron Bow: Grade 2]: Physique +12


    To say nothing of her strength, which had more than doubled now, her soul value and spirit power had skyrocketed to another level entirely. This was no surprise to Evelyn, considering that her starting status had already been ridiculous, and the fifty percent enhancement of soul value and spirit power thanks to her being a throne just worked further to her advantage.


    She had felt it was quite a pity that the bonus stats given through missionpletions weren''t enhanced by fifty percent at first, but now that she had reached this level, she realized that it wasn''t a big deal at all.


    Compared to the boost of almost four hundred points in all her stats, the few dozen bonus stats weren''t really worth fretting over.


    "Whew now let''s see if his storage treasure, then I can finally!"


    Suddenly, a panicked signal came from her bond with Ruru, and Evelyn barely managed to catch the sound of something whistling through the air before an enormous impact caught her right in the gut, sending her flying right through the remains of the already broken tree behind her.


    Junior professor Donna hadn''t been anywhere near the location in which Evelyn had her encounter with the Tree Demon. Of course, this was no surprise, given the vastness of the wondend of doom. Even a throne wouldn''t be able to detect if a fight was going on in the opposite corner of the forest, let alone a junior professor like Donna.


    Without any ability to track her husband, she had been desperately relying on luck while sifting through the forest while avoiding confrontations. A few minutes ago, however, she had felt something very, very wrong.


    As husband and wife, Donna and Dane of course had a spirit bond.


    The function of this bond was simple. Imnting a tiny fraction of their partner''s spirit power deep inside each other allowed the partners to be able to feel closer to each other, even if they were far apart. This wasmon knowledge.


    A lesser-known fact, however, was that in case a partner died, the one that was still alive would be able to know right away, as the spirit power imnted inside them would be ''free'' and try to escape back into the world.


    The direction in which it initially left the body depended on where the dead partner had been, also giving the still-living lover to know the direction of their partner''s death.


    In most cases, it was useless.


    After all, the spirit power dissipated within moments, and wouldn''t continue leading the living partner on to find the other''s corpse.


    For Donna, however, it was abined me of despair and rage.


    "DANE!"


    Her husband was dead!


    Without a single thought, the junior professor dashed in the direction her lover''s spirit power had briefly headed in before dissipating, not even caring what region of the forest she was entering, or if she would end up encountering some hegemon.


    At this point, did it even matter?


    It didn''t take her long to spot the draconic mes that had set several dozen trees aze, though they seemed to already be dwindling down due to the resilience of the forest itself. She had no doubt where these mes had been released from, and her tears didn''t stop flowing down her cheeks even as she continued moving in that direction.


    ''I-It''s her?!''


    Donna couldn''t believe it when she spotted a pink-haired girl with her eyes closed from afar. Of course, she didn''t believe that the little runt was the one responsible for killing her husband. She was just a puny rat.


    Regardless, as far as Donna was concerned, this girl''s existence itself was a sin! Had it not been for her, Dane would still be teaching beast mastery in the academy, and she would still be there with him. The junior professor didn''t even blink before sentencing the pink haired girl to death, and continued to dash in the direction where Dane had perished.


    Even if it was Aurora today, she would either avenge her husband, or die trying.

 Chapter 141: Disappointing

    Chapter 141: Disappointing


    Donna''s dash towards the presumed location of her husband''s corpse came to an abrupt halt as she heard the chuckling sound from behind.


    "WHAT?!"


    Swiveling around in shock, the sight she witnessed almost caused her to throw up blood.


    She had assumed that the little girl would have certainly died from her attack, and though that wasn''t enough to appease her anger, her priority for revenge had been the murderer of her husband, which was impossible to be this insect.


    However, looking at the all too familiar glimmer of draconic scales as they slowly faded back to restore smooth skin on her belly, where her blue dress had been torn, Donna knew


    No matter how impossible it seemed, this little girl had somehow managed to absorb her husband''s ability.


    "What kind of monster are you?!"


    Her shock wasn''t just at her ability to steal Dane''s ability, but also at the fact that she had managed to survive.


    Regardless of how strong the draconic scales were as an ability, their strength ultimately still depended on the person powering them. If this girl didn''t have arge enough pool of spirit power, she could never have created scales strong enough to resist her attacks.


    And no matter how Donna tried to deny it, that could only mean one thing  Evelyn''s level of strength definitely wasn''t too far from her own.


    "So you were hiding as a child all this time, huh, you monster! What was your purpose?"


    The pink-haired girl just shook her head in amusement as she dusted her dress off. Fortunately, she had managed to level up in time, and neither of her little pets was weak enough to suffer much from such indirect impact.


    She could understand why Donna would make that kind of assumption  that Evelyn was actual some old monster with nefarious abilities, one that was just hiding in the academy as a child.


    As the thought crossed her mind, Evelyn couldn''t help but blink. ''Actually, when I think about it isn''t this all true? Well, whatever I''ll give her a candy for guessing the truth. But first she has to die.''


    Patting Ruru''s head, she immediately activated both of the new abilities that had been gained through her little fox hitting the level forty and fifty milestones.


    In an instant, a lotus made of spirit and soul power bloomed beneath her feet,rge enough for a dozen people to stand in its centerfortably, and a pinkish-whiteyer of semi-transparent petals formed in a spherical formation around her before slowly fading away.


    -[The Lotus Throne]


    Using abination of spirit and soul energies, a floating lotus is created that will follow the throne''s will.


    Consumes no energy while inert, energy required to construct can be extracted back when the ability is canceled.


    -[Lotus Throne''s Natal Shield]


    Using abination of spirit and soul energies, an extremely effective shield can be created to protect from both physical and spiritual attacks.


    Every impact will consume the correspondent amount of charge from the shield.


    If the attack exceeds the shield''s limit, it will only be able to reduce its effectiveness and will shatter immediately.


    Although both of their descriptions were clear, Evelyn felt like she really needed to test their limits and practice these skills to be able to utilize them properly in battle.


    Unfortunately, this battle wouldn''t allow her to test their limits.


    After discovering that the pink-haired girl was actually an old monster, and one who could even rob others of their strongest abilities, Donna''s hatred shot through the roof, but at the same time, she knew she couldn''t be careless anymore.


    The girl''s bizarre abilities that didn''t seem to conform to any element, along with the fact that she had never heard of or seen them anywhere, only confirmed these thoughts.


    Although there were all forms of unique abilities, would a newbie student be able to get them at this point? Maybe one could still be exined, but this girl had already shown her all her cards.


    With a stomp on the ground, numerousrge and small rocks started floating around her, and with another wave of her hand, golden barriers simr to the ones she had used to contain Evelyn and the ''Mountain Rhino'' surrounded herself.


    "You nefarious monster, you may have caught Dane off guard, but I don''t believe you weren''t injured at all! If I don''t finish taking you down today, my name isn''t"


    In her mind, she was thinking that as long as the little bitch dared to use such a strong attack on her shield she was done for.


    This skill was called the [Mirror of Lacerations], and it was one of her most lethal abilities against stronger opponents, and also the most sinister.


    She had never used it against opponents she didn''t want to kill, and the reason was obvious. Whenever an attacknded on the mirror, the channeler of the spirit power that connected it would receive a huge bacsh through the disruption of their spirit power, directly proportional to how much energy they had used.


    That meant that the stronger the attack, the more her opponent would suffer.


    Of course, it had its weaknesses. Against an opponent that was just far stronger, the mirror powered by her own weaker self would simply be unable to induce a bacsh.


    Moreover, powering the ability continuously consumed her spirit power, meaning that if she failed to goad her opponent into attacking with a strong enough move, she would simply be exhausting herself for no reason!


    And worst of all, if they used a weaker, probing move first, they would only suffer minimal damage, and would also be able to figure her skill out.


    Feeling the intensity of the ''monster''s'' aura rising further and further after she spoke, professor Donna grinned internally, but pretended to look enraged. "BITCH, today is the day you die for everything you''ve done!"


    Evelyn clicked her tongue as she ignored the junior professor''s hate-filled speech to check the woman''s status. Now that she was level seventy-seven, she didn''t believe she couldn''t see through this woman.


    -Donna Redal: Level 79 [Exp: 12,145 / 30,000]


    Affection: -100% (Irreconcble Hatred)


    Special Physique: Spirit Physique


    Strength: 610 = 1830 KG


    Spirit Power: 833


    Soul Value: 580


    Vitality: 729 Years Left


    [ Enhancement: (Not avable) ]


    -Cultivation Method: Crumbling Rock [Grade 4]


    -[ Skills ]


    [Rock Veil], [Earth Asunder], [Spiritual Reflection], [Mirror of Lacerations], ???, ???, ???, ???


    The pink-haired girl shook her head in disappointment. "Not even an enhancement, huh cheap."


    Thankfully, she knew just how to make perfect use of her.


    The woman was still pointing a finger at Evelyn as she continued her hate-filled speech, as if goading her into an attack. Of course, it made perfect sense if that was really her goal, given her barriers seemed capable of reflecting damage from spirit power.


    Quite a useful ability if she was facing someone else.


    Unfortunately for her, Evelyn nned to use her strongest skill on the woman. Not because she was a threat, but because she could.


    -[Lotus Throne''s Nirvana]


    Combines the soul value of the host and the beast, carrying out a direct attack through a spirit power channel.


    If thebined spirit power is lower than thebined soul power by more than half, the vitality of the spirit fox will be reduced, scaling with the attack duration.


    Depending on the enemy''s strength and damage suffered, the channeler may be able to permanently enhance their spirit power to an extent.


    Having had this ability since her fifth birthday, Evelyn had been itching to give it a try, but the thought of Ruru suffering because of being unable to fulfill the requirements, as well as theck of an opportunity and opponent, had left her with little choice.


    If things continued as they were, her soul power might continue growing at a faster pace whenpared to her spirit power. This wasn''t just because of the starting difference, but also because she practiced the searing soul.


    In fact, if not for the Chaos Essence Bead, Ruru would have had to suffer a reduction in vitality to use this attack, and Evelyn would have to judge whether or not it was worth the risk.


    Now was the perfect time for her to finally test it out.


    Ruru''s soul value was 877, and her own was 2249, which made theirbined soul value 3126. This was definitely less than double of theirbined spirit power, which was already 1727 points.


    And these were her worst possible estimates.


    In reality, her soul power had already been reduced considerably while killing Dane, and even now it was only at a little over sixteen hundred points. Meanwhile, her spirit power was already almost full, thanks to the natural recovery buffbined with theck of usage.


    The pink-haired girl smiled. "Professor, you may not have taught me anything while alive, but your death shall teach me the limits of my ability, so thank you in advance."


    Of course, professor Donna was ecstatic that the little monster took her bait, but she still pretended to look hateful and grim. "You think you can kill me so easily? My defense is one of the strongest among the academy''s junior professors, I don''t believe you have the strength to get through!"

 Chapter 142: Reach Nirvana, Professor Donna!

    Chapter 142: Reach Nirvana, Professor Donna!


    Although she had grown tremendously since the day she first got the skill, Evelyn still considered the ''Lotus Throne''s Nirvana'' as her most lethal move. Of course, the conditions to use it were harsh, and there was a price to be paid, but she would only keep growing stronger if she used it effectively.


    That being said, using the skill effectively required her to first understand how exactly it worked and professor Donna was the perfect test dummy.


    Despite being at a slightly higher level, her soul power wasn''t that great, and as her abilities focused on defense and counterattack, Evelyn knew she could peacefully execute her attack and observe. Most importantly, she wasn''t weak enough to be useless, but also not strong enough to make her worry about bacsh from the skill.


    To get such a perfect volunteer when she needed it the most, Evelyn thought her luck stat must be even higher than her soul value, if there was such a thing.


    It didn''t take long for Evelyn to establish the flow channels of soul and spirit power between herself and Ruru, as the link was already there, and once the connection was established, Evelyn knew instinctively that the attack was ready.


    The final execution of the skill relied on Ruru, as soon as Evelyn pointed her finger at Donna with a smile, the pink fox jumped from her shoulder, her form turning translucent as it rapidly shot through the air towards the startled professor.


    "Ahahaha do you want to test the waters with that pet of yours first? You''re unexpectedly cruel!"


    Donna''s words got stuck in her throat as Ruru''s translucent form passed right through all her barriers, including theceration mirror. Before she could even jump back in shock, however, the fox jumped right into her chest.


    Even Evelyn blinked in surprise when Ruru vanished inside Donna, and her soul power started dropping at an rming rate.


    Donna''s mind froze the moment the fox vanished from her sight, and although her body felt like it was being torn apart from the inside, piece by little piece, she couldn''t scream at all. No, not to mention scream, she couldn''t even twitch!


    Thankfully for her, the agonysted only momentarily, and she knew no more.


    The junior professor''s body copsed on her knees, all her barriers fizzing out of existence as the floating rocks dropped to the ground. She should have been furious and unwilling in her mind, but her expression in death remained that of goading and mockery.


    Thankfully, she didn''t have a soul left any longer, so Donna didn''t have to feel ashamed of the way she died.


    Moments before Donna''s body copsed, the translucent form of Ruru jumped out of her back, and changed back into her normal appearance when her feet touched the ground.


    Evelyn smiled as she walked over to her seemingly exhausted little fox. "Good job, Ruru."


    The little fox snuggled against the pink haired girl''s chest as she picked her up, making Bree give her a concerned nce. ''Seems like even without the bacsh, just channeling such a massive amount of energy to use the skill is also quite taxing on Ruru''s body. I should give her some proper rest before using it again.''


    Not to mention Ruru, she herself could also feel a twinge of pain from the consumption of her soul, though she was already restoring it rapidly using Chaos Incarnate. But even so, taking a look at her system panel, Evelyn couldn''t help but be happy.


    Lotus Moon Spirit Fox (Ruru): [Lotus Throne''s Nirvana Activated: Continuous loss of soul value]


    -Consumed 580 points of soul value!


    Soul Value: [1,523 / 2249]  [943 / 2,249]


    The consumption of the soul value was coincidentally identical to the soul value of Donna, making Evelyn grin. ''That pretty much confirms my theory. The Lotus Throne''s Nirvana directly pits my soul value against my opponent, though I have a great edge thanks to the support from Ruru, as well as my own incredibly high base stat.''


    Unfortunately, while this theory of hers proved to be right, another one turned out to bepletely wrong, leaving the pink haired girl feeling a little despondent. ''If only the skill didn''t end so quickly, and I could use spirit cores to restore my soul power slowly I would be invincible in one on one fights, no matter the strength of the opponent.''


    Sadly, even with the opponent immobilized, even in the best case Evelyn would only be able to restore a few points of soul power using a spirit core and Chaos Incarnate before the move ended decisively with one of their deaths. It was utterly impractical.


    Evelyn shook her head ruefully. "Well, there goes my idea of killing the other thrones using spirit cores"


    Of course, it would still have taken her a lot of time and luck to gather enough wealth to pull off such a thing, but at least it had been a possibility. Simply outgrowing the thrones, inparison, was a very uncertain n without knowing her opponent''s current level.


    Shaking her head to clear off her distracting thoughts, Evelyn focused back on her panel.


    -[ Killed high-level Human (Donna Redal): Experience +70,000 ]


    -Evelyn Knox: Level 77 [17,780 / 29,000]  Level 77 [87,780 / 29,000]


    Current experience exceeds the requirement, level up!


    -Level 77 [ 87,780  / 29,000 ]  Level 78 [ 58,780  /  29,500


    All Attributes +8 points!


    -Level 78 [ 58,780  / 29,500 ]  Level 79 [ 29,280  /  30,000


    All Attributes +8 points!


    -Level 79 [ 29,280  / 30,000 ]


    "Huh? So close to the next milestone?!"


    This woman really was as infuriating in her death as she was when she had been alive. She really didn''t deserve the candy she had nned on giving her corpse for making the right guess.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but grit her teeth in frustration as she chucked Donna''s corpse into her inventory. ''Forget about killing experience. Anyway, she was still two levels higher than me, right? Even if she wasn''t a good enough threat for a red mission, was she really so weak? Even that five-year-old brat Tristan gave me 90 experience for smacking him across the face!''


    If Aurora hadn''t told her that the world channel was a tree-like existence without a higher level of thought, she would have thought it was teasing her intentionally!


    Pouting, she decided that she would definitely have toin to Aurora about the quality of junior professors in the academy, but then she realized that her teacher would only be troubled for no reason. ''W-Well, maybe after she''s dealt with all her current affairs, mhm I shouldn''t bother her for now.''


    Ruru consumed 0 points of soul value!


    Lotus Moon Spirit Fox (Ruru): [Lotus Throne''s Nirvana: Deactivated]


    -No damage to vitality detected.


    -[Lotus Throne''s Nirvana]: Absorbed 60 Spirit Power!


    Spirit Power: 842 / 1147 [+3]  902 / 1207 [+3]


    "Mhm so roughly a tenth of the opponent''s spirit power is absorbed when all the requirements are met? Or is it random?"


    Unfortunately, the only way to find out seemed to be to catch another Donna-like thing, but that would have to wait until her little fox was ready, and she had another opportunity.


    Evelyn smiled, thinking about all the possible trial candidates. ''That Rufus guy may be weak, but his cousin seemed alright, and his cousin must know someone stronger, right? Mhm maybe they''ll send me a big gift if I goad them a little?''


    Of course, she would have nock of ''trial candidates'' if she publicized the fact that she had killed Craig, but that would be an incredibly risky move, and Evelyn wasn''t willing to put her family at such risk.


    Compared to the Kingdom of Terra, she was still quite insignificant, after all. They were already an existential threat to her Knox family without ever really caring much about them, and if they really started focusing her family would probably stand no chance of survival, at all.


    Evelyn sighed as she started converting some of her spirit power into soul value. It had be something of a habit to do so whenever her spirit power was high and soul value low, since her most used and effective skills were based on soul power consumption now.


    -Converted 10 points of spirit power to 1 point of soul power.


    Spirit Power: 902  903 / 1207 [+3]


    Soul Value: [967 / 2273]  [968 / 2,265]


    .


    .


    .


    -Converted 10 points of spirit power to 1 point of soul power.


    Spirit Power: 732  722 / 1207 [+3]


    Soul Value: [984 / 2273]  [985 / 2,273]


    Without Amara''s second buff, her Chaos Incarnate''s conversion ability really was quite inefficient. Of course, as a one-of-a-kind skill that allowed her to actually restore her soul energy, it was still amazing.


    Evelyn frowned. ''This should be fine. I''ll restore the rest of it once I have both of Amara''s buffs back, as it will also boost my spirit power regeneration in addition to lowering the conversion cost itself by half.''

 Chapter 143: Heart of the Earth

    Chapter 143: Heart of the Earth


    Although Evelyn could refill her spirit power using spirit stones, the process required her to concentrate, which would leave her vulnerable in the middle of the forest for much longer than she would like.


    Regardless of the spirit stone''s grade  whether it was a core or a crystal  it took around ten minutes for people topletely absorb its energy. This of course meant that the higher grade stones were much better, as not only was their capacity higher, they would also be able to provide much faster restoration speeds.


    However, if her level-up process could already be considered dangerous when it only took a fraction of the time it would take to restore her spirit power using spirit stones, there was no need to even think about it in the middle of the Wondend of Doom.


    Most importantly, while she could now be more confident thanks to the ''Lotus Throne''s Natal Shield'', as well as her throne''s movement capabilities, Evelyn still had to consider that her friends might not be so safe without her.


    Unfortunately, there was no yellow mission for professor Donna, though she would have quite liked thatceration mirror ability for herself. Wouldn''t it work amazingly well whenbined with Ruru''s ''Lotus Throne''s Natal Shield''?


    Looking at the big hole in the ''Kittykat Blue Halter Dress'' that Cecilia had got for her, she couldn''t help but feel a little guilty. The damage had clearly exceeded the grade two item''s repairing capacity, and it was likely that it would either be useless or need some very skilled repair.


    Curiously, the stat boost from the dress wasn''t gone even though it was damaged, though Evelyn assumed it must be because the array that Madam Genie drew was towards the back of the dress.


    "It''s a bit unfortunate that the Tree Demon managed to escape deeper into the forest"


    Evelyn thought about it for a while, but it didn''t seem like a wise idea to go around looking for the thing even deeper into the core region. Even if it was injured, it was likely that she would have to expend quite a bit of her remaining soul points to take it down.


    With her current state, that would put her in a very vulnerable position, and although her teacher often used her of being greedy, Evelyn knew when she shouldn''t let it rule her.


    "Alright that monster can consider this its lucky day. Ruru! I know you''re tired, but let''s go see if we can find Craig''s spatial artifact, and then we can head back to regroup with Amara, and you can sleep as much as you like!"


    The pink fox yipped and jumped down, and with the two of them both using their own ripples to scour through the area, they quickly started covering most of the area Craig had been through.


    Although she knew that it was possible that the spatial artifact may have been destroyed, in the off chance that they did manage to find it, Evelyn knew she would be able to strike it rich in one go. It wasn''t an opportunity she could pass up without even giving it a try.


    After all, Craig was the crown prince of one of the strongest kingdoms in the continent, and seemed to have had plenty of absurd treasures and tricks up his sleeve.


    "Well, I doubt I''ll find anything better than that ck orb from Pir Mantis, but Craig couldn''t have been too destitute either way."


    Bree seemed to have fun circling around Ruru in the beginning as the pink fox ignored her to use the Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple, but after a while, she got bored and started following Evelyn instead, even changing to her human form.


    "What are we looking for, mama?"


    "Hmm I guess a shiny-looking thing, like a ring or a belt. It should have a pretty big gem in it, I think."


    "Oh like that thing on the tree over there?"


    "?"


    Turning around to look at the tree Bree had pointed out, although it was a bit too far from the area she had been looking in, she could still clearly see the glint of a green gemstone.


    "Good girl. That might actually be it! Wait here with Ruru, okay? I''ll be right back."


    Although it was a bit embarrassing to climb the tree like a monkey, Evelyn was still able to fetch what looked like a green ne with a giant emerald gemstone, and checking its stats, it really was a spatial artifact!


    [ Heart of the Earth: Grade 6 ]


    Can store items in a pocket dimension.


    Dimensions of storage space: 3 meters wide x 3 meters long x 3 meters high


    Can only be allowed ess by the owner.


    Current owner: Unassigned


    Evelyn guessed that the security feature of this ne was only effective as long as the ''owner'' didn''t die or assign a new one. Of course, now that Craig was dead, it became an unbound item.


    The pink haired girl nodded. "It''s actually quite useful. Even if someone loses it, their belongings will remain safe and recoverable as long as they can trace it back. Of course, there might be ways to get around this restriction, who knows?"


    Looking at its ''total volume'', however, Evelyn couldn''t help but shake her head. "Compared to my inventory, the space inside is so puny!"


    But when she thought about it, the capacity of the thing made sense. Her grade five untainted was only able to store twenty small and onerge item, while this thing had far fewer restrictions.


    "A bit disappointing for the spatial artifact of the Terran crown prince, but it is what it is, I guess. It may be quite useless for me, but it''s still invaluable to anyone else."


    Of course, the most important thing wasn''t the total capacity of the spatial artifact, but what it contained within.


    Evelyn couldn''t wait to check out its contents, but she knew that this wasn''t the time and ce to be doing so. Now that she had secured the thing, she could always take a lookter.


    After making Bree change into her puppy form, Evelyn quickly grabbed both of her little pets and started heading back in the direction of her friends.


    Having never expected to find Craig and Dane so quickly, and even get rid of that hidden danger Donna, Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a littleplicated in her heart.


    She''d thought that they would be staying in the forest for quite a while, and her friends could slowly grow along with herself while she looked for any clues that could lead her to the Terran prince.


    Once she found any, her n had been to report to Aurora, and get her to help.


    After all, as she had been back then, she stood no chance at all against someone like professor Dane. Who could have expected that he would be like a sitting duck while she stoned him to death?


    "Ehehe I wonder what kind of expression Aurora will make when I tell her?" Shaking her head in amusement, Evelyn finally reached the location she had left her friends in. Thankfully, there were all still there, and seemed to have been waiting for her anxiously.


    Cecilia was the first one to clutch her shoulders and shake her vehemently, looking distressed. "Ahh! What took you so long?! I was worried to death! How in the world is this twenty minutes?! It''s been twice, no, thrice as long!"


    Amara chuckled as she watched the two in amusement while holding Vivian back by the cor. "Cecilia was almost ready to start searching for you, but I convinced her to wait a little longer."


    The younger redhead gave her a gloomy look. "Meanie ''mara! Let me go!"


    Evelyn chuckled as she patted Cecilia''s shoulder, feeling a little embarrassed. "Sorry, sorry! I know I said I''ll be back in like twenty minutes, but that thing really escaped too fast! It almost led me deep into the core zone."


    Cecilia jumped as she stared at her in shock. "AHH, you should have retreated! What if something went wrong?"


    The pink haired girl smiled as she gave her ash blonde friend a reassuring look while ruffling the gloomy-looking Vivian''s hair. "Don''t worry. I know when to cut my losses."


    Amara breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, it''s fine if it escaped, as long as you weren''t hurt."


    Evelyn scoffed. "Who do you think I am? It didn''t escape. I killed the darned thing!"


    "Eh?"


    "EHHH?"


    "Really?!"


    Looking at their expressions, Evelyn couldn''t help but puff out her chest in pride. "Yep."


    "Wow~"


    "Little Eve is amazing!"


    It was a pity that she couldn''t brag about having killed Dane and Craig, as the boy''s identity made it so that the slightest chance of her identity as a murderer being leaked would make things incredibly difficult for not just her, but even her family and friends.


    Of course, every single one here with her today was worthy of her trust, but the fewer people who knew, the better. Anyway, it''s not like them knowing would benefit them in any way.


    Now that all the pests she had been looking for had been taken care of, however, Evelyn had to make another decision  stay in the forest longer to train her friends, or go back to her room to check out the contents of Craig''s ne.


    In the end, the temptation of checking out her new loot was too much, and Evelyn quickly led her reluctant teammates back to the academy. "Don''t pout! W-We can alwayse back for more trainingter. Proper rest is also important for growth, you know!"

 Chapter 144: Change Of Attitude

    Chapter 144: Change Of Attitude


    Cecilia had obviously not been very happy about having to retreat so soon after tasting the rapid growth from the abuse of their team synergy and Amara''s buffs, but since they had all agreed to follow Evelyn''s instructions before entering the forest, she could only helplessly do as she was told.


    Of course, Evelyn understood their emotions, as she herself had made it seem like they were going to be hunting in the Wondend of Doom for weeks, but now they were going back just after getting started. Maybe even Amara felt a little disappointed, though she didn''t show it on her face.


    Surprisingly, the one who cared the least was their youngest member, Vivian, who had treated it as a fun pic from the start. She had never expected them to let her try setting the forest on fire anyway, so she wasn''t disappointed.


    Evelyn coughed awkwardly as they finally arrived back at the White Lily Pce, barely resisting the urge to just dash to her room and start browsing the loot. "We''ll go back to hunt regrly, don''t worry!"


    Having already pushed the Gilmore sisters back into their room while telling them to wait for her toe discuss something, Cecilia finally showed her true colors once she was alone with her best friend.


    She rubbed her hands greedily with a grin. "We made so much experience and loot today, I can''t believe it! Going this way, not to mention us, even that maid of yours is going to shoot right up into the sky, you know? No wait, uh, her contribution is probably the biggest in our growth, so I can''t say that Anyway! You just have to let me know when you''re ready to go again."


    Needless to say, Cecilia''s attitude towards their exploration of the Wondend of Doom had already done aplete one-eighty. It was no surprise, really, considering how Evelyn was able to not only steer them clear from the bigger threats, but also lead them directly to suitable ''prey''. Moreover, with Amara''s buffs, they could be hunting all day and not feel exhausted at all!


    Thinking about how most people relied on boring passive gains from cultivating in their own rooms, Cecilia couldn''t help but shake her head ruefully. ''If they knew what my little wifey can do they''ll probably go crazy.''


    Of course, if the pink haired girl knew that Cecilia was still referring to her like that after being reprimanded so many times, she''d go crazy too.


    Blissfully unaware of her friend''s thoughts, however, Evelyn nodded. "Sure. By the way, make sure you inquire about the prices of all the materials we gathered, alright? I don''t wanna be scammed again."


    The ash blonde tilted her head in confusion. "Again?"


    Evelyn sighed. "Right. Thest time I was with Aurora, I had no idea about the market rate for the monster she killed, so the auction guy probably scammed us pretty bad."


    Cecilia couldn''t help but gape in shock. "H-He must have been quite gutsy to scam you in front of Aurora. Although most people think her attitude is quite easygoing, no one really dares to take the chance. After all, their life is on the line."


    The pink haired girl rolled her eyes. "Is that why you bully her all the time?"


    The ash blonde coughed. "Hey, I don''te under ''most people'', you know? I know she''s actually very forgiving, as long as you don''t do something to really provoke her. Plus, as the best friend of her most treasured disciple, is there anymore more invincible to her wrath than I?"


    Evelyn chuckled. "You know, I''ve always been a little curious how exactly did you first find out? You''ve been pestering her since even before she took me in as a student, right?"


    Cecilia looked a little embarrassed as she scratched her cheek. "Actually when I first met her, I had no idea who she was, and she reminded me so much of you. Cute and adorable, but always pretending to be cold. Assuming she was a junior, I just kept at it for a few days."


    Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Shouldn''t you have stopped when you found out, though?"


    "Ehehe"


    Evelyn had tomend her friend''s luck. With this kind of attitude, it really was a surprise how she managed to survive unscathed for so long. "Anyway, forget it. Just get find out what you can about the materials. We can sell what looks like it won''t be very useful to us and fetches good value to get some extra funds on the way back to the forest next time."


    Cecilia patted her chest with pride. "No worries, with Cecilia information facility at your service, I''ll get you aplete list of all the market rates for what we got! We can roughly estimate their worth from then, round it up and down to our grade. Wait a minute you n to keep some stuff?"


    The pink haired girl nodded. Not to mention things that could be of use to herself, such as the corpse of the toxic beast, even things that weren''t selling for good enough price were better off just staying in her inventory. They could always be usefulter. "Of course, if it doesn''t look worth selling, it''s better to keep it for ourselves."


    "Are you sure? I mean, won''t you run low on space?"


    Evelyn could tell from Cecilia''s tentative tone that she felt a little hesitant while asking, and she just shook her head with a smile. "Don''t worry about it."


    The ash blonde nodded. Although it was absurd just how much her friend had been able to store in her spatial artifact, if she said that she had no trouble keeping more, it must be so.


    Seeing how her friend was about to rush off into her room, Cecilia couldn''t help but reach out to hold her back by the hand. "Little Eve um, don''t take this the wrong way, but you should really keep in mind how much carrying capacity you show people."


    Feeling a little embarrassed, the ash blonde coughed. "I-I guess yours must be an extremely high-grade spatial artifact, and while it''s okay to show it in front of us, I''m worried that people will get greedy if you show it off in the guild. Y-You know what I mean, right?"


    The pink haired girl smiled. It always made her feel a little weird whenever she saw her friends worry for her, but it wasn''t a bad feeling. "Don''t worry. I''ll keep it in mind."


    Although whenpared to Cecilia, Amara and Vivian weren''t nearly as surprised by either Evelyn''s storage capacity or the efficiency of farming experience in the Wondend of Doom, the ash blonde felt that the two of them needed to be properly educated to make sure that they didn''t expose these things in front of outsiders.


    With Evelyn''s attitude, she wouldn''t bother doing such things herself, so Cecilia of course had to take up the job.


    Finally free from Cecilia, Evelyn entered her room and settled Ruru on the bed, where she continued dozing off after exhausting herself in the forest. Of course, Bree took it as an opportunity to cuddle with the usually standoffish little fox in her human form, treating her as a glorified plush toy.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but giggle. "Don''t wake her up, okay? Ruru worked really hard today."


    "Okay, mama."


    Evelyn ruffled the little girl''s blonde hair, and then froze as she realized how used to it she had gotten recently. '' Aunt Bree''s not gonna kill me when she regains her memory, right?''


    Thinking about it wasn''t it all her own choice? Anyway, she can''t me it on her, definitely not. ''Plus, I''m just an innocent little eight-year-old kid. You can''t me me for anything.''


    She shook her head in amusement before shifting her focus to the ''Heart of the Earth''. Being an ownerless item, she didn''t have much trouble binding it to herself, and shortly after, the contents of the spatial artifact were finally revealed.


    Unlike Evelyn, who just shoved whatever interesting thing she found right into her inventory, even the worthless knickknacks, Craig had obviously been much more picky with what he put in there despite the rtively rge'' size of the spatial storage. In fact, with more than half the space being empty, he had either used a lot of things up while lost in the forest, or he was just way too picky with what he put in.


    It wasn''t possible to use her probe skill while simply viewing the contents of the spatial artifact, and Evelyn could only see what they looked like. She still had to take the items out one by one to check what they really were.


    Of course, the first thing she took out were the bunch of suspicious-looking bags. "I hope that sick pervert isn''t storing people''s body parts or something in there"


    Evelynpletely ignored the fact that her own inventory wasn''t just full of animal corpses, but also those of the prince and a professor.

 Chapter 145: Shadow Strike

    Chapter 145: Shadow Strike


    Although her room was big enough for her to be able to empty the entire ''Heart of the Earth'' at once, Evelyn still decided to go at it step by step, just in case.


    Looking at the eight huge sacks tied up with drawstrings, Evelyn cautiously opened the first one, and the contents left her blinking in both surprise and disappointment.


    "Silver coins? What the heck?"


    Although there were probably thousands of coins in the sacks, it was still pretty much worthless.


    The pink haired girl tied the string back up and tossed the sack in her inventory before opening the next one, and it turned out to be even worse.


    "Copper coins?! Was Craig the Prince of Terrans or the Prince of Paupers?!"


    Angrily tossing the thing into her inventory, Evelyn rapidly went through the next five drawstring sacks, and although their contents were better as they had been full of gold coins, it still wasn''t enough to assuage her anger.


    With only one big drawstring sack left, Evelyn opened it without any expectations.


    "Finally! This is chock full of spirit stones!"


    Although this was thest of the big drawstring sacks, its value alone was dozens of times greater than all the mortal currency sacksbined.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but shake her head. "I cannot believe that most of the space in Craig''s spatial artifact was upied by this junk"


    With the biggest bags already tossed into her inventory, Evelyn''s target shifted to the only medium-sized sack in the bunch, and much to her relief, it was actually worth something.


    "Spirit crystals, huh I was almost starting to think that the Terrans must have gone broke because of the war, and even their prince was barely able to afford the clothes he wore. Hehe these should be worth about ten cores, right?"


    Although it still wasn''t close to the jackpot she had been expecting, at least it didn''t make her blood boil. Evelyn re-tightened the drawstring on the spirit crystal bag and put it aside in her inventory as well.


    "Let''s see what to check next oh?"


    Looking at the small velvet pouch that she had previously overlooked due to the big bags, Evelyn couldn''t help but take it out curiously.


    "I hope this little baby contains exactly what I think it does"


    A delighted smile lit up her face as she pulled the mouth of the pouch open and nced at the dozens of spirit cores inside.


    With how tiny Bree and Ruru were, most of her bed was empty, so Evelyn poured down all the spherical cores with a smile, and started filling the pouch back up while counting them one by one.


    "Ny-eight ny-nine a hundred"


    As thest of the shiny pearls entered the pouch, the count was already at a hundred and twelve.


    Although it was far lower than what she expected, it still more than quadrupled the number of spirit cores in her collection!


    "With this, I''m officially richer than Cecilia! Hmph, let''s see her use that excuse to pay for me now. I''ll definitely pay her back tenfold!"


    The thought of finally getting her ''vengeance'' put the pink haired girl in a good mood, and she even forgave Craig for filling his inventory with junk.


    Clearly, this must be the wealth that he kept with himself to take care of all kinds of situations, and not his life savings. Otherwise, it would have made more sense to get rid of the lower mortal currencies.


    "Heh, his life savings were probably called the ''Terran Treasury'', and should be located somewhere around the very core of his kingdom, right? I''ll just collect it from there when I get the chance."


    Although wealth was no longer that crucial to her n of facing the thrones after realizing that she couldn''t use the Lotus Throne''s Nirvana for an extended period of time while recharging herself using spirit cores, it could still be a great boost to her and her team''s growth!


    Not to mention anything else, wouldn''t they be much stronger if they each had a grade six or higher artifact?


    Of course, Evelyn recognized that these were considered treasures that most could only covet and dream of, but was there anything in the world that couldn''t be bought with enough wealth?


    "Actually what I have now should already be good enough to buy some decent stuff. I guess it wouldn''t hurt to start looking into where one can get their hands on the highest level artifacts."


    Evelyn already had a few guesses in her mind, such as the Port of Nemer where Bree took her to get Ruru, as well as the auction houses in the Eastern Forbidden City, but she couldn''t be sure.


    Shaking her head to clear the distracting thoughts, Evelyn scanned through the contents of Craig''s spatial item again. With all the big sacks gone, the space looked much more empty, and far more organized, with only ornate boxes of various sizes.


    Without any idea of their contents, Evelyn could only start taking them out one by one to check.


    The first one she took out was a slim box, and instead of opening it immediately, she decided to check the box itself first.


    Treasure Box [No Grade]


    - A box made using incised gilt gold mounts and jade.


    "Ahh I guess I expected too much, given that all the boxes seemed so simr."


    Shaking her head with a smile, she popped the lid open, and a dark metal dagger with an ornate silver handle revealed itself from within, making her breath hitch in her throat.


    "Whoapared to the trash I was expecting this looks quite good. Let''s see"


    -[ Shadow Strike: Grade 6 ]


    Greatly enhances the prative force of the strike, depending on the amount of spirit power poured into it.


    Deals increased damage to spiritual armor, and heavily disrupts the flow of energy uponing into contact.


    Pouring spirit power into the dagger results in a lethal poisoning of the next victim, which can only be cured using spirit power based antidotes.


    - The spirit power to be poured depends on the total spirit power of the opponent. A minimum of a tenth of the opponent''s capacity is required for the poisoning to take effect on them.


    - Pouring in greater amounts will deal greater initial damage, but will not enhance the poisoning damage.


    - Regardless of the damage caused by the strike itself, the vitality of the opponent will continue deteriorating by one point every ten seconds, until the poisoning is dealt with.


    Evelyn''s eyes shone with glee as she put the box aside to pick the dagger up, testing it in her hand and marveling at its bnce and intricacy. "This feels super cool! An assassination dagger, huh I knew Craig must have had some good stuff, at least!"


    Thinking about the boy''s ''Lethal Leap'' ability, he might have used this dagger as a trump card in conjunction with that while dealing decisive blows to the worst opponents.


    Even if the opponent had a great deal of defensive artifacts, and also heavily protected themselves using spiritual power, it was likely that Craig would be able to get through!


    "How terrifying well, it''s good for me now, since I have both of them as well. Hehe"


    Looking through the abilities of the artifact carefully again, the pink haired girl nodded to herself. "Although this would normally be a single, lethal strike for most opponents, rendering all their defenses useless, the other two abilities would only be useful if the opponent survived. A bit strange but this just means it won''t be useless even against much stronger opponents, right?"


    ording to the second description, the dagger supposedly disrupted the flow of the opponent''s energy, and Evelyn guessed that it would either make it harder for them to strike back against her, or make them far more susceptible to consecutive strikes.


    As for the third ability


    "So basically, even if the opponent had, say, a thousand spirit power, I would only need to pour in a hundred into this dagger before I attack, and even if they didn''t die from my attack, they would continue getting weaker and weaker as long as they don''t have a cure, right?"


    From her understanding, spiritual based cures could onlye from three sources.


    The first was, of course, artifacts simr to this one, but with an entirely different focus. But most artifacts were either offensive or defensive in nature, and those that could be used to heal should be few and far between.


    The second source was someone who was cultivating using a technique that specialized in healing and support.


    And thest and most likely source of this poison''s counter would be the natural remedies, such as the fruits of spiritual nts and the like.


    "Wait a minute although Craig probably used this in conjunction with ''Lethal Leap'', I don''t have to do the same just because I also have it, do I? Won''t this work much better with ''that'' instead?!"

 Chapter 146: Seeds Of Rejuvenation

    Chapter 146: Seeds Of Rejuvenation


    Even if Craig was the Crown Prince of the Terrans, the resources they could invest into him were limited to those that enhanced his rate of cultivation and artifacts that increased hisbat efficiency. His skill set, on the other hand, could only have slowly expanded with time  had his life not been cut short.


    Meanwhile, Evelyn had a far greater variety of skills avable at her disposal despite her short time in this world, and that number was only likely to grow as years passed. While the most efficient method of using the high-grade assassination artifact ''Shadow Strike'' was indeed only through ''Lethal Leap'' for Craig, Evelyn realized that she had a far superior assassination technique.


    And that was, of course, the cloaking ability of her ''Advanced Spatial Maniption''.


    While it did take some time to prepare the cloaking skill, removing it was almost instantaneous. Even without ''Shadow Strike'', Evelyn had been quite confident in the lethality of an ambushid using this move, with its only limiting factor being her own offensive strength.


    Obviously, this didn''t solve the biggest issue she had with the cloaking technique''s offensive part  it was stationary, and its effectiveness depended greatly on whether she knew in advance exactly where her opponent was going to be.


    And that''s when an idea had suddenlye to her what if shebined them both?


    Evelyn assumed that if she was going to assassinate or ambush someone, she would at least have to know their rough location. Hiding around that area using her advanced spatial maniption would make it possible for her toy the perfect trap. And once they showed up close enough for the distance to be within the range of ''Lethal Leap''


    Evelyn smiled. "With how quickly Craig was able to jump on me, I think it should be quite possible to execute it all in one go before the opponent even detects my presence. But who do I test this out on?"


    The pink haired girl wracked her brains for a while before her eyes lit up. "Right! I heard that the beasts in the core region all have their own territories, and generally only leave to hunt. If I can get in there and find a nest, I cany an ambush and wait until the beast returns, and strike at the perfect moment!"


    Of course, this was easier said than done, since high level beasts had terrifying instincts and senses. Evelyn knew that she would need a lot of effort to avoid alerting these kinds of beasts, even with her perfect cloaking skill. After all, simply cloaking herself after entering wouldn''t automatically erase all the clues she could end up leaving before that.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but sigh. "I guess I''ll have to start looking into some sort of stealth techniques, since I already have everything else I need for this sort of attack. It would be a pity to leave a ring hole in such an otherwise perfectbo."


    Shaking her head, Evelyn tossed the ornate box into her inventory while setting the grade six artifact ''Shadow Strike'' aside.


    With the first box giving her such a good loot, her expectations were obviously a little higher than before. Even when the next three boxes only contained some ''unremarkable'' things, Evelyn didn''t really mind.


    -[ Tealeaf Preservation Pod: Grade Two ]


    Able to store any kind of nt based material, though mostly used for tea leaves.


    Enhances the effects of the stored material slowly over time.


    Can be stored within spatial artifacts, but the functions will not work.


    Rate of vor enhancement = 6% per year for the first ten years, and 1% per year from afterwards.


    Current Status:


    - 30% filled with Ashflower Tealeaves [vor Enhancement: 20%]


    - 10% filled with Dimbreath Tealeaves [Toxicity Enhanced: 20%]


    - 60% Avable


    "Ohh? This looks like it could be quite useful if I evere across some leaves that give buffs. Over time, those buffs will continue getting stronger, right? Not bad, though not too impressive either."


    As for the fact that Craig was apparently carrying poisonous tealeaves in his ''teapot''? Evelyn didn''t particrly care.


    After going through four more boxes of grade one and three more of grade two artifacts, she finally came across another ''jackpot''  two shiny silver beads the size of chickpeas.


    Even though this was one of the smallest of the ornate boxes in the ''Heart of the Earth'', it contained not one, but two tiny little artifacts! And not only that, they were both of the seventh grade!


    Given how the man at the auction house had behaved, even grade six items were supposed to be considered great treasures that would be the center of attention at a grand auction!


    The description of the tiny thing wasically long though, and it took a while for Evelyn to go through it all.


    -[ Seed of Rejuvenation: Grade Seven ]


    Buff: Natural recovery of spirit power enhanced by 50%.


    Debuff: Greatly increases the effectiveness of toxic substances on the host.


    Both the effects are applied at the same time.


    The seed needs to be held within the body for the effects to be applied.


    This is a natural artifact with the ability to grow.


    Once pushed down deep enough inside the body, the seed can take root, and slowly consume the host from within.


    The buff provided by a rooted seed are twice as effective, and the debuff is no longer applied.


    A small chance to upgrade the seed by one grade each time the host dies. The probability decreases with each upgrade.


    The host has to be above ten times in level as the grade of the artifact for the upgrade to be possible. Current requirement: Level 70 or higher.


    If the host gives natural birth while the seed is still rooted, it may be passed onto the child instead. The host will still perish, but the leftovers of their vitality can nourish both the seed and the child.


    Grade 7 to Grade 8 upgrade probability is 0.006% per sacrifice.


    "Wait just a minute this"


    Looking at the whole thing again, Evelyn suddenly had a realization. "If the rooted seed can be passed on to the child in a natural birth don''t tell me it was able to be split in two when the children were twins?"


    And for the both of them to be grade seven artifacts, it had to have happened when the seeds were at grade seven already!


    "No, it''s even possible that the Terran royal family has more of these seeds, even if they may not be of the same level. This might even be what made them the ''most talented'' family in their kingdom!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but shake her head. "No wonder Craig was always enthusiastically looking for wives. Attracting high-level partners from other kingdoms is the best source of ''sacrifices'' for this artifact, after all. And as his wives, they might even give birth to twins or even triplets before their death."


    A woman perishing during childbirth wasn''t umon in this world, and wouldn''t raise many suspicions. This was one of the reasons why most high level couples chose to splurge on a spirit egg, after all.


    Not only would the child born be considerably more talented, there was also no risk of the mother''s death. Moreover, unlike natural pregnancy, neither of the couple would have to be extra careful of external threats, as both of theirbat efficiency would remain at the peak.


    That being said, there were still some high-level couples who went with the more ''romantic'', natural process of giving birth to children. With enough resources and proper coaching, these children wouldn''t necessarily be too far behind the worst of the spirit children, after all, and many considered only these to be their ''real'' children.


    "Craig was definitely a spirit physique right? I don''t know what the royal family did to convince the concubines and wives to go for the natural birth, as I doubt they would be very willing if they knew they''d just end up bing sacrifices."


    Of course, the royal family could just force them, but that wouldn''t be a long-term solution. As long as they knew about it, there would always be a risk of one of the concubines or wives somehow being able to leak the secret out.


    Evelyn realized that she would definitely have to look into the fatality rate of Terran girls during childbirth. Only that way would she know just how heavily the Earth Kingdom had ended up exploiting this particr artifact already.


    "If my hunch is right that exins the dominance of the Terrans in the recent years I''m not sure how useful this might be against the Terrans, to be honest, but maybe it could spark some civil unrest there? I''ll have to be careful, though."


    As for the artifact itself... of course, although the negative effects of this thing were quite severe, Evelyn still nned to use it. How to go about doing that safely, however, still threw her for a loop.


    "With my poison immunity, the debuff probably won''t even work, but I would rather not take any chances with that disgusting rooting effect"


    Given that she had two of these things, the best scenario would be to use one for herself, and one for Amara. After all, as their main support and the one responsible for casting all the buffs, the older redhead''s spirit power regeneration was probably the most crucial in their team.


    "I think it should be fine if we put it inside something toorge to be identally swallowed before putting it in our mouth duringbat, right? No wait, there are probably far more efficient ways, I''ll discuss this with the otherster."

 Chapter 147: A Strange Collection

    Chapter 147: A Strange Collection


    With the size of these two grade seven artifacts, Evelyn would never feel assured putting them on the bed as she had done with the ''Shadow Strike''. Who knew when Bree would think it looked edible and decide to put it in her mouth?


    Needless to say, this thing could only stay safe in her inventory until she was done exining its purpose and dangers to the others, and even then, she would still have to be careful.


    Evelyn shook her head as she moved on to the next item, hoping it would finally be a defensive artifact, but unfortunately, it turned out to be another strange object that she wouldn''t have been able to guess the use of at all if not for her system.


    -[ Hunter''s Compass: Grade Five ]


    A mysterious object personally crafted by the ''Oracle''.


    It is able to hunt for all kinds of prey. The type of prey it will hunt for depends on the blood poured into it as fuel.


    - Mode 1: Tracker


    When the owner of the blood being fed isn''t within a hundred meter range (in living or corpse form), it will start tracking the objective if possible, otherwise switch to mode 2.


    Mode 1 has a limited range of ten thousand meters.


    "Huh so basically, as long as I''m able to get my hands on someone''s blood, I should be able to track them down as long as they''re not too far away from me, right? This could be useful maybe?"


    - Mode 2: Treasure Hunter


    When activated using beast blood, it is possible to unearth memories of treasures that the beast could have either protected or stumbled upon recently.


    Will not work if the memory or blood is too old, or if the location in the memory is too far from the current location.


    - Mode 3: Love Hunter


    Evelyn''s lips twitched immediately upon seeing the title. "I better keep this hidden well away from Cecilia."


    Still, she couldn''t contain her curiosity to check the description out.


    If fed once again with the blood of the owner after binding, thepass will activate in the third mode, once again epting more blood. The owner''s blood will be used to determine thepatibility of the future lover.


    The second feeding will determine the targets it will hunt for, and the owner should preferably use the blood of someone they consider as their ideal lover.


    A note from the Oracle: "Use at your own risk. I was half asleep while making this. But I did give you a 3% discount, so just be happy."


    "Wait a minute isn''t ''Oracle'' the title of the same person that created Amara''s ''Arcane Archive''? Should I give it to Amara?"


    Evelyn shook her head. "Well, whatever. It''s good enough for me if it can asionally help me find some treasure. Plus, the first mode could be very useful against super slippery enemies. I''ll share it with Amara for now, it should be fine as long as she doesn''t hand it over to Cecilia. And I can always take it back whenever heading out alone."


    Thinking about how Craig had escaped that day, given how his leg had been cut off, having something like this would surely have allowed them to track him down shortly.


    The difference between her ''Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple'' and the first mode of the ''Hunter''s Compass'' was the same as that between a short-range radar and a tracking bug.


    "Ahh how nice would it have been if he had dropped his spatial artifact while escaping, and we found this inside and used it to track him down? He would have probably died from anger."


    Giggling to herself, Evelyn continued sifting through the rest of the contents of Craig''s spatial artifact.


    Unfortunately, there weren''t any more higher grade treasures to be found, because most of the boxes seemed to contain either grade two or grade three defensive artifacts.


    "I know I did ask for defensive artifacts, but is this stuff really the best he had? Considering that the bastard was able to resist even the sh between the ''Thousand Eyed God'' and the two Sentinels, I assumed he must have at least something amazing"


    But it seemed like either he had used it all up, or maybe the main defensive items weren''t being kept inside the spatial artifact at all.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but frown. "Does that mean I missed them and they''re still in the Wondend of Doom? Or did they get destroyed?"


    Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, the pink haired girl knew that just thinking about it wouldn''t help. "Given how thoroughly I was scouring that area, I should have been able to notice something like that, but since the spatial artifact could be flung off so far away by the Tree Demon, it''s possible that it also happened to the other stuff."


    But even if that was so, Evelyn had no real way to find out. The most reliable way she could think of was to go back to hunt in that general area, and use the ''Hunter''s Compass'' with the blood of the beasts she hunted in hopes that it could lead her to whatever treasure they had spotted.


    There was no telling if such a process would even work, however. Maybe if the beast never considered the thing it saw as a treasure, thepass wouldn''t react, who knew? And while spirit beasts were just as if not smarter than humans, the same couldn''t be said for the regr monsters at all.


    Although some surely had aparably high level of intelligence, the variation between different types of beasts was just far too great.


    Just taking the Tree Demon as an example, Evelyn would never have been able to toy around with it as she did if not for its stupidity. Even if it had just started using its branches to sling debris at Evelyn, it could have proven to be quite a challenge.


    "Now that I think about it even if I were to assume that Craig got caught off guard or something, just how in the world did that beast manage to catch a senior professor like Dane? Were they both sleeping without a care in the world?"


    Although it would mean that professor Dane was even dumber than the Tree Demon for being so careless, how else could it be exined? If not for having caught the senior professor while he was unconscious, the man could have easily burned the Tree Demon to death, no matter how weakened he had been.


    "This whole thing is kinda fishy don''t tell me someone''s trying to frame me for killing Craig?"


    Well, it was true that she did kill him, but that wasn''t important.


    "I found them so easily while Aurora and the other pirs searched for so long but couldn''t find any trace at all isn''t that absurd?"


    No matter how she thought about it, however, she couldn''t think of how someone would be able to frame her in this case. No, who in the world would even be able to imagine that she could kill someone like professor Dane by herself?


    Evelyn knew that she herself couldn''t have imagined it, until it actually happened. "Either whoever is trying to frame me believes far more in my abilities than I do myself, or this is really just a coincidence."


    Someone who is capable enough to pull this kind of stunt, who also believes in her only one name came to her mind. "I''ll try to probe Aurora just in case. She''s sure to get annoyed, but she''ll forgive me. Probably."


    Evelyn shook her head after thinking about it for a while. "Anyway, I''m sure that there was no one else around, and I even got rid of Donna in the end. Even my friends don''t know about it. Only Ruru and Bree know, and there''s no way they''re ever going to do anything to hurt me."


    Sifting through the rest of the defensive artifacts, Evelyn couldn''t help but smile. "At least whoever picked these had good taste. Most of them look pretty. Nes, pendants, rings, earrings there''s all sorts of variety here. Gosh hm wait a minute!"


    She''d already felt a little strange that most of the defensive artifacts in Craig''s inventory seemed so feminine, but she just thought it didn''t matter what it looked like if it served its purpose.


    But when she recalled how the ''Seed of Rejuvenation'' worked, another thought came to her mind. "Don''t tell me all these belonged to the girls that married him and were sacrificed? Does he keep them as souvenirs or something? No wait, how old was Craig again? This has to be more than a few generations worth, right?"


    In total, she had already sifted through at least three dozen of these defensive jewelry, and Evelyn didn''t believe that Craig could have already married and sacrificed so many wives.


    "No, even if he wanted to, the process has to be somewhat gradual, right? Given that the rooted seed can even be transferred to the child, it should take at least a year or longer to sprout! So what the heck is going on with all this jewelry? Did Craig like to cross-dress?"

 Chapter 148: Promises And Mystery

    Chapter 148: Promises And Mystery


    Just as she was left scratching her head, the name below the lid of one of the jewelry boxes caught her attention.


    ''Anna Stonehardt'' is what it said.


    Previously, she hadn''t paid much attention to the fact that the names on the lids hadn''t been the same as that of the artifact in the box. After all, there could be many valid exnations for that. Maybe the box was for something else, and was just reused here to store this artifact, or maybe the actual name of the artifact hadn''t been known, and the name on the box was what it was called now.


    But wasn''t Stonehardt the surname of that Rufus guy? That guy who became the headmaster was also from the same family, apparently.


    "If I recall correctly, this surname belongs to one of the strongest branch families of the Terran royalty, right? So this ''Anna Stonehardt'' must be from their family, right?"


    Looking at the grade three white brooch carefully, Evelyn realized that it wasn''t actually that old. Not to mention the pristine condition of the clear topaz gemstones that were tastefully decorating the body of the brooch, there wasn''t a single scratch to be found anywhere.


    For artifacts that didn''t have self-repair abilities, although they could stillst thousands of years or even longer if taken care of properly, a few signs of wear would still be unavoidable.


    This defensive brooch didn''t have any such ability, but it was still in such a pristine condition.


    Looking back at the other boxes as well, she realized that there was an obvious pattern that she had missed earlier.


    Each of the boxes was clearly marked with the name of a different girl, and most of the items were either brand new or seemed minimally used.


    As she was inspecting them more carefully, however, one of the boxes suddenly ''clicked'' and a small slip of paper slid out from the seam between the base and side.


    "Eh?"


    Checking the status of the box again, Evelyn realized that this one did actually say ''has a secretpartment that can be used to store messages, pressing at the right spot will reveal it'', but this was the only one. None of the other boxes had anything simr.


    Looking through the note carefully, Evelyn''s expression couldn''t help but turn weird.


    "A love letter to that idiot Craig? What brain dead girl was so eager to be food for the seeds of rejuvenation? Let''s see ''Ava Brimstone''? Well, can''t me her too much since she didn''t really know, but whatever."


    With all these details, she could more or less guess what was going on.


    "I think I get it now Aren''t these things like a ''promise'' to marry in the future? Ah, but now that Craig is dead, would these girls be staying single for the rest of their lives? No, more importantly, how much importance do these things even have?"


    When it came to the ancient families, Evelyn knew that a promise for marriage wasn''t something to be made so lightly.


    For example, although Cecilia and Aeron had supposedly been expected to marry in the future, they still hadn''t been promised to each other, because once such a thing was done, it was pretty much set in stone.


    Going by the ancient rules, to break the promise between two ancient families, unless an agreement was reached once again to dissolve it, either their alliance would have to be broken, or one of the candidates would have to be disowned.


    Of course, the rules were often stricter than the way they were enforced, and there had been nock of ''promises'' that were broken throughout history with little to no repercussions.


    "But the promissory item still contains the signature of these girls, heh? Good thing I didn''t start binding them yet!"


    Although these artifacts would still be quite useful on their own, with her wealth, getting a few good grade three defensive artifacts wasn''t so difficult anymore. Instead, these would serve her much better if she was able to exchange them with people to whom they held the most value.


    "Mhm but I assume most of these families must be Terran, though a few could be from other ces this is gonna be tough."


    Evelyn knew that she would have to carefully think through how to go about doing this, if she was going to do it right. If she ended up exposing herself as Craig''s murderer, it would be in no way worth whatever benefit she managed to exchange.


    Of course, now that she knew how ''valuable'' these low-grade items were, they became pretty much unusable in public anyway, so it was better to get rid of them when possible.


    Well, in reality, most grade one or two items weren''t that difficult to produce, and there could be many that were exactly the same all over the world, but these particr ones were all quite intricate in appearance and seemed easy to identify.


    "I guess I''ll have to make sure I can stay anonymous, until then, these are better off hiding in my inventory."


    Of course, it wasn''t necessary for her to have a disguising skill personally, nor was there a need to take on too much risk. She was sure there must be channels in this world to take care of things that were of ''dubious'' origins anonymously.


    She just had to be sure that she utilized them the right way, because even if such uwful things existed, they were always doubled-edged swords that could be just as harmful as they could be useful.


    Carefully sorting through the rest of the ''trash'', Evelyn was almostpletely done with Craig''s spatial storage when she came across a small, ominous looking pouch.


    Pursing her lips, she tentatively held it in front of her face before using the probe skill.


    - [Pouch of Istion: Grade Four]


    Not a spatial storage, the items stored inside must be of appropriate size first.


    Able to iste all effects from the stored items to the outer world, and vice versa.


    It was a rather simple description, but not only was it quite impressive, it also gave her a bad feeling.


    "A-A small thing that needs to be isted from the world, even inside of a spatial artifact?"


    Thinking about what it could contain, Evelyn could only guess it must be some sort of extremely toxic or poisonous thing that would be disastrous to expose carelessly.


    "I can open this and probably be fine, given that I have poison and disease immunity, but Ruru and Bree would still be in danger"


    Just as she was thinking about kicking the two of them out, Evelyn suddenly realized something.


    "Wait a minute this thing is small enough for me to be able to take into cloaking mode, right? In that case, I would be isted from the rest of the world anyway, so"


    Cutting off that thought with a shake of her head, Evelyn sighed. "No, I can''t be so careless. Let me put this aside to check the other stuff first to see if I can find any clues. Who knows if my immunities will even be useful against this thing?"


    Looking at the tiny pile of remaining ''junk'', the pink haired girl chuckled. "Anyway, since Craig was keeping it with him, he must have had some means to protect himself from its effects, right?"


    Thest few items turned out to be mostly quite disappointing, with the most ''valuable'' ones being Craig''s personal diary, though it seemed to be written in anguage she couldn''t understand, along with a strange array disc.


    - [Gilded Memories, Grade One]


    A high-quality diary that can be used to store information for a very long time, impervious to mostmon causes of data loss.


    The contents are written in the Terran royal family''s exclusive cryptographguage, and can only be deciphered by trained individuals.


    Evelyn shook her head with a frown as she tossed the diary into her inventory. "Tch, whatever dirty little secrets that thing holds, I''ll figure it out somehow."


    Moving on to the array disc, Evelyn wondered if it was a stolen cultivation technique, or one that belonged to the Terran royal family. If it was stolen, maybe she could get praised by Aurora for recovering it for the academy, right?


    Checking its status, however, her idle thoughts vanished immediately.


    [Checking status]


    - [Watcher of the Skies, Grade Nine (Iplete, Broken)]


    ???


    ???


    ???


    When provided with living tissue ??? the user can exert control over the enved ???


    Living tissue condition: The more crucial the tissue is, the more ??? it contains, the less the ???.


    Best tissues include the brain and the eyes.


    No limit on the level of the enved beast, but an equivalent amount of vitality must be sacrificed in the array as the beast that is being tamed.


    The above condition does not apply if the user''s own vitality is greater than that of the beast being enved.


    Iplete method: Each usage will greatly reduce the vitality of the user.

 Chapter 149: The Mysterious Ball

    Chapter 149: The Mysterious Ball


    Chills ran down Evelyn''s spine as she looked through the status of the array disk again and again, as if unable to believe it. "N-No, wait! E-Evelyn, d-don''t panic! Y-You''re fine"


    Even more than the two other thrones, Evelyn dreaded the presence of her ''benefactor'', Chronos. She had no idea when he would return to ''collect the debt'', and she would be no more than a glorified ve, if not worse.


    How long had it even been since she got rid of that piece of soul hiding inside her?


    Evelyn had no issue ''repaying'' him, but she wanted to be in a position where she could at least negotiate her own terms, and for that, she needed sufficient strength.


    At this point, she was far from prepared. Not to mention anything else, she didn''t even know just how strong Chronos really was. If they met at this time, she would bepletely helpless.


    And to make matters worse, she had already tampered with his ''monitoring'', making it all useless. She was like a prisoner who had broken out of her cell, but was still within the facility. Compared to being spotted by a guard while still within her cell, the terror of being caught outside could be imagined.


    Not to mention Bree, who was already tugging at her sleeve with worry, even Ruru started showing signs of stirring awake from her exhausted sleep, perhaps feeling her distress through their connection.


    "Mama?"


    Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Evelyn patted the little girl''s soft hair, perhaps taking morefort from her than the other way around. "Go back to Ruru, Bree. I''m fine."


    The blonde girl looked at her in confusion before nodding hesitantly. "O-Okay"


    Evelyn took a few more moments to calm herself before going through the description again. "J-Just because the name looks like that, and the description is also ugh, whatever. So what if it could be rted to Chronos? He''s not here, anyway, I still have time!"


    Clenching her fist, the pink haired girl reaffirmed her determination with a nod. "Right."


    Feeling a lot better after calming down, she finally started analyzing the purpose of the ability. "A grade nine skill, right? This is not a cultivation method, presumably the array disc is also broken, so it''s not as  No! This could mean it''s even worse! If this is still considered grade nine even in this broken, iplete form, the perfected version would definitely be far more terrifying."


    Of course, it was also possible that the grading was based on thepleted version instead, but Evelyn would rather assume the worst. "If I understand correctly, this ''Watcher of the Skies'' is an envement technique that requires a piece of living tissue from the target creature"


    The pink haired girl felt a shudder run through her spine when she thought about it. Evenpared to her ''Cmity'', this was far more terrifying.


    Although the description stated that the more crucial the tissue, the better, didn''t that mean that anything would work, as long as the user was willing to cover the penalty for it? Even losing a single drop of blood could allow these people to turn one into their ve?


    "No one is so careful while fighting, that they would keep track of every single drop of blood they lost, right? Not to mention anyone else, even Aurora had been considerably injured that day when she fought Mantis. If someone collected a sample from there"


    Evelyn shook her head. "No, I''m overthinking this. Aurora is fine, I''m fine. Anyway, now that I have this array, there''s no need to be so terrified anymore, right? Although the Terrans will probably go crazy!"


    Her eyes lit up as she suddenly realized something. "Right! No wonder they were putting in so much effort to ''rescue their Crown Prince!'', Craig still had this no, I see now. Ahaha ahaha."


    Taking out the small pouch from before, she grinned. "This little thing contains whatever tissue of the beast they wanted to enve, right? I don''t know what''s in there, and it''s probably best not to open it without Aurora, but I can guess ehehe"


    The pouch didn''t seem to have much weight, and the contents seemed to in the shape of a sphere. Evelyn felt it in her palm she made a guess. "A testicle? An eyeball? Probably an eyeball, right?"


    Even when she was ''younger'', Evelyn hadn''t taken any baths with either her father or mother, and only Amara had really taken care of such needs for her. Needless to say, she hadn''t seen male genitalia very often.


    Trying her best to recall the shape of the testicle, Evelyn could only think of the buff man in the survival test all those years ago. "I-Is it really so perfectly round? I don''t think it was, right? This is definitely an eyeball, then!"


    The thought of eyeballs made her recall the Thousand Eyed God, but she shook her head with a chuckle. "No way, right? Where would he even!"


    Evelyn frowned. "Wait a minute, Craig did have the chance to do it, right? H-He was standing right next to it when it happened... If so, it would exin why the ''Thousand Eyed God'' flew into a rage like that."


    But that brought up even more questions than it answered. "Craig was less than level eighty at that time, while the ''Thousand Eyed God'' is probably much, much stronger, right?! If this thing really holds one of its eyes, how did he do it?"


    No matter how she thought about it, it made no sense. None of the artifacts in Craig''s inventory would enable him to pull off such a thing, and the ''Thousand Eyed God'' even defended its eyes so carefully, retracting them inside its body before attacking.


    Evelyn shook her head. "No, forget it. I''ll show this to Aurora and confirm it first. I don''t even know if it''s not something else, after all."


    Of course, even if the body part inside the istion artifact belonged to some other beast, that still left the question of why Craig hadn''t used such a great trump card even till the end.


    "It does say that the higher the level of the enved beast, the higher the amount of vitality that needs to be sacrificed, right? Oh, and thest condition seems to be separate from everything else."


    Evelyn went through it again, before nodding to herself. "So in conclusion, every usage will damage the vitality of the user, this should be a pretty small amount, I think? If the vitality of the enved beast is lower, the second penalty doesn''t apply, but if it''s not both the difference in the enved beast and the user''s vitality as well as the type of tissue being used to enve will decide how much vitality is drained."


    Thinking about it for a while, the pink haired girl smiled. "Well, whatever. I definitely need to show this to Aurora. I''m sure she''ll be happy to finally know what the Terrans were nning."


    Of course, this would also mean she would get scolded for going out to do such a dangerous thing by herself, but Evelyn had a pretty good grasp of Aurora''s character by now.


    Evelyn spent a few more minutes organizing everything in her inventory before setting out to look for her teacher. Thankfully, her friends were still all inside the Gilmore sisters'' room, and with Bree and Ruru asleep, she could quietly sneak out after leaving a note.


    "Going out to get some milk, will be back soon, byebye~"


    Given that the closest location for decent milk that could be considered edible for spirit physiques would be the Eastern Forbidden City, this should give her enough of an excuse to stay out for a while. Hopefully, Aurora would be able to arrange some anyway, she could use a little more variety in her treats.


    Although there were still many things that she had to take care of, such as the purification of the toxic beast corpse and understanding Bree''s ability, the grade nine envement technique and dismantling the Terran plot took priority over anything else.


    Of course, this wasn''t because she held a grudge against Terrazyme because of Craig or even Rufus, but because of her position as a Knox.


    Evelyn could care less if the Lavinian Empire won the war, or if the Terrans ended up conquering the entire continent. But she definitely couldn''t remain indifferent, knowing that her family might get wiped out in the process.


    Since they even dared to try sinking their fangs into the normally invincible Ancient Academy, it showed that they were either desperate, or overly confident. Neither of which was good news as far as Evelyn was concerned.


    Of course, with her pawns in the Lavinian Royal family, Evelyn could also be considered to have a stake in the war. Given that Bree had paid such a huge price to get her those ves, she would certainly prefer it if they could still be of useter on. In the best case, the Lavinian Royalty would remain strong, and she could get her pawn into a position of power.


    But that would have to depend on how the war went, and in the worst case, Evelyn could only hope to save her family as best as she could. With Aurora''s help, it shouldn''t be impossible.


    "She did say she''ll be busy for a while, but I''m sure she''ll understand why I came to bother her once she sees this Hopefully, it won''t be too hard to meet her today."

 Chapter 150: Troublesome Girl

    Chapter 150: Troublesome Girl


    Although she had set out full of confidence, Evelyn had no idea where to actually look to find her teacher.


    The first ce she tried was, of course, her own tower, but it didn''t seem like she was inside. Evelyn even checked the tree and theke, but there was no sign of the tinum blonde anywhere.


    As her first guess had failed, Evelyn now had two choices.


    First, she could go check the principal''s quarters, where even if she failed to find Aurora, she would be able to get some inkling of her whereabouts.


    And second, she could contact her directly using the emergency bead she had used during the conflict with Mantis.


    Unfortunately, the second method had already failed to get her a response earlier, and she assumed the Aurora had kept themunication bead either in her tower or in a spatial storage artifact, and was simply unable to receive her signal.


    The first method, on the other hand, came with a risk that Evelyn felt a little reluctant to take.


    Professor Stonehardt  now headmaster  had already shown that he was somewhat hostile to Evelyn the first opportunity he got. Although his method wasn''t as tant and obvious as Dane''s and the olddy in the elemental mastery ss, that only made things worse.


    After all, not only did he have ill intent, he also showed that he had the patience and the cunning to not give himself away.


    Aurora had a certain way of doing things, and Evelyn knew that although she had protected her fiercely, she wouldn''t expel a teacher for such ''minor'' concerns.


    And that had been before, when the Academy hadn''t beencking a pir. Now that professor Stonehardt had be the headmaster, the situation was undoubtedly worse.


    The pink haired girl shook her head. "Hopefully, this will mean he bes busy with other stuff, and doesn''t have the time to interfere in my matters directly."


    In either case, with Aurora''s whereabouts uncertain, a presumably hostile person like the new headmaster was certainly thest person she wanted to have a confrontation with. Unfortunately, dying this matter was also something that made her ufortable, since she had no idea when Aurora would actually be back.


    Based on her knowledge, she knew that certain ceremonies and rituals couldst as long as decades or even more, and waiting so long would simply be foolish. Even if whatever Aurora was doing couldn''t be interrupted, she would rather find out sooner and then decide how she should handle other matters on her own if given no other choice.


    "Wait there''s one more ce I haven''t checked!"


    Making her way back to Aurora''s pir, Evelyn recalled that her teacher had once told her that one of the primary duties of a pir was to protect the ''Tower of Solitude'', which was why the four pir towers surrounded it at their center.


    Taking a rough measure of the two tower''s locations, Evelyn started making her way around the area, and soon came across another tall tower, this one a little smaller than Aurora''s, and green instead of white.


    At the bottom of the tower was a single halberd wielding female guard, who immediately red at her the moment she approached.


    Evelyn could tell without even using her probe that this woman was a little below a junior professor''s level.


    Before the woman could point her weapon at her, Evelyn immediately took out the translucent raiment that Aurora had given her as a keepsake, and waved it in front of her arrogantly.


    The guarddy froze, as expected, giving the conceited-looking pink haired girl a tight frown. "Don''t wave that thing around! Do you even know what that is?"


    Evelyn pretended to look ignorant as she turned her nose up. "Don''t care. I''m looking for my teacher, I miss her a lot!"


    "What does that have to do with me? This isn''t a ce you belong in, go back to ss, or your room! Shoo!"


    "Hmph. Since you recognize my teacher''s keepsake, you must know something! I was sleeping when she disappeared, and her note just said I''ll be back soon! AHHH, I really wanna hug her, it''s been too long!"


    The halberd wieldingdy resisted the urge to lop off the spoiled brat''s head. "T-There''s a limit to your willfulness. Lady Aurora is a pir, and they are busy with something very important. Go back to your room, she''ll be back when she''s done."


    Evelyn peeked at the door behind the woman, who shifted to block her sight immediately. "Is she in there? She is, isn''t she?"


    "She''s not!"


    "Hmph. I''ll go check for myself."


    The halberd wieldingdy almost jumped in fright when the girl tried to dart past her, barely managing to block her with her halberd''s pole, though the girl jumped over it with shockingly high agility and speed.


    ''FUCK!''


    Thinking about the horrendous death waiting for her if Aurora''s spoiled little student went st against the defensive array at the door, the guard woman immediately panicked. "They''re not in there, really! They''re at the other tower, that way!"


    The pink haired girl grinned. "Well, why didn''t you say so earlier?"


    "Brat!"


    "Okay, that''s all I wanted to know. Byebye, aunty."


    The guarddy just gritted her teeth and refused to speak.


    Although Evelyn could bend the woman over and spank her if she wanted, and there would be nothing she could do to resist, there was no point in unting her strength like that, especially when there was nothing to gain. Now that she had already got what she wanted, Evelyn swiftly left in the direction the woman had pointed in.


    It didn''t take her long to arrive at the tower the woman had pointed her towards, and Evelyn couldn''t help but shake her head when she got there. "I should have just gone around the ce once, and there would be no need to traumatize poor halberd aunty."


    With the security of this ce, anyone could tell that something important was going on inside.


    Surrounding the tall ck tower at the center, a total of twelve senior professors were seated in the inner circle of an array, and thirty-six junior professors were spread out on the outer circle.


    A tertiary array of ten dozen guards was located in the outermostyer, and Evelyn could tell that just barging in might be difficult, even if she had ten times her current strength.


    Tugging the translucent cloth in her hand, Evelyn couldn''t help but hesitate. "S-Should I try it?"


    Just as she was considering throwing caution to the wind, however, she heard a very familiar voice.


    "Evelyn?!"


    The pink haired girl turned her head in surprise as she saw the older girl walking towards her. "Eh? E?"


    It didn''t take the green haired girl long to jog to her side. "What are you doing all the way over here?"


    Evelyn scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "I missed my teacher, so I came to look. I heard she''s in there. Is it possible for me to take a look?"


    Anyway, it was better to stick with one excuse, and she''d already used this one in front of the halberddy.


    The Aquan girl felt her eyes almost bug out of her head. This girl was a bit too affectionate, wasn''t she? Thinking about the fact that the pink haired girl also had a huge crush on her, E could already feel a headacheing.


    Of course, she had already heard a little about how fiercely Aurora protected this little student of hers. In a way, the pink haired girl was actually quite lucky that the pir was willing to spoil her so, or being overly affectionate would have surelynded her in a lot of trouble.


    But her duty here was to keep any wandering students away, and she still had a job to do.


    E couldn''t help but feel a littleplicated. "I''m sure she misses you too, but you can''t just barge in there, okay? If you go any further, you''ll make things very awkward for your teacher, understand?"


    Evelyn bit her lip tightly as she gave the girl a distressed look. "I-I just want to take a look, then. Just let me see her, and I''ll go back."


    Of course, who would be able to stop her once she had Aurora''s location confirmed?


    E sighed. "I''m sure your teacher would say the same thing if she was here"


    Evelyn pouted petntly as she waved Aurora''s keepsake in front of the older girl''s face. "E~ Look, my teacher gave me this, and told me no one can stop me as long as I have it! She''ll definitely want to meet me if she knew I was here!"


    The green haired girl had no idea what the transparent cloth was supposed to be, but assuming the little girl was telling her the truth, it was definitely an easily recognizable keepsake in the eyes of the professors and guards. ''S-Should I bring this up with the professors? Anyway, Evelyn is a good girl, so what could go wrong?''

 Chapter 151: A Future Roadblock

    Chapter 151: A Future Roadblock


    After hesitating for a while, E decided that there was nothing wrong with putting in a request for the little girl. Anyway, if there was an issue, others would just reject it.


    She patted the little girl''s head. "Just wait for a while. The array is paused for about thirty minutes every ten hours or so. When it happens, I can ask the professors if there is a way to lead you in. Of course, you''ll have to show that to them, and be on your best behavior, got it?"


    "Thank you!" Evelyn jumped in joy, and keeping up with her act, even stepped forward to hug the green-haired girl.


    With their height difference, the pink haired little girl didn''t evene up halfway to her chest, and E could only pat her head helplessly. ''Don''t tell me she still has that crush on me? Well, I guess I haven''t done anything to get rid of it either.''


    Evelyn could feel that the older girl was probably thinking something weird, but she felt that it was fine as long as she got to meet Aurora soon. "How long will it take for them to stop?"


    As for any misunderstandings this girl might have, she could always clear them upter.


    E cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, thest one was about eight hours ago, so I guess around an hour or two more?"


    "Ohh"


    Evelyn thought that her luck was quite good, since she didn''t have to wait that long before the fluctuations in the spirit energy in the air became apparent from the array being stopped. ording to the green haired prefect, this was a sign of the grand array changing, and also their cue to go in.


    Evelyn had assumed that there would be quite a bit of resistance from the professors guarding the array, but most of them either ignored her or shook their heads ruefully as E led her towards the dark tower that previously belonged to Mantis unobstructed.


    When they got to the entrance at the base of the tower, however, a halberd wielding woman stopped them with a re. Evelyn thought that her face looked shockingly simr to the one that she had bullied before.


    "No one is allowed inside, don''t you know?"


    "Well, the senior professors didn''t stop us" E cleared her throat awkwardly, nudging at the little girl by her side to show her keepsake.


    The dark haired guarddy frowned. "That''s because you''re just tiny little students. In the end, they''re here to defend from actual threats, and reacting to you is just a waste of time. As a prefect, you should still have enough sense to not disturb them."


    Evelyn could already feel a few familiar spirit power fluctuations brush against her, but she still ''followed E''s instructions'' like a good girl and took out Aurora''s keepsake. That being said, she couldn''t just wave it around now that her teacher was observing her, could she? That would be a surefire way to get scolded.


    ''Why isn''t she calling me in already?'' The pink haired girl looked awkwardly at the guarddy, deciding to stall for a while. "Aunty, do you have a sister?"


    Aurora probably wanted to see if she would be naughty, right?


    "Eh? So what if I do?"


    The pink haired girl shook her head. "Ah, nothing, I just met her earlier. She was super nice!"


    The dark haired woman frowned, wondering if that was some sort of threat. But then again, this was just a little girl. What threat could she possibly make against her sister?


    Just as she was about to forcefully chase them away, however, an ethereal voice floated their way from within the tower.


    "Let her in."


    Evelyn immediately recognized Aurora''s voice, and grinned. As expected, she couldn''t really watch her being chased away. Her teacher was a bit too softhearted, after all, but that was a good thing for her.


    As a mere guard, the woman could only let her go, though she still blocked E, who shook her head helplessly. "I''ll wait for you here. Don''t bother your teacher too much today, alright?"


    Evelyn gave her a cheerful smile. "Okay! I''ll just cuddle a little and be right back!"


    Since Aurora could sense her presence, the others could, too.


    The other pirs and ex-headmaster gave Aurora a weird look, wondering how a pir could lower themselves so much, and although she pretended not to care, they could tell that she was a little embarrassed.


    But thinking about what she could do if they made a joke, none of them thought it was worth it.


    "Take the spiral staircase all the way up."


    Aurora thought that her student was a little naughty, but even if she had to be punished, that would have to wait until they were alone. At the very least, she didn''t act too obnoxiously in public, so she decided to spare her dignity in front of others as well.


    The pink haired girl followed her teacher''s directions, and it didn''t take long for her to arrive at the very top of the tower.


    From here, she could clearly see that the four pirs, including the now ex-headmaster and Aurora, were each seated at the four nodes of a circr array on the ground. A wave of weak spiritual power flowed out from its center and into the open skies above, and Evelyn could tell that it was some sort of inactive link.


    Aurora waved her over, her expression neutral and hard to judge. "You came at quite a good time. We just paused to rest again, or you''d have had to wait much longer."


    "Ah, sorry, teacher. I knew you were busy, but there was something really important I had to tell you." Evelyn nced at the other three shyly. "I-It''s a bit embarrassing."


    Aurora sighed as got up from her spot. "We''ll skip a session."


    Kaizen and Kaling shared a knowing look before shrugging. "No problem for us."


    The headmaster didn''t object and kept his head down, though he didn''t offer any affirmation either.


    "Lord Hyperion shall take this time to familiarize yourself with the tower, if you wish, or just rest properly. We can resume the practice from tomorrow at sunrise."


    ''So he''s called Hyperion, huh? Is that his title or name?'' But although Evelyn was quite curious about this headmaster turned pir, she didn''t dare to use her probe skill to check. Since Aurora could sense it, the others here probably could as well.


    Unless she had a proper excuse for probing them, or they were already in conflict, it was better to err on the side of caution. Anyway, she was sure she would get plenty of opportunities in the future.


    Aurora held Evelyn''s hand as the two of them flew directly up from the tower and towards Aurora''s own.


    Once the two of them were far enough, the only remaining female pir chuckled. "Lady Aurora sure pampers that little girl, huh? I think she might be training her to rece you soon, headmaster."


    Kaizen nodded along with his wife. "Maybe you can go back to living thatvish, carefree life in just a couple hundred years or so, ahaha."


    Well, technically, the title of headmaster now belonged to someone else, but it would probably take a few more months to get rid of their habit of thest few centuries.


    The dark haired man snorted. He could always trust these two toe up with the most ridiculous arguments. "Is it so easy to train someone to a pir''s level? Looking at the little girl''sck of resolve alone, I can tell she won''t be able to grow properly. As soon as she faces a threat above her level, she''ll probably start crying."


    Kaling shrugged. "Well, I doubt that would be much of a problem, considering Aurora can just spoon-feed her to a high enough level."


    Her husband hummed. "That may be true, but I see what the headmaster means. Doing things that way is not really a good idea, is it?"


    Kaling blinked. "That I''m sure that Aurora must have her reasons for picking a student after so long. It would be a bit ridiculous if the little girl just got stuck at breakthroughs, right?"


    The dark haired man snorted, cutting off the couple''s debate. "Hmph. Aurora has never raised a student before, so maybe she doesn''t realize how hard it will be for her to break through that level without proper insights. For a talentless person, boosting them up the levels is a great boon, but for the truly talented, what Aurora is doing is just holding going to hold her back!"


    Silence reigned on the tower''s roof as the pir couple were left sharing an awkward look.


    Oblivious to their difort, or perhaps uncaring, the ex-headmaster shook his head. "I always thought it was a pity that Aurora never took on a student, but now I know it was a blessing in disguise instead. With how she pampers and spoils the little girl, she''s just ruining a talented seed, absolutely ipetent!"

 Chapter 152: Daring

    Chapter 152: Daring


    The other two pirs thanked the heavens that Aurora was already too far away to hear the ex-headmaster''s words, because they really couldn''t imagine how they would be able to fill another vacant spot among the pirs so soon.


    "L-Lord Hyperion, you should be more mindful of your words."


    The dark haired man clicked his tongue before turning away. "Whatever. I''ll go check on Lord Stonehardt to see if he''s coping well with his duties, let''s meet tomorrow."


    The new headmaster appeared to be a little stiff and upromising on the surface, but the two of them had got along fine for the most part. He hadn''t yet had the time to talk with him much since his position changed from being the headmaster to a pir, and Hyperion felt that it would be a pity if he didn''t even try cooperating with the man.


    Kaizen and Kaling stared at each other in confusion before the female pir hesitantly spoke out. "B-Butdy Aurora told you to familiarize yourself with the tower''s arrays, right?"


    The ex-headmaster snorted. "You don''t need to worry about that. Can''t I decide what I should be doing in my own free time?"


    Kaizen hurriedly waved his hands. "Not at all, forgive my wife''s bluntness, we were just a little confused."


    Kaling nodded. "Right. I was just curious."


    The dark haired man shrugged and walked away, leaving the husband and wife alone.


    Kaling heaved a sigh of relief. "I miss the good old days when everyone just focused on being annoyed with Mantis, and we could just mind our own business. Now it''s up to us to make conversations, or these two ice blocks will make every meeting awkward."


    The male pir chuckled. "Well, on the plus side, we also don''t have to get annoyed by Mantis."


    His wife giggled. "Heh, true."


    Kaizen sighed. "Pity that we have to synchronize with the main defensive array again, though."


    Kaling groaned. "Right? What a waste of time. We''re never going to use it anyway, since no one can get past the sentinels through the valley, and no one has the guts to go through the thunder array."


    Of course, this was not just a blind belief, but a fact that had been established after having witnessed thousands of years and hundreds of attempts by various ''superpowers''. There was a reason the pirs never put even royalty in their eyes, after all.


    Kaizen sighed. "Yeah, but who''s gonna tell that to Aurora?"


    The female pir couldn''t help but shake her head ruefully. "She''s always been a little silly. Even if all the powers on the continent united together to attack us, we still wouldn''t need to worry. What''s she so anxious about? If I didn''t know better, I''d think we were about to face some cmity."


    Her husband looked around nervously before nodding. "To be honest, I think she''s just trying to divert attention from the fact that she killed Mantis, you know."


    Kaling chuckled. "Makes sense. No wonder Lord Hyperion was so gloomy. In the end, he''s the one who lost the most benefits, and also has to work hard to synchronize with the defensive array."


    Kaizen sighed. "Hopefully, he doesn''t lose his patience to do something drastic. I don''t think we''ll be able to stay out of a fight this time, and I really don''t feel like we''ll be getting out of it unscathed."


    Silence reigned between the two for a while before Kaling sighed. "We''ll cross that bridge when we get there."


    Although neither of the two liked the idea of going against Aurora, given that the odds of injury and death were uncertain, if push came to shove, they knew they couldn''t just stay put.


    Meanwhile, Evelyn finally arrived on top of the white tower in front of theke. There was a momentary flicker of spirit power when Aurora allowed her feet to touch the ground, presumably from a defensive array.


    This was the first time she was entering Aurora''s tower, and Evelyn couldn''t help but look around curiously.


    Unlike the gloomy atmosphere in the tower they had just left, what with its dark and sturdy looking giant stone bs, the construction of Aurora''s tower looked more like part of a beautiful pce than a castle.


    The white stone bs had a bluish tint to them, and were much smaller in individual sizepared to the other tower. Moreover, the construction itself seemed to have been done more precisely, with the gap between the stones being much more minimal.


    As they entered the tower, Evelyn couldn''t help but be impressed by the giant chandelier of blue crystals above the very top of the spiral staircase, though it seemed like there was no other decoration aside from that.


    The pink haired girl followed her teacher down the staircase, and they soon came in front of an archway that led to a room decorated mostly in shades of blue. Presumably, these must be Aurora''s personal quarters.


    Evelyn hesitated a little upon seeing the carpet, and looking at her teacher''s pristine, cute little bare feet, she could only stop awkwardly. "L-Let me take off my shoes first."


    Aurora tilted her head curiously as her gaze moved to the pale pink shoes. With a wave of her hand, a wave of spirit power obliterated the impurities on its surface. "See, it''s very easy to clean using spirit power, especially for someone proficient in water. I can teach you, too. I had no idea you didn''t already know."


    "I never realized?"


    The tinum blonde blinked. "The first year of the academy that is skipped by the ancient family children covers all of this. Since you''re from an ancient family, it is assumed that you already have such basic knowledge."


    Although these things really should have been taught to her student by her parents already, a teacher could also be considered half a parent, and if she didn''t teach her now, who will?


    Evelyn frowned. ''Howe I never realized this? Strange no, if I think about it, the elders could have assumed my parents took care of it, while my parents assumed Amara taught me but Amara was also too young when she lost her family.''


    It was perhaps easy for them to miss, given Evelyn took good care of herself, and never appeared to be dirty.


    The pink haired girl nodded. Anyway, although she could probably figure it out on her own given some time, why would she say no to learning new skills from Aurora? She wasn''t so stupid. "Of course. A-And that floating trick, too. Oh, and I also want to learn how you talked to me from the top of the tower."


    Aurora blinked in surprise. "What floating trick?"


    Evelyn rubbed the tip of her nose bashfully. "Well, you''re always a little bit off the ground, aren''t you?"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "Don''t you already know how to use spirit power?"


    "Eh?"


    Aurora smiled. "Just add ayer to the surface that makes contact with the ground. Like wearing a tight cloth. Un. There''s nothing to learn."


    Evelyn blinked in shock. It wasn''t that she couldn''t do it, but whenever spirit power was disrupted by any kind of interaction, there was bound to be some loss. How much, exactly, would depend on the intensity of the interaction.


    For example, if she coated her skin with ayer of spirit power, and then retracted it back, there was unlikely to be any loss. But if she did the same and then fought, each attack from her opponent that made contact with the spirit power coat would cause some loss.


    In a practical situation, all the spirit power covering the area that the attacknded in would be wasted with barely any reduction to the iing threat. This was why it was essential to weave the spirit power into some defensive technique instead of using it in such a simple way.


    Evelyn shook her head in confusion. "Teacher won''t that be a waste?"


    Aurora hummed in thought. "A little? If you''re fighting, you should definitely not care about such things. Normally, I regenerate more than I use this way, so I don''t think it''s a waste."


    Of course, Evelyn recalled her teacher''s miserable appearance after her fight with Mantis. She hadn''t wasted any energy defending her dignity at all, and Evelyn fully approved. What was the point of dying a dignified death, when there was a possibility to emerge victorious after a little disgrace?


    Anyway, even if the opponent saw her look so miserable, it didn''t matter now that he was dead, right?


    "I understand. But a few points of spirit power, huh" Evelyn tapped her chin in thought. Assuming that Aurora''s regeneration rate was about the same as hers, it should be possible for her to fully regenerate her spirit power pool in around ten hours or so.


    Obviously, the bigger someone''s spirit power pool was, the faster they would regenerate their lost energy.


    How much spirit power did Aurora have? Now that she was much higher in level, maybe she could


    Aurora felt a shiver run up her spine as she gave Evelyn a warning look. "Y-You Don''t forget what I told you!"


    Evelyn blinked innocently. "What do you mean?"

 Chapter 153: The Eyeball

    Chapter 153: The Eyeball


    Evelyn giggled. It might be amusing to watch her teacher blush, but she knew going too far might end up backfiring. "Alright, don''t worry, I really won''t do it."


    Aurora nodded, not knowing that the pink haired girl had barely resisted the urge to add a ''for now'' at the end of that sentence.


    Evelyn kept her smile in check as she followed her teacher curiously deeper into the chamber. Aurora was clearly not used to having guests, and maybe she only used this ce for sleeping, because aside from the bed, there weren''t even any chairs.


    The pink haired girl blinked. ''Wait, now that I think about it, didn''t Cecilia say her room was where she stayed at previously? I guess she just doesn''t like it here?''


    Evelyn tapped her chin in thought. ''Well, I guess I can offer her the spare room at my ce, if she like the feeling of the White Lily Mansion more.''


    Her thoughts were interrupted when Aurora patted the spot next to her on the bed. "Come. Here, no one can listen or sense what happens from outside. Feel safe."


    Evelyn cleared her throat in embarrassment as she slid in next to the tinum blonde. "Thank you. I know you must have been busy, but I had a really good reason this time."


    Aurora shook her head. "It''s fine. Just say it."


    The pink haired girl nodded before taking out an ominous looking ck pouch from her inventory. She was very careful not to take out the wrong thing, knowing how awkward it would be to exin ex-professor corpses to Aurora.


    Evelyn handed the pouch over to Aurora, but held her hand when she grasped it, making sure she wouldn''t open it. "Teacher, actually, I have no idea what''s inside this thing, and I was a little scared to open it by myself. I wanted you to do it, but you also have to be careful not to mess up, okay?"


    Aurora frowned. She could tell that her student was now much stronger thanst time, even stronger than some of the junior professors. "You''ve grown a lot. Did you face some trouble?"


    The pink haired girl coughed in embarrassment. "Y-You know, a few lucky encounters. Nothing special."


    The tinum blonde focused her gaze back on the pouch. "I cannot tell what''s inside without opening it. This is an istion artifact."


    Evelyn coughed as she let go of her teacher''s palm, leaving the pouchpletely in the other girl''s hands. "I-I know, just be careful. I have a feeling it''s dangerous."


    Aurora frowned as she let go of the ck pouch, making it float a few feet away from the two of them.


    Ayered bubble of water slowly formed around the pouch, and Evelyn could feel the spirit power inside the bubble gradually increase to rming levels.


    Evelyn gulped. She could only roughly sense the amount of power in the outeryer, but that alone was quite shocking. ''T-That little thing already holds around four no five thousand points of spirit power? How much does she have in total?''


    Compared to when she had been much lower in level, and couldn''t tell just how much spirit power was being thrown around in the fight between the pirs, Evelyn really felt like she could now roughly grasp the true extent of Aurora''s capabilities.


    Of course, she could probably have a more urate answer by using her probe instead of just guessing, but it wouldn''t be a nice thing to make her teacher cry before asking her for a favor. Even if she didn''t get beaten up, she would still be in for a scolding.


    It didn''t take long for Aurora to finish preparing her defenses, and with a wave of her hand, the string holding the pouch closed inside the bubble was loosened using her spirit power.


    The pouch flipped over, and what dropped out was a tennis ball sized eyeball.


    Unlike the tentacles of the ''Thousand Eyed God'', there was no miasma leaking from the eyeball, and Evelyn sighed, feeling like she had perhaps been too cautious. Maybe there was no need to bother Aurora, after all.


    When she looked over at her teacher, however, she found the tinum blonde frowning tightly, her brows furrowed and her eyes sharp.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but tilt her head in confusion. Was there something going on inside the bubble that she couldn''t tell. "Aurora? Is everything okay?"


    Aurora''s frown eased a little upon hearing her voice, and she shook her head gently. "Wait."


    For the next few minutes, Evelyn watched as the bubble surrounding the eye rippled from time to time. Although she tried her best to sense the changes, all she could tell was that her teacher kept pouring more spirit power into the bubble, but what she could sense on it didn''t increase.


    The ripples seemed to slow down as the eyeball floated back into the pouch, though the string wasn''t retightened.


    Finally, Aurora breathed a sigh of relief, and the bubble popped while the pouch floated in front of Evelyn. "You can hold it and look, but don''t turn it over, the eyeball is facing down."


    Evelyn took hold of the pouch as she gave her teacher a confused look. "Eh?"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "This is one of the eyes of the ''Thousand Eyed God'', Ekaterina. Even if it has been plucked out, whatever enters its sight can still be seen, understand?"


    Evelyn bit her lip nervously. "Y-You mean it saw us?!"


    Although she had grown a lot, she didn''t think she was ready to face a threat of that level yet. If she had that thing hunting her down, Evelyn might really have to consider whether taking her friends along to the forest was a good idea. ''Not to mention leaving them in the dust, but without Cecilia''s buffs, even my own growth won''t be so fast.''


    Aurora shook her head. "Don''t worry, what I did was simr to a form of istion, and I have already killed it, for the most part. Even if you open the pouch and take it out, what Ekaterina might see would only be a very blurry image."


    "Eh? You killed it?"


    Aurora nodded. "Notpletely, since it might be of use to you, but I couldn''t leave it in the state it was, being almostpletely intact. If you took it out without me, Ekaterina would know who you are and where you are right away. I didn''t want you to y around with something so dangerous."


    Evelyn gulped. ''Luckily, I checked the bag''s description before opening. I better make this a habit.''


    Aurora smiled. "Well, was that all you wanted?"


    The pink haired girl blinked before hurriedly waving her hands. "A-Ah, no! That was just one of the things. Anyway, you won''t believe what I found out!"


    The tinum blonde tilted her head curiously, and Evelyn grinned sheepishly. "B-But before I tell you, you have to promise me not to get mad!"


    The two of them stared at each other in silence before Aurora gave her a helpless nod.


    The pink haired girl smiled. "Good! Anyway, teacher, you know how you were searching around for what the Terrans were up to? Well, no need to guess, because I found this eyeball on a Terran, and alongside that, I also found this!"


    Evelyn took out the array disc containing the grade nine ''Watcher of the Skies'', and lifted it up with one hand while shaking the ck pouch in the other one. "With these two being together, I have a really interesting theory I want you to hear!"


    Obviously, had it been anyone else, she wouldn''t dare show such a thing off, as it was bound to incite greed. But if there was one person she believed wouldn''t covet such a thing, it would be Aurora.


    Aurora frowned as she stared at the slightly cracked array disc. ''Broken, but still quite high-grade. A normal Terran shouldn''t be carrying such a thing around, but they shouldn''t have had the eye on them either Evelyn''


    "Did you kill Craig?"


    Evelyn coughed. "T-That''s not important, right?"


    The tinum blonde shook her head helplessly. "Why are you like this?"


    It should be considered quite lucky that she had finalized the expulsion of Craig the moment he ran away from her interrogation that day, so Aurora didn''t have to face a dilemma now.


    Evelyn grinned. "But teacher, I know you will protect me."


    Aurora frowned. "You deserve a beating."


    The pink haired girl coughed. "A-Anyway, listen to this, teacher. Apparently, that array disc contains a technique that allows the user to enve anything as long as they have its living tissue, moreover"


    As Evelyn continued her exnation, Aurora''s frown couldn''t help but turn grimmer.


    She didn''t ask her student where she had found such information. Maybe she had some technique to extract such knowledge from the opponent''s mind, or maybe she had found some rted documentation. The more important thing right now, however, was that she definitely wouldn''t say such things for no reason.


    And if this was all true that could only mean one thing.


    The Terrans wanted to control Ekaterina.

 Chapter 154: The Real Objective

    Chapter 154: The Real Objective


    Ekaterina, ''The Thousand Eyed God'', and a beast that she knew was capable of wreaking havoc even in the Wondend of Doom.


    Throughout the thousands of years of its existence, there had been nock of either brave or foolish people who had tried to subdue and conquer it. Of course, most of them were after either the fame or the rewards that woulde by from killing such a high-level beast.


    To that end, many great parties, some consisting even of hundreds of ''heroes'' of the time, had been assembled with the aim to bring the beast down, but they all ended tragically.


    The ''Thousand Eyed God'' wasn''t just a high-ranking beast but also a symbol of terror.


    Even Aurora wouldn''t dare to tackle the thing lightly if it set its sights on the academy some day, even if she had the support of all the other pirs and the senior professors. And this was because of its extremely effective ability to poison people.


    The number of people who would be able to defend themselves from just the passive poisoning from the ''Thousand Eyed God'' could be counted on one hand, which directly eliminated a vast chunk of the academy''s forces from being able to contend against the beast in the first ce.


    "What do you think, teacher?"


    Aurora couldn''t help but look at her student with aplex feeling in her heart. Recalling how she had only stumbled onto the Terran forces when she had led the girl out, and now she had even ended up resolving the mystery herself when the pirs had previously returned empty-handed, she couldn''t help but wonder if it was fate.


    "Teacher?"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "You did well But let me think about it."


    Even in her wildest dreams, Aurora had never imagined that someone would be daring enough to try to ''tame'' the ''Thousand Eyed God''.


    Not to mention anything else, even taming a regr fully grown spirit beast was considered a joke. This was because their intelligence would already be quite developed, no longer at a level that anyone could manipte, and the most one could hope for would be a ''partnership rtionship''.


    But thinking about the ability of the array assuming Evelyn was able to figure out its functions correctly it made sense.


    Sacrificing a few individuals with high vitality in exchange for being able to control a beast at the level of the Thousand Eyed God was definitely within the capabilities of a force the size of the Kingdom of Terra. Unlike their academy, their poption wasrge enough, and they could also make use of experts seeking refuge.


    What gave Aurora pause, however, was the question of ''why''. Even if the Terrans had the ability to control the ''Thousand Eyed God'', it didn''t seem like a ''long term'' solution given the wed nature of the array and the sacrifices it required.


    Combined with the desperate behavior of the Terran forces in the forest Aurora could onlye to one conclusion.


    "The Terrans want to use Ekaterina in a war?"


    Evelyn nodded. "That''s what I was thinking. With that beast being as strong as the two sentinels, it should definitely be able to tip the scales in their favor, helping them conquer the Lavinian"


    Aurora interrupted the pink haired girl as she shook her head with a wry smile. "No, Evelyn If their target had been the Lavinian Empire only, the sacrifices they are making don''t make enough sense."


    Evelyn tilted her head in confusion. "Eh? What do you mean?"


    "The Lavinian Empire''s royal family is extravagant. Even if the Kingdom of Terrazyme manages to conquer them, if youbine the cost of the war with the price they would have to pay to control Ekaterina long enough it''s not worth it. Their foundations would be shaken to the core."


    The pink haired girl blinked in shock. From what she had learned so far, Lavinian Empire was the most powerful among the five superpowers on the continent, and she had thought that it would be the goal for which the Terrans were willing to pay such a price. "T-Then?"


    Aurora smiled grimly. "What they''re after is probably the Etherium Heart of the academy."


    Evelyn stared at her teacher nkly. "The what?"


    Aurora clutched her student''s palm, and Evelyn could tell that her teacher wasn''t as calm as her face usually made it seem. "If the Tower of Solitude contains the lifeblood of the academy, then the ''Etherium Heart'' is the... well, the heart."


    The pink haired girl blinked. "B-But it should be pretty safe, right?"


    Aurora smiled. "Of course. I keep it very close to my heart. No one can get it, as long as I''m alive."


    Evelyn gulped. "O-Oh Y-You should be careful, then, since we now know they''re after it?"


    For some reason, she couldn''t help but feel a little worried when Aurora put it this way. ''No, what am I thinking? It''s absurd for me to worry about someone so much stronger than me. Even Aurora willugh if she knew.''


    Aurora shook her head. "Everyone who knows about it has always been after it, that''s nothing new. Once you are strong enough, I will give it to you, as long as you can make me a promise."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but furrow her brows. "Hey, you just said earlier no one can take it away as long as you''re alive. Even if you''re my teacher, I''ll get mad if you joke about giving away something that''s connected to your life, you know?"


    The tinum blonde tilted her head in confusion. "Everyone dies one day, Evelyn, even the thrones. You''re the Lotus Throne now because the previous one died, you know? I have lived for a long time already, and the only wish I have left is to raise you to be able to able defend yourself. Once you reach the peak of your power, enough to contend against the Thrones, the Etherium Heart"


    Evelyn yanked her hand away from Aurora as she sneered. "I promise to protect the academy as long as you''re alive. If you die for whatever reason, I will have no attachment left with this ce, and I''ll make it my mission to destroy it."


    Aurora looked at her nkly.


    The pink haired girl chuckled. "What, you think it''s unfair?"


    The tinum blonde was silent for a while before sighing. "Stubborn and selfish. Also ungrateful."


    Evelyn smirked. "Call me whatever you want, I won''t even mind being called a pervert. But if you want to make sure I don''t do things you don''t want, you better stay alive to keep an eye on me, then."


    Aurora shook her head ruefully. "Forget it. I wasn''t nning on dying anytime soon, but talking about it as an eventuality. You''re not mature enough yet to talk about it, so let''s discuss thister."


    Evelyn snorted and looked away, making her attitude clear on the topic.


    There were few people she cared about in this world, but those she did, Evelyn couldn''t bear the thought of losing at all.


    Aurora smiled. "Don''t be angry. Let''s talk about what you n to do with this thing, then."


    The pink haired girl begrudgingly epted her teacher''s truce as she nodded. "I will keep it for now, and try to see if I can make it work on some weaker beasts first, and go up from there, what do you think?"


    Aurora nodded. "That is fine. I will help youter, if I can."


    Evelyn grinned. "Right, also, there was also another thing I wanted to ask"


    The tinum blonde tilted her head. "Yes?"


    The pink haired girl smiled, though there was something unsettling about it. "Teacher how much spirit power do you have?"


    Aurora blinked. "Um should be around sev No, wait. You shouldn''t know yet."


    Evelyn frowned. "Why not?"


    Aurora looked a little conflicted. "W-What if you get discouraged?"


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but pout. "Aw. Just tell me, it will motivate me."


    The tinum blonde frowned. "No. Let''s not discuss this anymore. I don''t wish to hinder your growth!"


    [Checking status]


    [Probe failed due to the level difference being too high!]


    Evelyn frowned. She''d thought that now that she was much higher level, her probe skill would work, but unexpectedly, it failed again.


    Aurora looked at her in disbelief. She had thought that after warning her student thest time  so sternly at that  the girl wouldn''t dare to ever try it again. But unexpectedly, not only did she dare, she even did it so deliberately and cheekily, as if there was no fear of her authority in her heart at all. "Y-You actually dared to try that again with me?!"


    The pink haired girl stuck out her tongue, her mirthful expression justpounding Aurora''s disbelief. "Sorry, teacher. I just wanted to see if I could somehow feel how much spirit power you have this way."


    And then, as if to test the limits of the tinum blonde''s patience, Evelyn batted her eyshes yfully. "Won''t you forgive me?"

 Chapter 155: How Babies Are Made

    Chapter 155: How Babies Are Made


    "N-No. Y-You need to be punished!"


    Looking at her teacher''s aggrieved appearance, Evelyn barely resisted the urge to pat her head as she raised her hands in surrender. "Teacher, I know I was wrong. But you wouldn''t tell me, and I just got so curious, you know? B-But of course, I''ll ept any punishment teacher deems fit. Just don''t be angry with me?"


    Aurora frowned as she considered her words. It was true that children at Evelyn''s age were generally unable to resist their curiosity. Her student had usually acted so mature for her age that she had almost forgotten that this was still just a young child who hadn''t even been in the academy for a year yet.


    Punishing her for being curious really might be a bit much.


    The tinum blonde cleared her throat. "W-Well, I will forgive you just this once. B-But you''re never allowed to do that again."


    Evelyn nodded. "Of course."


    Aurora frowned. Looking at the cheeky face of the pink haired girl, even she could tell that she hadn''t learned a lesson. But what could she do? She really wasn''t suitable for dealing with children.


    Had she known Evelyn would be so naughty, she would have definitely taken a more sensible student under her care a few years ago, so the girl could have a senior to keep her in line.


    Unfortunately, the only student who had dared to meddle with her was that brat Cecilia, and just thinking about that girl ''teaching'' Evelyn sent shivers up Aurora''s spine.


    The two of them already drove her up the wall individually, she couldn''t imagine what they would do if they ever banded together to bully her.


    Evelyn had the feeling that her teacher was having some bad thoughts about her, so she cleared her throat to catch her attention. "Actually, teacher, aside from the eye and the array disc, I also found a few more things in Craig''s spatial storage"


    Aurora blinked. ''Wasn''t she still avoiding the fact that she killed him?''


    The rate at which her student''s insolence grew was truly mind-boggling.


    Looking at the various ''trash'' that the girl had started pouring out into her previously pristinely clean room, Aurora''s expression couldn''t help but turn slightly dark.


    The pink haired girl remained oblivious to her teacher''s expression as she continued throwing the ''precious keepsakes'' from the girls that had been in Craig''s storage. "And then there''s this, uh, whatever it is supposed to be some hair pin type of thingy? Supposedly belonging to somedy ''Lavi Vismont'', doesn''t serve much of a purpose aside from looking good and being able to detect poison in food."


    Aurora couldn''t help but let out a tired sigh. "Why are you showing me all of this?"


    Evelyn blinked. "Eh? Oh right, well, I just wanted to know do you think this stuff is useful?"


    The tinum blonde tilted her head. "Useful?"


    Hadn''t she already been telling her the use of each of these objects herself? Even if she examined them carefully, Aurora doubted the results could be any more detailed. Whatever ability her student had when it came to deducing the function of artifacts and arrays clearly far surpassed her own, after all.


    Evelyn cleared her throat awkwardly. "I-I mean aside from the obvious function of the artifacts. They''re supposedly from distinguisheddies, right? I don''t know much about the customs of the other kingdoms and empires, or even where each of these families are from, but teacher must know, right?"


    Given that Aurora had lived for so long, even if she stayed in the academy most of the time, it was impossible for her to know nothing at all given that students from all over the continent came here as students.


    Aurora nced at the ''trash'' that was now strewn about her room before letting out a tired sigh. "Given what you have told me so far, these must be the ''promises'' from the girls to Craig."


    "Promises?"


    Aurora nodded. "In Terrazyme, Aquavahn and Gwyntere, when a marriage is proposed, a ''promise'' is often sent along with the proposal, serving as a physical proof of sincerity. If the promise is not returned, the proposal is considered to be epted, and other terms can be discussed."


    Evelyn''s eyes went wide in realization. "Ah! So all of these are promises from these girls, right? Craig was going to marry so many people?"


    The tinum blonde tilted her head. "As the Terran crown prince, it would be stranger if he didn''t have a few hundred concubines by the time he took the throne."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but blink in shock. "Is this something specific to his kingdom?"


    Aurora shook her head. "No, this is true for all but the Lavinian Empire."


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but be curious. "Why?"


    Aurora looked a little embarrassed, but decided that instead of waiting to see what kind of insolent thing Evelyn would try if rejected, she might as well tell the girl. "T-There are two ways for someone to be born with spirit physique... the first is the pure spirit egg method, and the second is the regr birth."


    Evelyn blinked in surprise as Aurora continued her exnation, her face getting a little more red with each word.


    The tinum blonde didn''t dare to look her student in the eye as she turned her head away. "T-The second method is only possible using specialized medicine to modify the spirit physique. In a way, it can be considered changing parts of their bodies to mortals. Inherently damaging, and unnatural. But very desirable for the royal bloodlines."


    Evelyn frowned as she thought about it. ''So it''s something like changing their reproductive organs forcefully? But what''s the point?''


    Aurora coughed. "W-Well, so, the baby born this way is technically a ''spirit physique'', though their inherent talents are weaker than one born from a spirit egg, and not evenparable to those from a blessed spirit egg, the fact that their bloodline is pure matters a lot to some families, since they don''t consider children from eggs to be their real children."


    After saying this, she couldn''t help but sneak a look at her student. As a child born from a spirit egg, it wouldn''t do if the girl started wondering if she was really her parent''s child.


    Evelyn tapped her chin in thought. "So what about Craig? I''m guessing he was born using the same method? But if so, his talent"


    Aurora''s look turned grim. "That is where the need for so many wiveses in"


    The pink haired girl blinked in surprise. "So basically, they just have a lot of children, and the one who is the most talented among them bes the crown prince? They rely on the numbers to give them better results in the end, to make up for deficiencies?"


    Aurora thought that her student''s conjecture was quite good. It would be great if that really was the case, but unfortunately, the truth was far from it. "Do you know how many siblings Craig has?"


    Evelyn shook her head. In this world, there was no such thing as the inte, and information regarding the royal families was considered top secret. If not for E, she wouldn''t even know the name of the Aquan princess.


    Thanks to her ve, she could now ess the information on the Lavinian royalty, but knowing how many descendants the other royal families had was far out of her reach. The only way she could try to find out would be to have the third princess inquire about it from her father, and disregarding the risks that would entail, would the Lavinian Emperor necessarily know the truth?


    Aurora sighed. "Craig was the only remaining prince of Terrazyme. Although his father had hundreds of concubines, all but the empress passed away at childbirth."


    Evelyn was slightly surprised, but recalling the effects of the seed of rejuvenation, she wasn''t that shocked.


    Her teacher''s next words went quite contrary to her expectations, however.


    "The children born from these concubines are used as sacrifices to ''bless'' the child of the empress, the true heir, with greater talent."


    Evelyn gaped in shock. "Wait how does that work? Can two babies be merged together tobine their talent? How?!"


    Aurora chuckled. "No, that wouldn''t be quite as tragic. Even I don''t know the exact method they use to achieve such a thing, but I know that the other children all perish except for the one born from the empress, each generation. And the soul of the ''Crown Prince'' is definitely not formed from merging with others."


    Evelyn gulped. "S-So those children, they"


    The tinum blonde nodded. "Right, my theory is that they are used to apply permanent enhancements on the crown prince. Whatever method they use, it relies on their blood rtion to work."


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but feel a shiver run up her spine at the thought. No wonder that prince Craig was so talented. He probably had hundreds ofyers of buffs from his dead siblings!

 Chapter 156: The King

    Chapter 156: The King


    "D-Do you think Craig knew about this, teacher?"


    The thought of having hundreds ofyers of buffs was of course good, but Evelyn didn''t think there would be many who would be able to bear the thought of having hundreds of their blood rted siblings being sacrificed to strengthen themselves.


    This was even more so if said siblings had been sacrificed at birth.


    Aurora nodded. "Of course, as the next in line to the throne, how could he not know such a basic thing?"


    Evelyn shuddered. She had never considered herself to be kind, in fact, she thought she was ruthless enough.


    How many times had Aurora told her to stop bullying her? She never cared about that. If anything, she thought her teacher''s pitiful look was cute. Butpared to the royalty in this world, maybe she really was just a baby.


    As the thought crossed her mind, the pink haired girl suddenly had another terrifying realization. "W-Wait a minute"


    When she had killed Craig, Evelyn was well aware of his position in the nearby kingdom.


    As a Crown Prince, he was probably the most treasured individual of Terrazyme after the King.


    Even if his position hadn''t made that clear, the fact that the Terrans were willing to give him so many defensive treasures and also send out such massive amount of forces  including even the Guardian Beast of Earth  was already proof enough of his importance.


    That being said, Evelyn hadn''t thought he was ''irreceable''. Even if he was considered precious thanks to his position or talent, she thought that surely there would someone to rece him after he died.


    Even if the Terransmented the fact that the new crown prince wasn''t as talented or powerful as the previous one, eventually they would move on. As long as they failed to discover who killed him, Evelyn would be fine.


    However, things changed drastically if he was truly ''irreceable''. The amount of effort the Terrans would put in to find the culprit was sure to be many times more than Evelyn had previously thought.


    Aurora smiled as she ruffled the girl''s pink hair. "Why do you look so worried now?"


    Evelyn gulped. "T-Teacher, they won''t find out I did it, right?"


    The tinum blonde patted the girl''s head with a smile. For some reason, she felt that her student looked most pleasing to the eye when she was distressed.


    Aurora shook her head at that thought. ''How strange, I''ve never felt such a thing before. Did her teasing get to me?''


    "Teacher?"


    The tinum blonde shook off the distracting thoughts as she nodded. "It''s unlikely they will find out you did it, as long as you don''t expose yourself. Understand?"


    Evelyn sighed out in relief. "I was worried they would have some mystical methods to find out who killed their prince or something."


    Aurora shook her head disapprovingly. "Since you''re so naughty, let me say this in advance. Don''t kill the Aquan princess."


    The pink haired girl blinked in shock. "Why would I do that?"


    The tinum blonde frowned. "I wouldn''t know why you do half the things you do, Evelyn. The Terrans don''t have any way to track who killed their crown prince, but the Aquans are different. In their royal bloodline, there seems to be some way to track the murderer, though I''m not sure what it is either."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but pout. "Teacher, do you think I''m some murder machine who kills people left and right? But thanks for telling me."


    Aurora gave her a nk look before she pointed at the trash strewn about her room. "Can you put it back?"


    The pink haired girl coughed. "Oh, right. By the way, teacher, what are the odds of me being able to sell these back to their respective families to fetch a good price?"


    Aurora sometimes wondered if had there been a ranking system for greed, would her student be able to even be contained within the scale? Anyway, she would certainly be at the top of the world.


    She could only shake her head disapprovingly. "Don''t be greedy."


    Evelyn rubbed her nose in embarrassment. "I understand, teacher, guess it''s too much to expect keeping such a thing a secret while negotiating at such a scale."


    Before Aurora could sigh in relief that her student gave up on the preposterous thought so quickly, however, she once again broadened her horizons on her true level of greed.


    "What about if I went directly to the girls in question? Can I take them for myself, given that these are supposedly ''promises''?"


    Aurora blinked once, twice, three times before the thought finally finished processing in her head. "W-Why would you want to ''take'' them?"


    The pink haired girl coughed, looking a little embarrassed. "D-Don''t get me wrong, it''s not like I want to keep them as my wives or anything. I just want to see if they would be useful."


    Aurora looked at her nkly, as if she considered it beneath herself to respond to such a question.


    Obviously, Evelyn felt a little wronged at being looked at like a pervert by her teacher. She was clearly uninterested in any perverted stuff, but she was still being med like this, which was just unfair!


    Her thought process was just that if those girls had promised to take the one who had their ''promise'' as husband, wouldn''t it work out in her favor if she could take them in for a while to see if some of them had any good abilities in exchange for returning such a precious item?


    Obviously, she didn''t want them to ept her as their husband. She would just defeat the ones that had desirable abilities in a duel, and send them all off. This would all have to be done in a way that wouldn''t expose her identity though, which was the hardest part of the endeavor.


    "I-I just want to meet them once and then I''ll let them go?"


    Aurora''s frown turned deeper.


    Evelyn gave her teacher an aggrieved look. "I''m really not a pervert!"


    In the end, the tinum blonde couldn''t help but sigh. "Alright, put this thought out of your mind. It''s not worth the risk."


    The pink haired girl could only begrudgingly ept her teacher''s guidance as she nodded. "By the way, teacher, can you tell me more about the thing you were doing earlier?"


    Aurora blinked. "You mean at the tower?"


    Evelyn nodded. "If it''s alright, I was just curious."


    Of course, anyone would be curious if they saw such massive arrangements involving almost the entire academy, but few knew exactly what was going on. Even the prefects like E only knew there was some sort of array being practiced, but that too was just a conjecture on their part.


    Aurora smiled. "I don''t mind telling you, but you will have to keep it to yourself, understand?"


    Meanwhile, the King of Terrazyme almost exploded in rage as he looked at the scroll in his hand in disbelief.


    "Who dares spout such bullshit?!"


    The man who had carried the scroll in trembled on the ground in disbelief. "F-Forgive me, my king! This is just nder that has been spreading around the capital, I"


    The brown haired man stomped his feet on the pce floor, and a huge shockwave erupted from his sole, spreading in all directions.


    Not to mention the man in front, even the other aides, guards, and pce maids were sent flying as they mmed into the walls of the chamber. Many coughed out blood, while some directly copsed, their eyes rolling back to the back of their heads.


    "Y-Your majesty!"


    Of course, the king realized he had lost his cool as he took a deep breath to calm himself, raising his hand to settle down the rattled guards.


    As for the man who had made his report, he would have already pissed his pants if he could, though that would also be a capital offense in front of the king.


    "I want all these rumors squashed immediately, do you understand?"


    Even before the man''s words had finished reverberating through the hall, people had already sprung to action, and the man knew he could rest assured about the effects it would bring.


    "Bring my Eruniel, and also themander of the third legion. We shall march into the Wondend of Doom no, let''s go straight to the Ancient Academy!"

 Chapter 157: Can I Have A Copy? Please?

    Chapter 157: Can I Have A Copy? Please?


    When Aurora told her about the main defensive array, Evelyn didn''t know whether she should be impressed or disappointed.


    On one hand, the intricacies of the array were far beyond her understanding, and Evelyn openly acknowledged that whoever came up with it was definitely a genius. On the other hand, it was something that was really, really conditional to use.


    Not only did it require four ''pirs'' to activate, the array itself was not engraved on a disc, but thend itself. The area covered by the array was also limited to the size of the engraving. It may sound grand that the entirety of the ancient academy was covered under a single array, but how much effort and sacrifice must it have taken to carve an array of this size? It was anything but efficient.


    Arrays that used discs were already expensive enough, and those few inches of engravings could expand to cover hundreds of meters. Inparison, the main defensive array of the academy did not expand at all.


    And perhaps the worst part of it all was the fact that the array''s strength depended on the weakest ''pir''. Even if the other three were twice or even thrice as strong, they couldn''tpensate for the fourth pir''s weakness.


    Plus, not just anyone could be a pir and activate the array. Using it required all four pirs to coordinate with each other nearly perfectly, and the better their coordination, the more efficient the array would be.


    Of course, all that being said, it was still the academy''sst line of defense, and also their only method to stop an opponent that exceeded even Aurora''s level. That alone made it worth practicing.


    The pink-haired girl tapped her chin in thought once Aurora was done with her exnation. Well, it wouldn''t hurt to take it in any case, even if it had a lot of conditions to use. It just so happens that she has enough friends. "Do you have a copy of the whole thing? I don''t think I can remember all the forms like that."


    Aurora nodded. Knowing how greedy her student was, she would never have told her about it in the first ce if she didn''t intend to hand it over. "The original array is carved deep underneath the academy grounds. Even I have neverid my eyes on it. It''s very hard to find and damage, but in case it does happen, you''re right, there is a ''copy''"


    Evelyn immediately turned excited. "C-Can I see?"


    The tinum blonde hesitated for a while, but in the end, she sighed and turned away from the confused Evelyn. "I-It''s there on my back."


    Evelyn blinked in surprise, and then stared. Although her teacher had moved her long wavy hair out of the way and moved it to her front, what could she possibly see through the clothes? That frock may look somewhat ethereal, but it definitely wasn''t see-through. "I-I can''t see anything?"


    Aurora shook her head. "Wait."


    A few momentster, faint patches of light started shining from between Aurora''s shoulder des all the way down to her tail bone. The pattern seemed to be based on mostly parallelograms and diamonds, but with many strange, intricate details.


    Evelyn frowned as she tried to memorize the pattern, but it had way too many little details, and the blurriness wasn''t helping her at all. "Teacher I can see it, but it''s really blurry. Will it get clearer if you remove the cloth?"


    Aurora couldn''t help but start thinking this had all been a bad idea. But her mother had really passed on the knowledge of the array to her around the same age as Evelyn was right now, though she had directly engraved it on her body instead of trying to make her understand, that was more so due to both her absurdly sturdy body and her mental immaturity at the time.


    Over the years, she had been able to slowly study and understand itpletely, but she knew that this wasn''t the right method to use on Evelyn. Had she been able to be a throne, even Aurora would not have had the array carved directly into her body.


    After all, a throne''s body itself was a treasure, and tampering with it could lead to unknown consequences. There was no doubt that their physique differed from others, and even Aurora couldn''t be sure what kind of damage it might cause if someone tried to carve an array directly Evelyn.


    Given that a mortal shouldered almost no consequences for having the array imprinted on their body, while a spirit physique suffered from nearly unbearable pain for decades, and a spirit beast would perish directly Aurora didn''t dare to try. It was better to just let her learn.


    "Wait, I''ll remove it."


    "No need, teacher, I''ll do it!" Evelyn grinned as she leapt forward and pulled the strings that had been keeping the frock''s back closed. She had no idea how Aurora managed to make such intricate bow ties on her back, but they sure were easy to open!


    The tinum blonde momentarily shook as her ears turned red in shame, even the lit-up array on her back disappeared, leaving Evelyn staring at her teacher''s bare back in surprise.


    She''d thought that it would be covered in some tattoo  or worse, cuts  but it waspletely pristine and wless. Evelyn couldn''t help but run her hand over the smooth skin curiously. "Well, teacher''s back is beautiful, but there''s nothing here?"


    Aurora shuddered in shame. "D-Don''t touch!"


    When had she ever endured such humiliation? She should have known this was going to happen.


    Evelyn coughed as she took her hand away, feeling a little embarrassed as well. "S-Sorry, it''s just the array disappeared, and I got a little carried away."


    She couldn''t see her teacher''s expression from the back, but it was sure to be a sulky one. Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a little guilty when she thought of Aurora pouting with teary eyes. ''No wonder she thinks of me as a pervert. Thankfully I''m just a kid, or I would have gone st on the wall or something. I really need to be more thoughtful from now on.''

 Chapter 158: The King Sets Off

    Chapter 158: The King Sets Off


    Rochester Maenhardt had been ruling over the Terrans for over five decades now, and never in his life had he expected to encounter such a huge setback right when his dream seemed to be within arm''s reach.


    Terrazyme had already been on a meteoric rise before he took the throne, and Rochester knew that his decisive nature had only sped things in the right direction, even destabilizing the so-called ''strongest'' superpower of the continent for thest few centuries. No one dared to look down on the Terrans anymore, and king Rochester knew that things would only get better.


    The war with the western empires of Lavinia and Gwyntere wasn''t something that could be concluded in a day or two, however, and neither could such a victory be achieved without paying a certain price. But Rochester knew what it would take to fulfill his dream, and he would do anything to make ite true.


    His dream wasn''t something small and insignificant like making the Lavinian Empire concede defeat and make trade concessions, he wouldn''t even be satisfied if they agree to hand over some of their territories. The only oue he would ept would bepletely wiping out the Lavinian royalty and iming the entirety of the empire as the new territory of Terrazyme.


    From there, he would then conquer Gwyntere, and then set his sights on that ever disobedient Aquavahn. As for Lumenzarha they had been quite obedient so far, so he was willing to spare them for thest and allow them to decide what they wanted to do for themselves. At the very least, he would give them a chance to surrender.


    But all these dreams seemed to show signs of falling apart when his ever-dependable son, the one he had always been proud of, didn''t return in time with the thing he had sought.


    Dying his ns for a while was, of course, notpletely unforgivable. After all, this was his trustworthy heir, one who had never disappointed him. Even if he encountered some setbacks, they would only make him stronger.


    What wasn''t so forgivable, however, was the malicious rumor being spread around the kingdom that the crown prince had perished, and even lost many of their national treasures in the Wondend of Doom.


    He knew why and where these rumors were born. When Craig had gone missing after stealing the eye of the ''Thousand Eyed God'' by sacrificing one of their legacy artifacts, there would of course be some rangers who witnessed the scene and spread such ''nder''.


    Obviously, these lowlifes could neverprehend the strength of the Terran legacy, and Craig carried dozens of exceptional defensive artifacts on him to carry out the task he was given. Even if the ''Thousand Eyed God'' attacked him, he would still be able to escape!


    Rochester had never been a benevolent king, and needless to say, he had dealt with the morons who dared to spread such garbage with extreme prejudice. They may be able to run their mouth elsewhere, but when in Terrazyme, they should either maintain the Terran dignity or be ready to face the consequences.


    But although he dealt with these pests, there was no doubt that their nder did somewhat manage to sow a seed of doubt within Rochester''s heart whenbined with the disturbingck of reports from the Wondend of Doom.


    Not only was there a lingering fear that somehow, something must have happened to his son, but there was also the terrifying threat of someone managing to discover what they had been nning to do.


    After all, while Rochester was overseeing the war, he had trusted his son to handle this matter by himself as a ''test''. By now, he should have already met up with the teams he had sent into the forest to assist him andpleted the task, but that clearly hadn''t happened.


    Considering that even the Guardian Beast of Earth had been killed, and one of his trusted aides hadn''t returned either Rochester knew he couldn''t rely on anyone else anymore. There was too much at stake.


    He had to go look for himself, and demand an exnation from the academy, too.


    "We''re ready to set off, your majesty."


    Meanwhile, back at the academy, Evelyn memorized the array on Aurora''s back after she manifested it again, and once she was sure she wouldn''t forget it, she redid the strings to close the back of her teacher''s frock.


    The tinum blonde kept her head turned away, and the pink haired girl had no idea how to console or apologize to her teacher at all. In the end, she could only start with cleaning her room from the ''trash''.


    Well, they were still decent artifacts in the end, and they could even be of more useter. Evelyn didn''t think many of these girls knew about the fate awaiting them if they had married Craig, but those that did would surely have been very unwilling.


    Given that Aurora knew about it, even if the general popce was unaware of how the wives of the crown prince would be treated, surely the upper echelons must be aware as well.


    Depending on how these ''promises'' were handled, it was still possible to extract some benefits from some of them without exposing herself, though she would have to be careful.


    Of course, this was only a possibility for the future, and until she got a good chance to use them, Evelyn had no problem keeping these items saved in her inventory. She had plenty of space, after all.


    Before ''acquiring'' Craig''s legacy, her inventory had been 85% empty, and now... it was still 83% empty. Moreover, at least 10% of the contents were things like candies and knickknacks that she could easily discard to make space if needed, though she didn''t think that would be necessary unless she had a massive windfall.


    The pink-haired girl tapped her chin in thought after putting away thest of the artifacts. ''Now that I think about it, if some of those girls hate Craig, would they pay me extra to get the chance to punch the bastard''s corpse?''

 Chapter 159: What Was The Excuse Again?

    Chapter 159: What Was The Excuse Again?


    Evelyn chuckled before shaking off that thought. Although it would be amusing, it was probably better to just use Craig''s corpse as an alchemical ingredient or something to get rid of it cleanly. At the very least, she could never expose it until she was strong enough to handle the threat from Terrazyme as a whole.


    Aurora may be on her side, but she would rather not bring more trouble at her teacher''s door than she could handle. That fight with Mantis had been proof enough that although the tinum blonde was strong, she was far from infallible.


    Evelyn pped her hands after cleaning up Aurora''s room. "Look, teacher, it''s all neat and tidy again."


    Aurora stared nkly at her student''s ''praise me, I did a good job'' expression. "One of my anklets is missing."


    Evelyn blinked. "Oh, I must have mixed it up when putting away so many essories! Just give me a moment, uh, let''s see, is it this silver one?"


    The tinum blonde shook her head with a wry smile. "Since you took it just keep it. It wasn''t very useful for me anyway."


    Although it may have been a genuine mistake, this greedy little brat would probably feel regretful after handing it back, wouldn''t she?


    "Really?!" The pink-haired girl jumped in joy, giving her teacher a delighted smile. ''A gift from Aurora, ah! It''s sure to be a good thing!''


    She had no idea that her ecstatic reaction only confirmed Aurora''s earlier thoughts.


    Rushing over to give her teacher a hug, Evelyn grinned at Aurora''s awkward and embarrassed look. "Teacher is too good to me, I''ll be spoiled, you know~?"


    Aurora felt a chill run up her spine at that thought. ''Impossible. How can she get any worse?''


    Evelyn knew Aurora was quite busy, so she didn''t bother her too much after getting all her curiosity sated. She''d gotten more than she was looking for, anyway, including the ancient academy''s defensive formation as well as that anklet.


    Speaking of which, she still hadn''t taken a look at its stats, but it was fine to do soter in her room anyway.


    Of course, Evelyn still had to fetch some goodies before going back. Vivian may be fooled by the good old candies in her inventory, but Amara probably knew which ones she did and did not have. Since she''d made an excuse, might as well make it true.


    Thankfully, when it came to consumables, there was no need to go all the way to one of the forbidden cities.


    The academy had a ''restaurant'' of its own, though it or more or less resembled a cafeteria with a rather extensive menu. Evelyn had long since known of its existence, though she never had the time to take a look.


    Since she had a considerable sum saved up now  thanks to the Terran prince''s generosity  there was no harm in stocking up on some decent consumables. Plus, it would also serve as a good excuse for going out so abruptly.


    The pink-haired girl paused as she came face to face with the so-called restaurant. "So this is the ''Arohma'', huh?"


    Evelyn vaguely recalled Cecilia mentioning that this was the only ce within the academy that was owned by an ''outsider'', and the honor belonged to the Aquan royalty. Of course, this wasn''t really a surprise considering that the Aquan Empire was the most business-oriented superpower on the continent.


    She had no idea what kind of a deal they managed to strike, though. ''Maybe I should ask E to give me a discount coupon or something before I make a bulk purchase. Considering she''s a close friend of their princess, she should have something like that, right? I''ll just take a few samples this time, then.''


    Strangely enough, most of the people going in and out of ''Arohma'' did so in pairs, and the remaining few did so inrger groups. ''I-Is there a hidden rule that one can''t go in alone? No, Cecilia would tell me if that was so, wouldn''t she?''


    Shaking her head, Evelyn decided to just go in and see for herself.


    Compared to other ces in the academy, she felt that ''Arohma'' actually didn''t ''fit in'' very well.


    Although each of the academy''s buildings seemed to have a different theme, they more or less had amon ancient feel to them. But the swiveling ss door at the front and tall transparent walls gave ''Arohma'' a more ''modern'' look.


    "Wee!"


    Evelyn blinked as she was greeted by a ''maid'' as soon as she stepped into the ''cafeteria''. Momentster, she realized the woman seemed quite familiar. "You''re thedy from the carriage?"


    The maid smiled, looking delighted that she had been recognized. Although the fat sheep that made the paymentst time wasn''t here, she must have handed enough pocket money over to her sugar baby, right? "Yes, I recognized youing in. Would you like to take a seat, or are you here for a takeaway?"


    Of course, the walls of the ''Arohma'' were mostly see-through, and there were no privacy screens anywhere. Now that she took a closer look even the tables and chairs seemed to be made of ss.


    "I''ll order a takeaway, could you please give me a menu?" Evelyn felt that it wouldn''t be veryfortable to eat here even if she had such ns, which she didn''t in the first ce.


    The maid smiled as reached into her apron pocket and took one out as if she had already expected as much. "Here you go. Please take a look."


    Evelyn had already considered it a possibility after seeing this maid here, but as expected this menu didn''t have any prices marked either, just like the one in the carriage.


    Well, she had enough money now that she didn''t need to care for little expenses like this, but Evelyn assumed the regr students must have a private menu of their own to keep track of all the prices, though Cecilia hadn''t mentioned it to her.


    As she was looking through it, though, Evelyn was stunned. "Wait a minute, what excuse did I make again? Cake? Or was it candy? No milk?"

 Chapter 160: A Good Deal?

    Chapter 160: A Good Deal?


    Evelyn couldn''t help but hesitate. ''Should I just buy one of everything?''


    Of course, she couldn''t be too excessive on a single trip. Just to be safe, it was best to only ever make purchases that could fill up around half of Craig''s artifact at most, which was a little less than thirty cubic meters. Even if someone found it shocking, it still shouldn''t set off any waves.


    ''Whatever, I''ll just buy a few types of cakes, candies, and some milk. Then I can talk to E about discounts before buying more.'' Evelyn nodded to herself after she came to a decision, and started making her orders as the maid noted it down.


    Given that there were many choices when it came to candies and milk, she could only pick the ones that looked somewhat normal. And recalling the dishes her friends seemed to like in the carriage, she ordered those as well, which also solved the cake issue.


    "So that will be eight orders each of Timbleberry Shortcake, Karpesian Parfait, Assorted Grade Two Fruit Candies, and Cocogoat Milk?"


    Evelyn nodded with a smile. "Yes."


    Obviously, she had no idea what a Cocogoat was. She just hoped that the milk wasn''t fluorescent or disgusting.


    "Um, would you like to have a spatial artifact along with the order?"


    ''Thisdy really wants to rip me off, huh?'' Evelyn felt her lips twitch. "No thank you, I have my own."


    The maid looked a little disappointed, but guided her to a seat near the ss counter anyway as she went to fetch her order. There were already a few students waiting nearby, though they mostly seemed to be lost in their own couples'' world.


    Although Evelyn was grateful that no one tried to start an awkward conversation with her, she also felt a little embarrassed. Looking around, she really couldn''t spot any other lone souls. ''I-I''m the only one here alone, huh? If I knew this was going to happen, I would have dragged teacher along.''


    Back in her tower, Aurora felt a chill run up her spine, and even started to wonder if the bad feeling meant someone was about to make a move on the academy.


    Thankfully, the maiddy didn''t make Evelyn wait too long and returned with a big cart carrying all the items Evelyn had requested.


    When they noticed it, the students who had been lost in their own worlds turned to stare at the cart, stunned. Normally, the maids carried out the orders in individual trays, and there was rarely a need to roll out a whole cart.


    Only when a big group made an order together would there be such a need.


    Their jaws dropped even further when they noticed that all of this was ordered by a single little girl near the counter.


    Evelyn hurriedly threw all the food into her inventory. "H-How much?"


    "The Timbleberry Shortcake is a hundred and twenty silvers each, totaling to nine gold and sixty silvers, the Karpesian Parfait is fifteen silvers each, totaling one gold and twenty silvers, the Assorted Grade Two Fruit Candies are a hundred and twenty spirit stones per pack, totaling nine hundred and sixty spirit stones, and finally, the Cocogoat Milk is sixty-nine spirit stones per bottle, totaling to five hundred and fifty-two spirit stones."


    The maiddy gave her a brilliant smile. "The total amount will be fifteen hundred and twelve spirit stones, ten gold, and eighty silvers."


    Evelyn felt her eyebrow twitch. ''Hey miss,pared to fifteen hundred and twelve spirit stones, those gold coins and silver coins are just a rounding error, right?''


    But since she was in no mood to argue and barter under so many curious eyes, not to mention that it would probably be useless anyway, Evelyn decided to just pay up.


    Anyway, it was just a little more than fifteen spirit crystals, which was just chump change to her now.


    The maiddy''s eyes shone in delight as she saw the veritable fortune appear before her on the previously empty cart with a wave of the pink-haired girl''s hand. Taking a closer look, it was all exact change.


    She grinned as she pointed the pink-haired girl at the stone te on the ss counter. "Okay, that''s all good. Now ce your badge here, please."


    Evelyn frowned as she held the purple coin badge that she usually kept pinned on her chest, but she hesitated. "Why would we need to do this?"


    She didn''t have many contribution points in her badge, after all. It wouldn''t do if she put it there and it defaulted or something. In that case, it would be better to just cancel the order. ''Why didn''t anyone tell me it needed contribution points before, ahh!''


    The maid smiled gently as she waved her hand. "Oh, don''t look so worried. I forgot it must be your first time here. Spending money within the academy is also considered a contribution, so you will get some points depending on how much you spent. So, don''t worry, you won''t lose anything."


    Evelyn blinked. ''Is it like cashback?''


    A little relieved, she briefly put the badge on the stone tablet, and after it glowed faintly, the maiddy nodded at her. Inspecting it again, she realized that her contribution points had increased by 1513!


    Evelyn''s eyes shone in delight. ''Huh? Isn''t this a good way to farm points?''


    Of course, although the idea dide to her briefly, she wouldn''t waste her ''hard earned'' spirit stones on contribution points unless she really needed them. Plus, even in that case, she would first have to ask to check if there weren''t any more efficient ways.


    Now that she had both the goodies and some points in exchange for fifteen crystals, Evelyn was no longer in such a bad mood. She ignored the strange stares from earlier and walked out while humming a happy tune to herself. ''It''s not so bad, after all.''


    Immediately after she left, hushed conversations broke out on the tables in the ''cafeteria''.


    "What is she going to do with dozens of cakes and parfaits?!"

 Chapter 161: Unexpected Meeting

    Chapter 161: Unexpected Meeting


    Of course, while some only noticed the strange order, others also noticed something else.


    A slightly muscr blonde girl nudged her partner, her eyes sparkling. "Did you see? Isn''t that little girl simr to the one in the rumors?"


    The boy, who looked a little slimmer than his date, frowned as he scratched his head in confusion. "Which one?"


    The blonde rolled her eyes. "You know, the pink little devil that''s recently been creating chaos all around."


    The boy blinked in surprise before realization finally dawned on his face. "B-Bronya Y-You don''t mean the little princess who goes around getting teachers expelled, do you?"


    Bronya nodded. "Right, that''s exactly it!"


    But when he thought about it, the boy still found it hard to believe. It wasn''t as if there was only one girl with pink hair in the academy, after all. "N-No way, right? Someone like her would probably enter by breaking the window, steal all the food, and insult everyone on the way out. And then, if someone dares toin... she would get them expelled along with some of the staff!"


    Though he wasn''t sure how many of them there were in the youngest batch, he knew at least two girls with pink hair, one in his own year and one two years junior. How could he believe that the little devil in the rumors would be the same girl who looked mostly harmless just now?


    His partner frowned as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "That''s a bit exaggerated, right? I doubt she would insult unrted students for no reason, though the rest might happen. Anyway, wanna follow her and check out if she''s like super strong for her age or not?"


    The boy stared at the blonde girl in disbelief. "NO! Are you crazy?!"


    Pouting, Bronya could only give up her thoughts for now. Anyway, since it was their first date, it wouldn''t be nice to just cancel it and run after a fight.


    She could always bully the little girl in a fair duelter. Bronya was sure that cute little face would look adorable when decorated with a few tears.


    Evelyn remained unaware of the gossip inside the building as she had already moved out to avoid further embarrassment. She hadn''t managed to get far, however, when the pink-haired girl noticed some very familiar faces heading her way. ''Huh? E and Amber?''


    The little redhead seemed to follow two feet behind E like a meek littlemb being led to ughter, while E seemed to go on and on about something or the other.


    Evelyn wasn''t even sure if Amber was even listening as she nodded her head along. In any case, E wasn''t looking back to see her nod, either.


    The green-haired girl was the first to sense someone''s gaze, and she paused her speech and blinked in surprise when she noticed the pink-haired girl. "Eh? Evelyn?"


    Amber, who had been meekly following behind the older girl, immediately jumped in excitement as she followed E''s sight to find her friend. "Evelyn!"


    Evelyn smiled as she watched the little redhead rush to her and hug her in delight. "Hello to you too, Amber."


    The redhead grinned, and her previously meek appearance from when she had been following behind E was nowhere to be seen. "I got your letter!"


    Evelyn blinked in surprise before she recalled that she had expected to be staying in the Wondend of Doom much longer, and had Cecilia forward a message to Amber so the girl wouldn''t be too distressed by her ''missing'' friend. "Ah, forget about that. I''m already done with what I needed to do."


    Amber didn''t really understand what her friend needed to do in the first ce, since the letter only told her not to worry and she would be back in a few days or so. But now that her only friend was back, she was of course happy.


    Evelyn patted Amber''s head as she turned her gaze to the amused E. "Weren''t you watching over that tower?"


    The green-haired girl smirked as she shook her head. "After you went in, everyone was given time off till tomorrow. Speaking of which, I suppose I should thank you?"


    At first, E found it a bit absurd how much Aurora doted on this little girl. But after seeing a couple of teachers expelled in quick session, getting some time off was really nothing worth mentioning.


    Evelyn blinked. "Eh? You''re wee, I guess. Were the two of you going to ''Arohma''?"


    E chuckled as she looked at Amber''s obviously reluctant appearance. "Actually, I met this little girl when I was heading back, and dragged her here to eat and rx. I had no idea I''d stumble into you again, though."


    Evelyn nodded. "By the way, before the two of you go, I actually had something to ask you."


    E blinked in surprise. "Oh? Go ahead. I''ll answer if I can."


    As long as it wasn''t the confession for her puppy love, that is, she added in her mind.


    Hopefully, the little girl remained shy, or it would make their future interactions very awkward, as the case often was after a rejected love confession. This was why E hated the whole dating concept.


    The pink-haired girl scratched her cheek in embarrassment, and just when E was about to think her guess was right, the words she spoke went in another direction entirely. "You''re quite close to the Aquan princess, right?"


    E frowned. "Yes?"


    Thest she recalled mentioning her princess to Evelyn was a long time ago. If she had any questions, wouldn''t she have asked then and there?


    The green-haired girl couldn''t help but have a bad feeling in her heart. ''D-Don''t tell me the way I talked about my princess created too great an image in her heart, and now she''s developed a crush and wants me to introduce them to each other?!''


    Evelyn thought that E''s expression was a little weird, but she decided to ignore it for now. "This ce belongs to the Aquans, right?"


    E blinked, now feelingpletely lost. "That''s not entirely true? Well, the royal family manages it, and we take a part of the profits. It''s still the academy''s property, though."


    The pink-haired girl looked a little disappointed, but she decided it was still worth asking. "Do you pay the same rate as everyone else in there? To be more specific, suppose I was making a big purchase from ''Arohma'', is there any way to get a discount?"


    E blinked, dumbfounded.


    Evelyn coughed. "What I mean to ask is do you have coupons?"


    The green-haired girl groaned. "N-No, it''s not that I didn''t understand your question it''s just wow"


    Evelyn tilted her head in confusion. "Hm?"


    Maybe on this entire continent, there would be no one who believed anymercial operation that involved the Aquan royalty would give up even a fraction of a fraction of their profits.


    E chuckled. "You really are something else, Evelyn. You know what just for you, I''ll see what I can do after talking to some people. I''ll let you know in about three days or so, how does that sound?"


    Although it would normally be impossible for an academy student to get such an exception, maybe she could ask if her princess was interested in Aurora''s student, after all.


    The ancient pir had always been quite mysterious. Though there were few who dared to risk offending her to try to get closer, it was an entirely different matter if her student approached them on her own.


    E believed that even her princess should be somewhat interested. And in that case, getting a little discount was really nothing at all.


    Meanwhile, in another part of the academy, the new headmaster was enjoying a cup of tea with ex-headmaster, his peaceful expression painting a stark contrast with the frustration of the recently titled pir.


    The ck-haired man took another sip of the exotic tea to calm himself down, but it was just as futile as it had been a few seconds ago. "I''m telling you, she''ll be the death of me someday!"


    Han Stonehardt, the new headmaster, chuckled in mirth. "Don''t be so angry, Lord Hyperion. At the end of the day, haven''t we always known how unreasonable Lady Aurora is?"


    Hyperion scoffed. "There is being unreasonable, and then there''s being bat shit crazy! Even if Lord Mantis had a habit of getting on people''s nerves, was there really any rhyme and reason in killing him? She didn''t even try to justify herself properly!"


    In the beginning, he had approached Han with the thought of forming a temporary alliance to digest some profits for himself by counting on the man''s inexperience with the post.


    However, Han had shown that he was already quite knowledgeable even in this aspect, much to Hyperion''s shock.


    It wasn''t that he was looking down on the senior professor, but there was simply no documentation anywhere that outlined a pir or the headmaster''s rights and entitlements. There was only a que in the grand hall on their responsibilities.


    For Han to know so much, he must have either been guided by a pir at some point in time, or he could have done his own research over the years. Hyperion had no way of digging into it too much, though, and also knew that asking about it was pointless.


    Helpless, and a bit angry at having even this n ruined, Hyperion could only vent his anger and exhaust some of the man''s prized exotic spirit tea.


    There was a moment of oppressive silence in the room as the dark-haired man mumbled. "Does she really think the academy is her home?"

 Chapter 162: The New Headmaster

    Chapter 162: The New Headmaster


    Looking at the man who had always seemed so imposing and invincible before when he had been in his position, Han couldn''t help but chuckle. "I may not know her as well as you do, Lord Hyperion, but to be honest I think I understand your frustrations."


    Secretly though, Han definitely preferred this change of position, and even gloated over the previous headmaster''s misfortune. Being a little stronger wasn''t always so good, was it?


    Anyway, for him, it was far better to rx and do things at his own pace as the headmaster than it had been to teach those brats in the ''Maker''s Mansion''.


    And this wasn''t even counting all those extra resources and allotments he got with his new position, nor his expanded authority.


    The dark haired man blinked in surprise before turning a doubtful gaze at the new headmaster. "Do you, really? Kaling and Kaizen believe I''m being a man-child for crying over a so-called ''promotion''."


    He scoffed at the word ''promotion'', just in case his disdain for the position of a pir hadn''t been clear enough.


    Han nodded solemnly. "Believe it or not, I agree that those two aren''t taking this situation as seriously as they should. Dane used to be a good friend of mine, and even as a senior professor, Aurora expelled him without a proper trial. Even his lover is missing now, though she could have left on her own, there is no way to tell, is there? How can this be allowed?"


    Hyperion frowned. Although that was a bit bothersome too, he had more or less tacitly overlooked it as a ''small matter'' at that time. And to be honest, he still didn''t see it as a big deal.


    The biggest issue he had with Aurora expelling two senior professors was that she did it not only without consulting him first, but also didn''t even try to make any excuses or give him an exnation. It was aplete undermining of his authority!


    But thinking about it, since Dane was his friend, of course Han would think differently. Hyperion nodded, deciding it wasn''t worth arguing over. "That''s true, though"


    Han chuckled and interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "Don''t misunderstand, Lord Hyperion. I didn''t bring this up just because I knew Dane better than Mantis. What I''m trying to say is didn''t you notice her strange behavior started right after she took in a student?"


    The dark haired man blinked as he tried to make sense of Han''s words. His eyes widened in disbelief. "Y-You''re saying?!"


    Han nodded solemnly. "Right. Instead of looking just at Aurora, I think we should consider where the problem actually ''stems'' from. Should we not?"


    Hyperion loosened his cor as he shifted in his seat, feeling a little ufortable all of a sudden.


    The way this conversation was going, he really felt like they were plotting against Aurora''s student. He may hate her, but her ability was truly terrifying, and he had very little interest in being her enemy.


    However, thinking about it all over again, he wasn''t doing anything, was he? Just having a civil conversation with the headmaster. There''s no way she could me him for just this.


    The dark haired man nodded to himself. ''As long as I myself don''t do anything, even she wouldn''t do anything. After all, she needs me to fill that fourth position. Who else will take my ce?''


    Clearing his throat, Hyperion straightened up before nodding to the new headmaster. "Now that I think about it, what you said holds some truth. And there''s something even stranger."


    Han gave him an interested look as he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Hoh?"


    The dark-haired man ran a hand through his hair nervously as he thought over his words, internally debating revealing them before he grit his teeth. ''Fuck it! I''m just putting my thoughts out there, what''s so wrong about that?!''


    He clenched his fist, eyes turning red as he looked the new headmaster in the eyes. "Aurora has stopped spouting the destiny nonsense since she took in her student!"


    There was a moment of pin-drop silence in the room before Hyperion let out a sigh of relief, as if a huge burden had been lifted of his shoulders, and leaned back in his chair as he took another sip of Han''s prized tea. "Isn''t it strange?"


    Han''s brows furrowed, his expression looking extremely disturbed. "You mean the way she talks changed? Are you certain, Lord Hyperion? This is no joking matter."


    The dark haired man nodded. "Yeah. For as long as I''ve known her, she seldom used to talk, but when she did, it was always some form of cryptic roundabout dialog involving destiny this, fate that but now"


    The man chuckled, recalling how she had dismissed him so often these days. "Now she''s almost brusque and to the point."


    Han couldn''t help but rub his forehead as he tried to wrap his head around the possibilities. "It''s definitely not something we can ignore. Lord Hyperion do you have any idea what could have happened?"


    The dark haired man frowned. "I haven''t really thought about it"


    The new headmaster tapped the table in thought. "Could it be some form of mind control? Possession?"


    Hyperion gave him a deadpan look before he shook his head. "No think about who we''re talking about here. If that little girl could control Aurora, she might as well control us too and take over the academy, no?"


    Han felt as if he was being made fun of, and couldn''t help but refute the old headmaster, even though he somewhat agreed with his point. "But it could be that whatever method she used has some restriction. It''s not impossible."


    The dark haired man sighed as he shook his head. "You''re saying this because you haven''t seen that monster in action, Han. I don''t think Aurora can be controlled in any way. But I think I now understand what could have happened."


    The new headmaster immediately straightened up in his seat. "What?"


    Hyperion gave him a grim look. "Aurora has always been obsessed with one thing, do you know what it is?"


    Han frowned as he nodded. "That stupidke behind her tower, wasn''t it?"


    The dark haired man shook his head in denial. "No although she wasted most of her time on that in the past, I think it was more of something she found of interest than an obsession. What she''s really been obsessed with is ''Thrones''. Just like her mother, from what I heard."


    Han''s mind chilled as his pupils shrunk and his heart clenched in terror. There was not a single person on this continent who dared to have any ''ideas'' on a throne, not for thest ten thousand years, at least. Merely thinking about it could be considered sphemy. "Y-You''re saying"


    Hyperion nodded solemnly. Although he considered himself to be a grand figure as the ex-leader of one of the strongest forces on the continent, in front of a throne, he knew he was but an insignificant insect.


    Normally, he wouldn''t even dare to put such an idea out loud, and would snuff it out even from his mind. After all, if a throne wanted to erase him from this world, it wouldn''t take them much effort at all, even if he had the whole academy protecting him.


    If anything, it would also get the academy wiped out as well.


    But perhaps he really had been too frustrated recently, so he couldn''t keep the thought to himself. "There are three moons, and only two thrones."


    Immediately afterwards, however, the dark haired man frowned as he stood up with a sigh. "I-I don''t feel quite right today, and there is still that practice tomorrow. I shall bid you farewell then, Han. I need to rest. Let''s continue this discussion some other day, and please don''t mind my mindless bber."


    When he really thought it over, Hyperion couldn''t help but shake his head in annoyance. How could he say such things out loud?


    Not to mention, how could that pink haired little girl be a throne? Was a throne something one could buy in a market? Did they start growing on trees?


    There had only been two thrones long before his time, and he had lived a long time with that never-changing fact. Even in the future, Hyperion believed that this would remain true.


    He refused to ept otherwise. Because the consequences would be disastrous.


    The new headmaster graciously nodded after smoothing out his expression and escorted the dark haired man to the door. " Farewell, Lord Hyperion."


    It was only a few minutes after Hyperion left, that Han chuckled after arriving back in his chamber. ''This tea is really quite effective, isn''t it? All those spirit cores didn''t go to waste, after all.''


    It was indisputable that the things he had managed to get out of the old master today truly far exceeded his expectations. How useful they would prove to be, however, still remained to be seen.

 Chapter 163: Wheres The Milk?

    Chapter 163: Where''s The Milk?


    "Are you sure you don''t want toe, E?"


    The green-haired girl shook her head with a smile. "Nah, you girls go y. I just remembered I had something to take care of."


    It had already been months since theirst exchange, and now that E finally had an excuse to write a letter, how could she not get to it immediately?


    Of course, the sooner she got the message to her princess, the earlier she could receive a reply.


    Evelyn was a little confused by her response, since she had been heading to ''Arohma'' with Amber just before, and they had only talked about discount coupons, which couldn''t really be considered as something to be done urgently, after all.


    But it was also possible that E really remembered something urgent, so the pink-haired girl could only shrug and ept her excuse as the two of them bid farewell to the older girl before heading to Evelyn''s room.


    Of course, in stark contrast to E, Amber had happily epted Evelyn''s invitation. Though the pink-haired girl wondered whether her enthusiasm stemmed from getting to escape E or if it was really just to apany her to y with her friends.


    Watching the young redhead hum happily as she trotted along while grasping her hand, Evelyn couldn''t help but smile curiously. "Are you scared of E, Amber?"


    The redhead immediately tripped over her own feet, and almost nted her face on the ground if not for her friend holding her up. She hurriedly stood upright with her face burning in embarrassment. "N-Not really. S-She''s just a little taller than me. What''s there to be scared of?"


    Evelyn chuckled. "Well, if she bullies you, you can juste to me toin. Don''t be afraid."


    Of course, the pink-haired girl didn''t think E was the type to bully people needlessly, and now that she even knew Amber was her friend, and the two of them got along well, it was even more unlikely for such a thing to happen.


    That being said, there was always a possibility of misunderstandings, so Evelyn would rather give Amber a way out just in case she ever felt the need, and from that point she could easily resolve any misunderstanding, if possible.


    Given that the two of them didn''t really know each other that well, and E''s position in their ''n'' was supposedly much higher than Amber''s, she thought that it wasn''t that strange, after all.


    But thinking of how the redhead had still approached E on her own just to inquire about Evelyn when she went missing, the pink-haired girl couldn''t help but think this little redhead was a little endearing.


    Although the gap in their strength was now far wider than it had been before, Evelyn couldn''t help but be d she had made this friend.


    The pink-haired girl nodded to herself. ''I wanted to wait a little longer before taking her along, since her skills might make it a little dangerous, but I''ve grown a lot it should be fine.''


    Amber tugged her hand while looking away, though the pink-haired girl could still see her ears turning red. "I-If she bullies you,e to me too."


    "Ah Sure" Evelyn just shook her head in amusement as she turned the topic to their sses for the rest of the way.


    Unfortunately, there wasn''t much of interest there aside from the fact that one of their professors had been reced, since Han had been promoted to the headmaster position.


    It didn''t take them long to get to the White Lily Mansion, and Evelyn could faintly feel Amber getting an extra bounce in her step as they got closer to her room.


    Tapping her purple coin badge on the door, it opened with a click.


    Of course, as soon as she stepped in, she had to quickly let go of Amber''s palm to catch her little fox and puppy, and she barely managed to lift them up in time to avoid getting squished by Vivian''s tackle.


    "Where''s my milk?!"


    The pink-haired girl chuckled. "I was bringing it back, but felt a little thirsty, so~"


    Vivian''s eyes turned red as she pouted. "Meanie!"


    Evelyn smiled as she stepped aside. "But look, I brought you something else."


    Vivian finally noticed Amber, and her pout immediately disappeared on discovering someone even she could bully in ''kingdom''. "Amber!"


    Seeing the two of them hug, Evelyn sneaked past them while ignoring Amber''s helpless look.


    Of course, past the mini-boss Vivian were the boss monsters, Amara and Cecilia.


    The ash blonde smirked. "You went out to get milk, huh?"


    When Cecilia had first told her to just keep the metal card that allowed her temporary ess to her room and also served as her identity and admission proof until she got her badge, Evelyn had just thought it was a minor thing.


    Usually, the only way to get in and out of one of the academy''s amodations was to use a student badge with the relevant authority for ess. Thus, the only way to enter a student''s room was generally to follow them in, or borrow their badge.


    With a spare ''key'' in the form of that card, however, things became much more convenient for a certain freeloader.


    Not that Evelyn couldin, since in her absence, it had been Cecilia and her spare key that prevented the Gilmore sisters from being locked uppletely alone.


    Seeing her friend fail to respond, the ash blonde grinned wider. "If you can''t share some, you better be ready for the consequences."


    Vivian also dragged Amber in whileining. "I can''t eat Amber! I still want something, Eve! Gimme a candy?"


    Amara could only shake her head helplessly, thinking it was quite fortunate that the Knox parents had been doting enough to give Evelyn plenty of candies, most of which she had ended up stashing away.


    Evelyn just smirked as she moved both of her ''pets'' into one hand, squishing them together much to the dismay of the ever-prideful Ruru, but the pink-haired girl ignored her indignant yipping as she moved to the stone table in front of the sofa and tapped it while mobilizing her inventory.


    "Tada!"


    Instantly, an array of parfaits and cakes appeared on the table under Vivian''s sparkling eyes, along with two big bags of assorted candies and eight bottles of milk.


    Of course, Evelyn kept a few bags of candies in her inventory, since taking it all out would just cause Vivian to puff up uselessly as shey there, bloated with candies while Amara scolded her. After all, even if they could dissolve perfectly, it still took some time.


    While Vivian looked at the great offerings with delight as she jumped up and down, Cecilia pointed at Evelyn in shock. "Y-You actually, really went out to get some milk?"


    Evelyn huffed. "Hmph, of course! Didn''t I say so in the note?"


    The two older girls looked at each other before staring back at her with a deadpan expression. "To be honest we just assumed you went out to bully um, I mean, ask Aurora something."


    The pink-haired girl coughed. "H-How can you think of me this way?"


    Amara blushed. "Sorry."


    Cecilia rolled her eyes. "Wifey, be honest, did you really only go out for this?"


    Evelyn coughed. "Well, it''s true that I met Aurora too"


    The ash blonde gave her an ''I knew it'' look. "Hah!"


    The pink-haired girl red at the older girl''s smug face. "But I did get the milk like I said, didn''t I?"


    Cecilia was just about to say something else when she realized that Vivian had already devoured three of the timbleberry shortcakes, leaving only five for the seven of them to share  and she had already sunk her fork into another one!


    "You glutton! That one''s mine!"


    Evelyn could only shake her head in amusement as she denied Amara and Amber giving up their share. With Bree rushing into her room and back after changing into her ''human'' form, the war for food only intensified, with only Ruru and Evelyn staying out.


    The pink-haired girl smiled. ''It''s good that I got so much extra, or we might really have been short.''


    Of course, although the situation looked dire now, Vivian would bloat soon, and be unable to chomp everything in sight.


    Evelyn ruffled the youngest redhead''s hair as she squealed while gulping down a huge chunk of shortcake before stabbing a spoon into Amara''s parfait.


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but shake her head with a smile. "Is it good?"


    "Delhishiiioush!"


    Evelyn chuckled. ''I guess it was more than worth a few dozen spirit crystals.''


    Of course, given that Vivian had even chomped down the indestructible stone cookies from Cecilia, her judgment could be considered ''questionable'' at best.


    "Why aren''t you taking a bite, Eve?"


    "Here, this one''s the best"


    Evelyn hesitated a little as she stared at the shortcake in Amara''s spoon. Seeing how the others seemed to be happy too, she decided it wouldn''t hurt to try.

 Chapter 164: Great Haul?

    Chapter 164: Great Haul?


    Ever since her rebirth, Evelyn hadn''t really eaten much. In fact, most of the consumables she got usually went straight to her inventory for storage and preservation.


    This wasn''t just because she was a hoarder and there was no need for her to eat, but also because after eating some of the more delicious food, she had be incredibly picky about what she put in her mouth.


    Plus, unlike regr people, spirit bodies had a very wed digestive system. In fact, it wouldn''t be wrong to call it useless.


    The food that people with spirit physiques consumed had to be perfectly dissolvable inside their bodies, or it would forever remain stuck in their bellies and cause pain.


    The only way to get it out would be to pump it out from the stomach. And the usual way it was done in this world was by simply making the person lie in a certain position before punching their belly from below till they threw up whatever they ate.


    Having seen the so-called ''medic''dy instruct Amara to do it to Vivian, Evelyn had no interest in going through that, at all. Nor was she interested in finding out if her poison and disease immunity would mitigate it.


    Amara smiled when she saw the younger girl hesitantly open her mouth, and carefully fed her the cake.


    Evelyn''s eyes brightened after she gulped it down. "Mhm It''s good."


    And thus began everyone''s quest to feed her.


    "Here, try some of this too!"


    "And mine!"


    "Say aaahn, wifey~"


    Before Evelyn knew it, every time she opened her mouth, it was being stuffed full of cake and parfait. Although thebination wasn''t necessarily very bad, the pink haired girl still found it a little hard to chew with her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk each time.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but be stunned as she opened her mouth to protest, only for it to be once again stuffed full of desserts. ''S-Should I run away?''


    Thankfully, Amara was able to scold them all into a more orderly bunch shortly after, and Evelyn could finally breathe a sigh of relief.


    After seeing her partner indulge in the food, though, Ruru had also gotten a little interested. In contrast to the others, her little fox seemed to like the parfait more than the cake.


    Evelyn caressed Ruru''s soft fur with a smile as she made note of the fact. ''Maybe she just likes cold food?''


    Of course, the milk bottles had yet to be opened, and it didn''t take long for Vivian''s attention to shift to them after the others refused to let her have any more cake.


    The little redhead blinked as she held the bottle and popped off the cap. "Wow, it''s super cold!"


    Turning the bottle upside down, everyone stared at the girl making glug-glug sounds.


    With how much she had already gorged herself with, everyone could already see Vivian''s little belly sticking out a little, even though her clothing couldn''t be considered tight.


    These milk bottles weren''t ''small'', and Evelyn estimated that each of them should hold around five liters of milk each. Within seconds of downing one, Vivian totally bloated as she copsed on the sofa with a sigh. "I-I''m taking a break. Feed me more in five minutes!"


    Amara shook her head in amusement. "I told you to not overdo it. Bet you can''t even get up to y with your friend now, huh?"


    Vivian couldn''t help but pout at her sister''s ''bullying''. "T-Totally can!"


    Though her argument wasn''t exactly convincing when she remained so perfectly still on the sofa.


    Evelyn coughed as she took out a few sses she had lying around in her inventory. "Alright, don''t fight. Let''s drink only a little of the milk each. Seeing how quickly it did her in, I''m guessing it must be unexpectedly heavy."


    The pink haired girl blinked as she paused. "Speaking of which does anyone know what happens when someone overeats things that are actually suitable for our physique?"


    None of the redheads had any idea, however, Cecilia nodded grimly. "I heard from my grandma about the tale of the Big Belly Bomberman."


    "The big belly what?"


    "Is that a person?"


    The ash blonde coughed. "Well, I''m not sure if she was just making it up, to be honest. But apparently, he was a guy who overate a lot of spirit food that could boost his fighting ability. You know, like some of the higher grade stuff that actually restores your spirit power?"


    Evelyn blinked. That''s pretty much what she had been nning when she went to ask for a discount on bulk purchases. "Is it really harmful?"


    Cecilia scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "Well not really? I Okay, I''ll just say it. ording to grandma, his style was that he would always gorge himself right before a battle till his belly was bulging like a balloon, alright."


    The ash blonde gave Vivian a strange look, because after recalling the tale that bulging belly was really starting to bother her.


    She shook her head quickly to drive that thought away. "Anyway his fighting style was to exhaust his opponent''s spirit power, because technically, he couldst much longer than others of simr level. But, one day, when Big Belly Bomberman was fighting, an opponent''s attacknded right on his stomach, and he exploded!"


    Looking at the confused and disappointed face of Amber, Cecilia scoffed. "Don''t think it was just normal. He didn''t explode because the attack was powerful! That attack just destabilized all the energy swirling around trapped in his belly, and the man just blew up from the inside! Exploded into bits and pieces! Isn''t that horrifying?"


    Evelyn cleared her throat as she watched Amber and Vivian''s faces quickly turn green. "Alright, stop it with that, let''s just uhm, let''s have some milk and then put away the rest of the food."


    "P-Pour a ss here too!"


    Of course, no one listened to the little redhead, not after such a discussion. Vivian grumbled from her ce about how everyone was leaving her out, but could only lie there helplessly.


    The cocogoat milk was bluish-purple in color, and naturally cold. But the taste was remarkably simr to smooth, high-quality chocte. For Evelyn, it was both pleasant and a little nostalgic.


    The pink haired girl blinked at the strange feeling. ''Am I a little homesick?''


    But soon enough, she shook her head with a smile as she watched her friends around the table.


    Unfortunately, Bree had be incredibly sleepy as a result of being fed so well, and decided to take a nap with her head on thefortablep of her ''mother''.


    Though she did sleep quite a bit even without that, perhaps due to her still ''damaged'' and recovering soul. Evelyn certainly wouldn''t disturb her without good reason.


    Though this did mean that she would have to wait a little longer than expected to start refining the ''Hallucigenia Mortalis'' carcass.


    Of course, Evelyn wasn''t in much of a hurry, and decided to amuse herself by watching her friends bully the half-awake Vivian in their favorite board game one by one. Maybe they were taking revenge for her chomping away more than half of everyone''s share of cake.


    With Ruru also dozing off after climbing onto her shoulder, though, Evelyn couldn''t help but start feeling like she have gained some hidden ''induce sleep'' attribute when touched, especially effective on ''children'' did Bree really count as a child, though?


    The pink haired girl shook her head with a smile. ''Whatever, I might as well check out that anklet, then.''


    Looking at it closely, it was quite a pretty little thing, with seven teardrop aquamarines and a silvery-white chain. It was a pity that she had never seen her teacher wear it. Maybe it didn''t have good enough attributes for her?


    More curious than ever, Evelyn immediately used her probe skill on the anklet.


    [Checking status]


    [ Frozen Tears of the Ocean: Grade 7 ]


    Greatly increases the resistance against charm and other types of mental maniptions when equipped.


    Able to instantly move the user as well as anyone or anything strung together with them using spirit power to a random location on the same ne.


    In times of great peril, it can be used to move an iing attack to a random location on the same ne. This effect requires the user to focus well and time the move perfectly so that they move it right before taking damage.


    Cannot be blocked by arrays, formations, or any other restrictions.


    The random location is based on the location of the ''Frozen Tears'' in the past ten thousand years.


    Charges Left: 7 / 7


    Evelyn couldn''t help but gasp in surprise as she went through the description once again before staring at the anklet in shock.


    Although it didn''t have any stat bonuses, this was still a genuine grade seven artifact! The first one in her possession!


    To think Aurora just gave it to her so offhandedly!


    The pink haired girl frowned. ''Why the hell was she not wearing this thing all the time? So careless! If she had it while fighting Mantis, at least she could have had the assurance to escape if things turned bad.''


    Evelyn couldn''t help but scratch her head. ''Don''t tell me she''s the type who thinks it''s actually a bad thing to always have a way out?''


    Of course, there was nock of such people in the world, who thought that it would actually hinder their growth if they knew they could get out of any situation alive. After all, many believed that the greatest stimtion of one''s potential only urred at the cusp of death.


    Evelyn frowned. ''But Aurora doesn''t seem to think so, or she wouldn''t protect me like this, right?''

 Chapter 165: Improbable

    Chapter 165: Improbable


    Of course, although Evelyn thought it was amazing, she could still spot some of the ws in this grade seven artifact.


    The biggest w of ''Frozen Tears of the Ocean'' was, of course, the random positioning of the escape location.


    It was very unlikely, but possible, that one could be teleported right next to where they were. If that happened, it would make the whole move useless.


    Granted, the random nature of the artifact could be mitigated to an extent by keeping it in a stationary and safe position most of the time, but that was obviously impractical.


    Not only would it defeat the whole purpose of the thing being useful in emergencies  since it would be stashed away  the duration required would also be absurdly long.


    Moreover, even if doing things this way reduced the probability of appearing at a ''bad'' location, it would still exist. Thus, the root of the problem would still be the same.


    The other problem she immediately noticed was with its ability to ''erase'' attacks.


    Of course, the issue of randomly moving the attack back to where it was  or any other position that still led the attack to her  was obviously there, but that was a given because of the first w.


    What concerned Evelyn was that she couldn''t be sure if there was a possibility that homing attacks may not lose their target when this skill is used. From the looks of it, there was no dissociation applied to anything being moved, so that should indeed be the case.


    If so, moving away such attacks would only cause them toe back to herter. And depending on the speed of the attack, its eleration, as well as how of its momentum would be lost on the way this might just make things worse.


    Evelyn sighed. ''How good would it be if I could just decide where the target location would be? All of these drawbacks would just vanish.''


    Of course, even though she couldn''t change its properties, knowing the drawbacks of her own trump cards was still a must. Otherwise, she might be caught off-guard in a really sticky situation, leaving her with even less room to maneuver.


    Now that she knew all of this, however, Evelyn could also find her way around making things work more in her favor.


    The pink-haired girl tapped her chin in thought. ''Even if the teleportation is random, it should be fine if I''m ready and expecting it. If I don''t immediately move away, I can just do it again and again. Even if I''m unlucky once, it can''t be the same every time.''


    Of course, it went without saying that in the best-case scenario, she would move away to a decent location on the first try.


    As for the second w Evelyn didn''t think that function was very practical in the first ce.


    After all, getting the timing right to move the attack away, and then having no control over where it went there were just too many variables for Evelyn''s liking. Unless she had no other choice, she would never use it.


    Evelyn hummed in thought as she went over the description again. ''There are 7 charges left can charges be ''recharged''? If so, how? I should ask Aurora But even if they can''t be recharged, it''s still really good.''


    The best part of it all was of course that it could move anyone she linked with her spirit power along as well. This meant that whenever she needed it, she could escape along with all her friends to safety!


    This gave Evelyn renewed confidence in taking her friends along even to the most dangerous of ces. After all, in the worst-case scenario, they could all just escape together.


    The pink-haired girl shook her head. ''No wait, I can''t be careless. We should still remain vignt. A moment''s inattention can lead to death, after all. Although this thing cannot be blocked, what if something happens before I can even trigger it in the first ce? Still it''s great to have it.''


    Whatever the reason may be behind Aurora not having this thing equipped on her at all times, Evelyn had no intention of doing the same. She immediately wrapped it around her left ankle.


    It was a little loose, but not enough to look out of ce. Evelyn thought it looked quite pretty.


    While the redheads were busy arguing with each other over cheating in their board game, not everyone was quite as busy.


    Cecilia blinked as she noticed the new addition on her friend''s leg. "Eh, what''s that? Did you buy it while you were out? It looks so cute on you!"


    Evelyn smiled. "I didn''t buy it. It''s a gift from Aurora."


    But thinking about it again, the pink-haired girl scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. "Well to be honest, I kind of just took it at first, and then she let me have it. It still counts as a gift though, right?"


    Cecilia grinned. "Ehehe you''ve learned well from my art of bullying Aurora. Of course it counts! Let me take a closer look at what you nabbed~"


    The ash blonde then closed in as she observed the anklet, even grabbing Evelyn''s calf to lift her leg closer to her face. "Wow this thing looks gorgeous I couldn''t tell before, but since it came from Aurora. Un, I doubt she collects trash like you"


    Evelyn rolled her eyes as she interrupted her friend with a gentle nudge of her calf. "I don''t collect trash."


    The ash blonde coughed. "Anyway, it looks so good Don''t tell me it''s grade four, no five?!"


    The pink-haired girl shook her head with a smile. "Higher."


    Cecilia gasped. "Grade six?! That''s the same as Mister Chonkers, then!"


    Even if Aurora was super rich, Cecilia still found it hard to believe how she could just give away such artifacts. Even in her Fulbright family, the highest grade artifact they had in their possession was only at grade five!


    Evelyn smirked. "Not six it''s seven."


    The ash blonde gaped in shock for a solid minute before she started rubbing her face against Evelyn''s ankle and calf. "Wow it''s my first time touching a grade seven artifact! Rub off some magic on me!"


    Cecilia didn''t know about the treasuries of the royal families, nor did she know what kind of stuff the Timaeus vault had, but she was still sure that a grade seven artifact would definitely shock anyone on the continent without a doubt.


    A grade five artifact was already enough to stir up entire ns, so it went without saying what kind of storms this thing could stir if people knew about it.


    Cecilia was suddenly thankful that they were talking so gently, and the others shouldn''t have overheard them, especially with all the ruckus on the other side. "Wifey trusts me so much! But you should definitely keep this to yourself, ah, don''t tell anyone else!"


    The pink-haired girl groaned at her friend''s antics. "Of course. And don''t be so silly, Cecilia, stop it with the wifey thing, and stop rubbing! You''ll cut your face on the anklet if you''re careless!"


    Cecilia froze immediately and stopped moving her face around, though she still kept holding tight.


    Evelyn sighed as she tried to pull back her leg, only to groan as she saw Cecilia moving along without letting go. "If you don''t let go, I''m really going to give you a good kick."


    The ash blonde coughed. "S-Sorry, it just looks so pretty on you. Wifey~ I feel a little bad now that I''ve never given you anything aside from the stone cookies. You even bought food today."


    The pink-haired girl sighed in relief as the older girl finally released her hold. "Don''t worry about it so much. You''ve bought me plenty of things before. And you even went through the trouble of taking back that torn dress to get it fixed"


    Cecilia waved her hand nonchntly. "Those are just small matters, how could they count"


    Evelyn nodded with a smile. "Right. So stop minding such little things. Didn''t you say you were my best friend?"


    The ash blonde coughed. "Okay, wifey."


    Evelyn groaned. "I told you to stop it with the wifey thing! Didn''t you call me Eve before? Even little Eve is fine with me"


    Cecilia jutted out her lower lip in a pout. "Wifey~ Don''t abandon me! I already don''t have a fianc, if you leave me, won''t I be single forever?!"


    The pink-haired girl huffed. "What''s wrong with being single forever? That''s exactly what I n on, anyway."


    Cecilia blinked. "Jokes aside, Eve, I''m really going to tease you a lot when you finally realize you''re in love with someone. And if you confess to me, ehehe I''ll really make you eat your words, then!"


    The ash blonde coughed. "Of course, that being said, feel free to confess anytime. Wifey. I definitely won''t make fun of you. Definitely!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but roll her eyes. "As if that would ever happen."

 Chapter 166: Refining The Beast

    Chapter 166: Refining The Beast


    By the time Bree woke up, Cecilia and Amber had long since left, while Amara had taken Vivian back to sleep in the other room.


    The little blonde girl was still quite groggy, but she was still able to follow Evelyn back to their room, where the pink-haired girl started exining what she had to do.


    Evelyn was very d for the spaciousness of her room at the moment, because even though she had felt that it was excessivelyrge when she first arrived, it sure came in handy in situations like this.


    After all, be it the tentacles of the ''Thousand Eyed God'', or the corpse of the Hallucigenia Mortalis, they took up a lot of space. At the same time, doing it out in the open would end up exposing Bree''s ability, which was simply uneptable.


    Just imagining the sheer pandemonium it would cause if the word got out that there was a little girl who could extract abilities from beasts and turn them into consumable beads sent shivers up Evelyn''s spine.


    Maybe even hundreds of high-grade artifacts wouldn''tpare to the greed such a thing could incite. This was exactly why Evelyn had no intention of letting a third party know of it, no matter who it was or how much she trusted them.


    Of course, even if she didn''t have a good enough private space to use Bree''s ability, Evelyn wouldn''t be stupid enough to use it out in the open. In that case, it would be better to just put it off forter when she could, eventually, carry the process out in secrecy.


    "You remember the weird-looking insect we chased around beforeing across that tree?"


    Bree nodded.


    Evelyn smiled. "Well, I''m going to take it out now, and I need you to go around stomping on it real good, understand?"


    The blonde tilted her head in confusion. "The baddie didn''t die?"


    Just as she was about to give her an exnation, however, Evelyn paused. With her current child-like intelligence, would Bree even understand the whole ability extraction and purification thing? Since she was slowly recovering anyway, Evelyn decided it was fine to exin itter, and give a more ''kid-friendly'' exnation for now.


    The pink-haired girl rubbed her cheek in thought. "Well I um, I''m a little scared it might be alive, so I want Bree to check it for me, since you''re such a brave girl. Just stomp it once to make sure it''s dead?"


    Bree immediately puffed out her chest, all her sleepiness disappearing in an instant. "Bree will crush that bug for mama!"


    Evelyn coughed, feeling a little embarrassed all of a sudden. She had started to almost get used to it, hadn''t she? It must look strange in front of others. But scolding the little baby would just feel bad, she had already done all she could, so Evelyn could only bear with the embarrassment.


    Anyway, it would be far more embarrassing for Bree once she recovered, so that gave her some constion, at least.


    Evelyn shook her head wryly before ruffling Bree''s hair. "Well, are you ready?"


    The blonde girl nodded obediently.


    Of course, since this time she wasn''t dealing with the poisonous tentacles of the ''Thousand Eyed God'' and the situation wasn''t as dangerous, Evelyn hadn''t kept Ruru locked out.


    "Ruru, you go stay in the corner, alright?"


    Currently, her little fox was in her ''thumbelina'' form, as she usually was when they were more or less alone. Apparently, she had taken it upon herself to try to learn how to talk, though it wasn''t going very well so far.


    "Uu."


    Evelyn tried her best not tough at the cute little sound Ruru made as a response, and set her down on the ground as the thumb-sized girl ran away towards the corner.


    And kept running.


    Well, given her size and speed in this form it might take a while.


    Evelyn coughed.


    Of course, sending Ruru a little further away was just a precaution, since she''d felt that her little fox had been only slightly affected by the abilities of the beast when it was alive. It was unlikely to actually cause too great of an effect just from its corpse.


    Mobilizing her inventory, she pulled Bree a little backwards to clear the space in front of her. "When the baddie appears, rush up to it and start stomping, alright?"


    "Bree is ready!"


    Evelyn then took a deep breath, and with a wave of her hand, the strange, spiky corpse of the Hallucigenia Mortalis appeared right in front of them.


    Bree didn''t need any further instructions before she rushed onto the giant insect corpse and started stomping on it as hard as she could. Her face turned red from both effort and concentration.


    The little girl may look small and cute, but her strength had already recovered to over two hundred points. Although it was still only a fifth of her original strength each of her stomps was still powerful enough to produce a terrifying boom.


    But not only was the Hallucigenia Mortalis a level sixty-five beast, it was also covered with a tough exoskeleton that was especially resistant to physical attacks. Bree''s stomps had a lot of impact, but she wasn''t smart enough to imbue them with spirit power, thus failing to cause any damage.


    Of course, that was as Evelyn had expected, the main point of the whole thing was just to get Bree in touch with the remnant effects of the beast''s ''poison'' to trigger her ability.


    Evelyn observed the situation closely, ready to react in case anything didn''t look right.


    Unlike the detached tentacles of the ''Thousand Eyed God'', the corpse of the Hallucigenia Mortalis wasn''t quite as ''effective'' after its death, and it took a few seconds before the effects spread enough to reach Bree and trigger her ability.


    Instantly, her golden hair started shining as it floated on its own, and a pure, soothing aura started spreading with her at the center, though the girl remained wholly unaware of her changes as she diligently tried her best to crack the hard shell of the annoying insect below her feet.


    Soon enough, sparks started flying from her body, and small bits of purified poison seeped out of the corpse below from time to time, vanishing as it came in contact with her glowing golden hair.


    As soon as the strange energy started entering her body, Bree turned a confused nce at Evelyn, who nodded. "Don''t worry. Remember thest time you made that blue candy for me? It''s the same thing now, just focus. I think the big baddie is already dealt with."


    Bree blinked in confusion, then closed her eyes with furrowed brows, trying her best to follow the instructions of her ''mother''.


    Evelyn wasn''t sure if it was just her imagination, but the flow of the particles did seem to elerate slightly once Bree started focusing. ''Does that mean she will eventually be able to control this ability?''


    There was no way to be sure how useful it would be, but the pink-haired girl felt that having more control over it certainly couldn''t be bad.


    Before long, the energy stopped seeping out of the corpse, and Bree''s hair stopped glowing as the girl slowly opened her eyes.


    Opening her mouth, she quickly spat out a pinkish-yellow bead on her palm. The girl quickly wiped it off on her dress before handing it to the pink-haired girl with a grin. "Look! Bree made it!"


    Evelyn smiled as she ruffled the girl''s soft blonde hair fondly. "Good girl, you can go sleep now, alright?"


    Surprisingly, the corpse of the Hallucigenia Mortalis beast was still there, mostly intact aside from a few extra ''scratches'' here and there, probably from where the energy had seeped in and out of the corpse.


    Turns out that it was a good thing that Bree''s stomps hadn''t destroyed the carapace! After all, if Bree really started breaking it down, the value of the corpse would probably be lower than it was when the thing was intact. If she could still sell it wasn''t this double the value?!


    In the worst case, it was still an alchemical ingredient!


    But that wasn''t the most important thing right now. Feeling her heart speed up in anticipation, Evelyn quickly sent a probe into the blonde girl on the bed, who only gave her a confused look in return. ''Please change!''


    [Checking status]


    - Bree Devaughn: Level 82 [ Exp: 119,230 / 967,230 ]


    Hybrid Special Physique: Blessed Thunder Qilin


    [ Anomalous state, currently unable to determine. ]


    Physique: 214 / 1156


    Spirit Power: 491 / 786


    Soul Value: 62 / 779


    Vitality: 1581


    [ Enhancement (avable): Raijuu''s Blessing ]


    [ Affection: 100% (Max) ]


    [ Unable to view skills until the anomalous state is removed. ]


    Unfortunately, contrary to her expectations, Bree''s ''recovery'' hadn''t been sped up despite refining the beast''s corpse, as her status remained the same. Her experience was a little higher than thest time she checked, but that was it.


    Thinking about it again, though, Evelyn shook her head in denial. "Hm no, I still can''tpletely discard the possibility. This beast wasn''t strictly the ''poison'' type, after all, and it wasn''t quite as high-level either."


    Bree''s recovery wasn''t something that could be easily dealt with, after all, and Evelyn couldn''t overlook even the most unlikely possibilities. Even Aurora believed their best bet was to head to the spiritnds to seek out ''experts'' on the matter, but that wasn''t something they could immediately carry out.


    At the very least, they would have to wait until Aurora was ''free'', as the journey was both long and arduous, even for her.


    Evelyn sighed. "I hope that''s not my only option now that I''m stronger, it should be possible to hunt a more appropriate beast and check for myself."

 Chapter 167: Dream Weaver

    Chapter 167: Dream Weaver


    Looking closer at the pinkish-yellow bead that Bree had created, Evelyn couldn''t help but frown. "I can''t sense any chaos energy from this thing don''t tell me"


    [Checking status]


    -[ Illusion Bead ]


    Permanently increases soul value by 10 points when consumed.


    Permanently increases spirit power by 20 points when consumed.


    Effects of the primordial ability [Cmity] detected. May lead to either involuntary subjugation or harvest of ability. Extremely dangerous!


    Unknown effect upon consumption.


    Evelyn sighed. "As expected, the part about the chaos essence is missing The rest all looks as expected."


    The permanent enhancements were small, but Evelyn wouldn''t exactly cry about a few extra points in each of her stats. Who knows, maybe even a single point could make a difference between winning and losing in a critical situation.


    The pink haired girl hummed as she looked over the description. "It seems like each of these beads will stille with this ''subjugation'' function, huh But I wonder if it will work in the way I think, and if it would just boost someone''s affection level?"


    She was also curious about whether Bree would be able to consume it. Since she clearly spat this thing out, it clearly had already been inside her with no effect.


    Evelyn shook her head with a smile. "She''s pretty much the ''source'', so it''s unlikely that she would be affected."


    Of course, the rest of the ''danger'' and ''unknown'' prompts simply meant getting another ability for her, as she had already determined fromst time. And based on the name of the item itself, Evelyn could pretty much guess what it was going to be.


    Without a doubt, it would be some sort of hallucination inducing or illusion making ability. But since the ability of the beast had failed to take hold on her, the inner workings of whatever illusion ability this thing held were still a mystery.


    Evelyn didn''t ponder on it anymore, and directly popped the bead into her mouth. As it was only the size of a small marble, it easily slid down her throat with a gulp.


    Within moments, a strange tingling sensation started spreading from her belly, but settled down just as quickly as it came.


    Soul value permanently increased by 10 points!


    -[Soul Value: 2,273]  [Soul Value: 2,283]


    Spirit power permanently increased by 20 points!


    [Spirit Power: 1207]  [Spirit Power: 1227]


    -Final dimensions of the inventory space changed:


    From


    109.88 meters long x 109.88 meters wide x 109.88 meters high


    To


    110.79 meters long x 110.79 meters wide x 110.79 meters high


    Acquired New Ability: Dream Weaver!


    Evelyn smiled and quickly checked her new abilities description. "I hope it''s something useful!"


    Dream Weaver: Level 1 [Proficiency 0%]


    Uses energy to weave an illusion directly in the opponent''s mind. Effectiveness depends on the type of energy used and the opponent''s resistance to mental attacks and the strength of their soul.


    -When proficiency reaches 100% and certain requirements are met, the ability can evolve to higher grades.


    Grade 1: Simple and small objects can be made to appear or disappear.


    Grade 2: Large objects with moreplexity can be made to appear or disappear.


    Grade 3: Living beings and otherplex objects can be induced into the opponent''s mind as hallucinations.


    Grade 4: Dream worlds can be induced into the opponent''s mind, but may be unrealistic due to not having self-containedws.


    Grade 5: Realistic dream worlds with self-containedws.


    Evelyn frowned after looking over the description. On one hand, it seemed like an extremely useful ability at higher levels, but on the other hand she had no idea how to upgrade it.


    Of course, from what she understood, upgrading wasn''t as easy as practicing the skill, as that was only the proficiency part.


    The pink haired girl scratched her head in confusion as she checked the system logs just to be sure, but there really wasn''t any additional information avable, even with her full authority. "Just what in the world are ''certain requirements''?"


    Evelyn sighed as she rubbed her head in annoyance. "Oh whatever, I''ll just work on getting this proficiency to 100% by practicing first, maybe I''ll be able to get some hints just by using it all the time, or upon reaching that point."


    Given that it was pretty much worthless at grade one, using it duringbat was impossible. Instead, she would have to use it everywhere else.


    The pink haired girl nodded to herself after thinking about it. "Well, having a few objects appear and disappear shouldn''t be too noticeable anyway. I can probably do something like making illusory shoces or hair ties for myself. Oh I can work on clothes! Free new wardrobe every day!"


    Evelyn''s eyes shone, suddenly feeling like this wasn''t such a useless ability, after all. It was just a lifestyle skill! And on higher grades, it will be even more useful!


    Although grade one was limited to simple and small objects, she would be able to create illusions of evenrger andplex objects at just grade two!


    That should already cover most of the requirements for basic illusions, right?


    What made her curious was the sudden shift in the ability at grade three. After all, instead of just ''creating'' illusions around herself, she would then be able to directly attack an opponent''s mind!


    It made sense, since creating a huge illusion around herself would probably consume was too much energy, and it was better to simply manipte the opponent''s mind directly instead.


    Evelyn tapped her chin in thought. "But then this thing will probably only work on weak-willed opponents anyway, right? Ah, no, if it depends on strength of the soul that''s soul value, is it not?"


    The pink haired girl hummed. Although she wasn''t particrly interested in grade three and four of the ability, if she could somehow upgrade it all the way to grade five, there were some possibilities there that she really wanted to try.


    Being able to create realistic but illusory worlds had more uses than just trapping opponents, after all. Though it was a deadly attack, as well. After all, if she executed it correctly, the opponent wouldn''t even know they were in an illusion.


    To them, it would appear that everything was as it should be. Even when it was toote, they may not realize what happened.


    Mobilizing her spirit power to weave the ability, Evelyn tried it with something simple first.


    With a little concentration, a small red ball appeared in her palm, though there was no tactile feedback or weight to it. With another hum, it ttened into a coin, and then cycled through a multitude of colors before turning to smoke.


    Dream Weaver: Level 1 [Proficiency 0%  0.01% ]


    Evelyn nodded to herself with a smile. "Alright, I guess it''s not that hard to level. I consumed one point of spirit power with each transformation. Next is"


    Experimenting for a few more minutes, the pink haired girl quickly determined that maintaining the illusion for ten minutes took another point of spirit power, even if she didn''t transform the shape.


    Another interesting part was that although the illusion didn''t appear to be solid, it could be ''attached'' to other objects, and move along with them.


    If she wasn''t directly in contact with said object, though, she would have to pour the spirit power into it in advance in ordance with how long she wanted the illusion tost.


    So if she wanted a hairband to appear on Bree''s head for an hour, she would have to create it using a total of six spirit power, and the girl would be able to move around and do as she liked no problem.


    The pink haired girl smiled. "Somehow isn''t this thing perfect for pulling pranks?"


    Of course, she usually wasn''t one to make fun of people for no reason, but it could stille in handy, right?


    ying around with it a little more, she was able to determine that the ability worked the same with soul value as well.


    Evelyn shook her head in disappointment. "It doesn''t seem to be better in any way? What a waste of soul! No, wait it should be possible to dispel the illusions somehow, right? In that case"


    Eyes shining, the pink haired girl quickly created another illusion. Her own and Ruru''s spirit power was still able to pass through it like before, which had caused her to overlook this point, but this time she called over Bree.


    The blonde girl looked a little groggy again, as she had almost fallen asleep when Evelyn gave her a rude awakening. "Make wave?"


    The pink haired girl coughed, feeling a little embarrassed for waking her up when she just told her to rest earlier. "Y-Yeah. Do it like this do you feel something here? Okay, then"


    Evelyn made sure that her instructions were simple and clear as she guided Bree on how to make a wave of spirit power, though she wasn''t sure if it would work.


    Thankfully, Bree was able to easily follow her instructions step by step, and execute the move almost wlessly, leaving Evelyn''s jaw hanging in surprise.


    Of course, her illusion had also disappeared.


    "Mama?"


    "A-Ah, good job, Bree. Good girl! You can go back to sleep now, if you like."


    Bree grinned as she received both a pat on the head and a candy, happily wobbling back to the bed while stuffing it into her pocket.


    Evelyn rubbed her nose as she saw the scene. ''Don''t tell me she caught my hoarding habit? A-Ah, not that I have such a thing! I just make good use of my inventory. That''s it.''

 Chapter 168: Rochesters March

    Chapter 168: Rochester''s March


    Evelyn shook off the distracting thought. "Anyway, since the illusion can be disrupted in this way, using soul power should be able to make it much harder for the opponent to dispel!"


    Obviously, it wasn''t that she believed that only soul power would be able to dispel illusions created with soul power, had that been the case, who else in the world could refill their soul power like her? Instead, it should simply take a disproportionately higher amount of spirit power to dispel illusions created with soul power.


    She had clearly observed it just now, that although Bree had used about ten points of spirit power in that move, only about three points were really needed to break the illusion, while the rest went to waste. Coincidentally, that was exactly the amount she had poured into the move.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but sigh. "Although it''s a great skill it''s a pity that I didn''t get any chaos essence."


    Having used ''Chaos Incarnate'' to convert her spirit power into soul value so frequently, the status of her preliminary understanding of chaos essence had already reached 12%.


    But Evelyn felt that for every bit of familiarity she gained with this strange form of energy upon using that skill, it became all the more elusive.


    That is, the higher her level of understanding the harder it became for her to progress. As this was the only way she knew of to gain more of it, if she couldn''t find any other source. Evelyn would have to depend entirely on slowly grinding herprehension using ''Chaos Incarnate''!


    And this wasn''t even mentioning that absorbing the chaos energy had also given her 150 spirit power! Having more spirit power was always a good thing, since it would always be a direct boost to most of her abilities.


    Evelyn frowned. "I feel like this will definitely be a great breakthrough in my strength, maybe even bigger than that multiple milestone jump!"


    Had either Bree or Ruru had a proper understanding of how this world worked, they would have shuddered in horror. After all, no one crossed multiple milestones at once, and what did exceeding even that mean?


    Wasn''t that just saying ''I wish to explode spontaneously''?!


    The pink haired girl took a deep breath. "Okay, now I have two choices. I can either use that eyeball from the ''Thousand Eyed God'' to try and see if I can get any chaos energy out of it or I can wait."


    Evelyn walked back and forth while frowning deeply. "It would be stupid to have that grade nine envement array and not even think of using that eyeball. It''s like a perfectbo that fell right into myp! But"


    Although that grade nine envement array ''Watcher of the Skies'' was supposedly iplete, it only had three major drawbacks.


    First, to enve a beast, she would need a tissue sample, and the more ''critical'' it was, the better. Since she already had the ''eye'' of the ''Thousand Eyed God'', this condition was already fulfilled.


    The second problem with this method was that it would ''greatly reduce vitality'' upon use. Now, while this might be a horrifying idea to most people, it wasn''t really a big deal to Evelyn.


    After all, with her advanced regeneration, she would be able to restore her vitality over time. This ability hadn''t yete in handy, since Evelyn never allowed herself to be in a precarious enough situation.


    Obviously, Evelyn understood that even she would die if she was killed.


    Restoration of vitality wasn''t instant, and her healing ability also wasn''t without limits.


    If someone cut her head off, what then? It would simply be game over.


    Although that would actually be true if she was somehow able to acquire the primordial vitality ability  Reincarnation.


    Then she really wouldn''t die if she was killed. But thinking about how absurd the requirements had been for that skill Evelyn shook her head ruefully.


    There were surely ways to acquire it for herself outside of the method at that ce, but they were also likely to be equally difficult.


    And finally, thest restriction of the ''Watcher of the Skies'' array was that the ''master'' must have higher vitality than the ''ve''.


    The pink haired girl sighed. "If I could just know how much vitality that thing has left, I would then be able to confidently use the array. It''s a pity that the ''Thousand Eyed God'' can''t be subdued even by Aurora, so I can''t really risk it."


    Although it was possible to get ''volunteers'' to sacrifice their vitality to the array to make up for the difference between the beast being enved and the master, Evelyn felt that this method must also have other drawbacks.


    After all, there were many attributes of that broken array that were still unknown and obscured.


    The pink haired girl sighed as she climbed into the bed to snuggle with Bree. "Forget it, I''ll let the ''Thousand Eyed God'' be free for a little longer. In the future though I''ll definitely take it for a ride."


    While the pink haired girl was fantasizing about enving the ''Thousand Eyed God'', however, a certain King was desperately hoping not to encounter the beast in the midst of his journey through the Wondend of Doom.


    Rochester was betting on his luck not being that bad, since that beast preferred to use a strange hibernation skill to preserve its vitality whenever it was not hunting. This meant that, most of the time, it was probably sleeping deep underground.


    Moreover, with his son having snatched one of its eyes, and having suffered at the hands of the two Sentinels of the academy, it was sure to be focusing on recovering first before making any moves.


    Of course, even if it appeared, they wouldn''t bepletely helpless. But if they suffered some losses at its hand before they managed to make it retreat, Rochester would have to seriously reconsider his ''visit'' to the academy today, which would be a great loss.


    After all, mobilizing their national artifact  the flying sword Eruniel  really wasn''t cheap! Every minute of flight consumed a full spirit core!


    Thankfully, the speed at which it moved was truly incredible. It didn''t take them long to pass through more than half of the Wondend of Doom, and surprisingly, none of the hegemons of the forest seemed to feel adventurous enough to face their army.


    Rochester would haveughed out loud in joy had it been any other day. After all, was this not fate telling him that his journey today would be smooth, and all his goals easily achieved? But today he could feel no joy at all.


    Instead, the further they went, the colder the Terran King felt in his heart. Because even though he had been through almost half of the Wondend of Doom, their army received not one signal of distress.


    Even if he could convince himself that his son was in some remote corner, and unable to detect their passing, what about the rest?


    Out of the thousands of soldiers he had sent to this ce to aid in his son''s mission how could there be none who spotted the magnificence of Eruniel in the skies?!


    It was impossible for his elite soldiers to not be able to realize they were here. Impossible!


    Unless they were all dead.


    Thousands of elite soldiers all handpicked after countless Terrans shed their blood and tears in training


    The Guardian Beast of Earth


    One of his trusted generals


    The most trusted personal aide whose talent had once shocked the kingdom The man who could enlist the help of even high-grade beasts!


    And his son!


    His Craig!


    He still remembered how his little boy had smiled at him and assured him confidently that he would fulfill his dreams.


    Rochester could feel a pain deep in his heart as he finally realized the possibility. Was his Craig gone? Just like that?


    Even when he knew he would be disgraced and mocked, he still followed his orders to go court that whore of a princess in Aquavahn, for the slightest possibility that it could boost their war efforts.


    The boy who had always exceeded his expectations, right from his birth. He dreamed the same dreams, and spoke the words of his mind, and Rochester had never believed more in someone than he did in his son.


    He believed


    The ''Thousand Eyed God'', the untameable beast that freely roamed the continent as it pleased would be their pet.


    The ''Ancient Academy'', that unbreakable stone that had shattered countless Terran hammers in the past thousands of years would be in the palm of his hand!


    The Lavinian Empire''s arrogance would be snuffed out! Gwyntere would fall to its knees! The day that the Terrans ruled over the entire continent wasn''t far!


    And yet


    Rochester''s eyes chilled as he clutched the handle of his war hammer, and even the veteran generals standing behind him at the tip of the sword shivered. Today the King would probably not retreat without spilling blood.

 Chapter 169: Necessary Sacrifice

    Chapter 169: Necessary Sacrifice


    No matter how Rochester wished for their journey to the Ancient Academy to be unimpeded, he could only close his eyes in regret when a white-robed man came forth towards them with a panicked expression.


    "Your Majesty! The sensor division has detected high-level fluctuations gathering ahead of us in our path!"


    The sensor division consisted mostly of hypersensitive spirit physiques who were specifically raised for this purpose. Theirbat strength was zero, but the tactical advantage they gave to the Terran military was immense.


    Unfortunately, their use was quite limited in this type of situation, so they had only brought along one squad of sensors that had been in reserve at the capital, the rest remained deployed for war.


    "What is the estimate of their strength?"


    "W-We''re unable to determine!"


    The king waved his hand in dismissal. He could already see three vague silhouettes in the sky. Once he saw them, he could easily determine who they were and their level of strength.


    The smooth journey of the Terran army came to an abrupt halt as not one, but three of the hegemons of the Wondend of Doom decided to intercept them together.


    Rochester couldn''t help but grit his teeth in anger as he faced the three beasts.


    Most of the hegemons of the Wondend of Doom were at least a few hundred years old. Even if they rarely made a move, the Terrans were aware of most of them.


    These three weren''t at the highest level of strength among the beasts in this forest, but they definitely weren''t on the weaker side either, aside from the parrot.


    If they had to face these creatures one by one, they would definitely be able to quickly suppress it and move on before it could recover. And as for the parrot it would definitely perish. But these clever bastards seemed to have known this.


    And since all three of them could fly, it would also be impossible for him to simply speed past them and not suffer any losses.


    The ''smallest'' of them, the giant parrot, bowed its head gracefully, though the mockery in its voice wasn''t concealed. "Greetings, O'' Great King, wherever the hell you''re from, but you wear a crown so whatever. Ahem, we hate to halt your journey, but it''s truly deplorable of you to vite our territories like this! As a king, you must know how terrible it feels when others trespass without permission, no?"


    The Terran King''s grip on his war hammer tightened as he snorted from atop the flying sword, giving the three flying beasts a dark look. "We''re simply passing through. My target today is the academy, not you. Get out of the way!"


    The parrot cackled. Of course they knew that, was this guy an idiot? "The King jokes! Friends, shall we have a grand feast today?"


    The crow and the eagle didn''t seem capable of human speech, and responded in their ownnguage, but the parrot seemed to understand them, and cackled even louder.


    Looking at the mass of crow feathers that had started to rain from the sky, and the giant eagle spreading its wings, the Terran army immediately started deploying formations.


    Although Eruniel did have a shielding function, it was only to protect the people from the drag while speeding. It may be fine against minor damage, but definitely wouldn''t be able to protect them from attacks from hegemons!


    The third general''s face turned pale even as the array masters behind him rushed to act. "Y-Your majesty we!"


    Rochester gave him a dark look, instantly silencing the man as he turned to the parrot with a snort. He knew, had they intended to attack, they wouldn''t talk to him in the first ce. "What do you want?!"


    He knew better than anyone else what it meant to have a fight with these beasts here. Not only would they be dyed, but the bastards at the academy would also definitely notice!


    The parrot cackled, this time even louder than before. "Not much, as the fee for passing through, how about a hundred of those soldiers? For each of us, of course."


    The crow made a dissatisfied noise, and the parrot cackled again. "My friend warns you to not send us low-leveled trash, by the way!"


    Rochester''s eyes turned red in rage. How could he give up the lives of his soldiers like that? If he did, their morale would be shattered along with his majesty!


    Meanwhile, Aurora frowned as a parrot feathernded in her hand, and a voice echoed in her mind. "Madam! Emergency! Some fat guy with a hammer is flying in your direction with a lot of thugs! I managed to convince two others to help me intercept him for food, but we might not be able to dy him for long!"


    This parrot was both clever and witty, and despite being one of the weakest amongst the hegemons, had managed to survive so long without many fights. Needless to say, it knew when to fight, when to run, and when to surrender.


    But although it was clever, it wasn''t quite familiar with the ever-changing faces of the human rulers. All it could tell was that the man should be a king of some kind.


    Aurora sighed. There was no need to guess, who else could arrive to bother them at this time? The Terrans had already been jumping around in the forest before, so she knew that this day had been fast approaching.


    Given that the parrot had sent her the message as soon as it encountered the issue, it was possible that the army had resumed its journey in their direction by now.


    The beasts of the Wondend of Doom didn''t have much use for the likes of spirit stones and crystals aside from collecting some for fun, and Rochester wasn''t willing to provide them with the food they sought.


    The ''negotiations'' inevitably ''failed''.


    When he had first charged through the Wondend of Doom, Rochester had been betting on the fact that none of the hegemons would dare to attack them, for fear of retaliation.


    After all, thebined might of their army could easily level their whole territory. Even if that hegemonic beast would be able to escape with its life, it would definitely be worse off with its hunting ground in ruins.


    The crow feathers that had previously been floating down harmlessly started to explode upon contact, and although they could be easily avoided by most, it was inevitable for some toe in contact with the density of the army on the flying sword.


    Painful screams and groans rang out as a beam of rainbow light followed the parrot''s tail as it flew over the army, and many lost their minds in confusion as they started attacking theirpatriots.


    Meanwhile, the eagle remained immobile, staring straight at the leaders at the tip of the flying sword.


    "Don''t use Eruniel''s spirit beam yet! Deploy the arrays!"


    The King''s roar immediately mobilized the army into orderly action, and he lifted his war hammer to give the flying eagle a grim look before shooting up into the sky.


    Inevitably, the Terran army won, and the three flying beasts retreated under thebined might of the high-level opponents. Cheers rang out on the flying sword as they watched the three ''hegemons'' fly away in defeat.


    Of course, they also suffered some casualties, but most of their army was still standing strong, and their mission shouldn''t be jeopardized.


    Rochester smiled grimly. Had thesemon soldiers realized that their losses amounted to exactly the ''demands'' of the three beasts that had been rejected by the king, their reactions might have been entirely different.


    Exactly three hundred soldiers ''sacrificed themselves'' for the glory of Terra.


    The King couldn''t help but sigh. ''It is unfortunate that I don''t have the time to waste on them, and it would also have risked attracting other hegemons.''


    Obviously, he and the other top-level forces had put up a good show against the strongest of the three beasts. It had been a mutual understanding between them, and neither side suffered injuries.


    Otherwise, no matter how strong they were, at least one of the beasts would have fallen here had Rochester used his full strength. Of course, his own loss would have been far greater too.


    At this time, he definitely couldn''t afford it.


    Meanwhile, back at the academy, the pirs and the headmaster had just rushed past the southern forbidden city, and entered the ancient valley guarded by the sentinels.


    The headmaster, Han, soon came to a halt and raised his hand. "Let''s stop and face them here."


    Aurora frowned as theynded between the two giant ''statues''. "Is there any need to waste their energy?"


    The spirit power within the two sentinels had been greatly exhausted when they fought the ''Thousand Eyed God'', after all.


    The tinum blonde couldn''t help but feel a little anxious when she thought about it. If their academy lost two of their ''powerhouses'' at this time, when they barely even managed to put together four pirs to power their main formation, wouldn''t their situation turn truly dire?


    Not to mention, if the sentinels went out ofmission, who would be left guarding the valley against the beasts?


    Although they were usually unwilling to pick a fight with the academy''s powerhouses, the beasts weren''t always in a reasonable mood.


    Even if they were still able to defend the academy itself, the four forbidden cities would still be lost, sooner orter!


    The brown-haired man chuckled. "Lady Aurora, we are about to face a mighty foe. You cannot underestimate them and divide our strength by going out of the sentinels'' range, right?"

 Chapter 170: Honeyed Words

    Chapter 170: Honeyed Words


    Although Aurora didn''t agree with the headmaster''s decision, it was already toote for them to change the location of the confrontation, as the flying sword had already appeared in the periphery of their vision.


    Kaizen couldn''t help but exim in surprise upon noticing the object. "They really brought this thing out again? I remember they barely managed to escape with itst time."


    His wife chuckled. "Well, we''ll have to make sure they don''t take it back this time around. It''s troublesome having to brawl like this every few decades, over and over. This flying sword really makes it convenient for them toe and go as they please."


    Before Kaling''s words were over, the Terran King had already arrived and halted in front of them, looking down at the ck robed female pir with rage. "You really have some gall to talk like that, woman!"


    In front of the giant flying sword and the massive army on top of it, the group of five from the academy looked like tiny ants that could be stomped out easily.


    Unfortunately, Rochester knew that to be just a fantasy, as except for the new headmaster, each of them had repelled his ancestors multiple times, and the tales of their horror were still fresh in many households in Terrazyme.


    The only source of relief was that just as the information he received indicated, one of the ancient pirs was indeed missing, and presumably dead. Although he had been certain that Han was the headmaster, the dread that Mantis might just be hiding from the public was only just let go.


    At the very least, this meant that the opponent was 10% weaker than before!


    Han stepped forward with a chuckle, his intent to mediate clear at a nce. "Don''t be angry, now"


    Rochester red at the new headmaster sharply, not a hint of warmth in his eyes despite theirmon origins. "How can I not be angry? Not to mention those senseless words before, if I don''t get an exnation from the academy about my son''s whereabouts, I''ll definitely take a pound of flesh from you regardless of the cost!"


    On the academy''s side, everyone turned to look at Aurora. As the one who had ordered off his search and rescue at the beginning, and even actively intercepted anyone who tried to go on their own, who else could say a word about this?


    The tinum blonde frowned. "Come if you wish to fight. Don''t make useless excuses. Otherwise leave."


    Looking at the army behind Rochester, she could tell that although there were plenty of ''strong'' opponents, they were no match for the four pirs at all, even if theybined their strength with arrays. But that only made her more uneasy.


    Just what could they be relying on?


    Rochesterughed, though his rage was clear to all. "Such fine words! If the academy is really looking for a fight, I''m more than happy to seek justice on my"


    "Wait!"


    Aurora turned a sharp re towards the headmaster, and Han immediately felt cold sweat cover his back.


    He coughed while waving his hands with a smile to diffuse the tense situation. "I''m sure neither of us is interested in a fight. We''re both bound to lose a lot here, and there''s little to gain, right?"


    Rochester just snorted, while Aurora frowned. Although there was some truth in his words, the tinum blonde didn''t like the fact that he was just lowering their momentum for no reason.


    As the victors in every conflict over thousands of years, every time they fought, the Terrans soldiers always believed that they were fighting a losing battle, fueled only by the fear of their King.


    Although their academy had never initiated the attack, never before had they proposed apromise either. This was the first time, and Aurora could already tell that the Terrans were both surprised and proud.


    ''See, even the ancient academy fears our might, and this is only a part of our strength!''


    Han smiled. "Actually, I believe this situation is just a misunderstanding. Lady Aurora is too passionate when ites to defending her home, so she won''t listen to reason, while King Rochester is too emotional about his missing son, so you can''t see what''s in front of you either."


    The other three powerhouses of the academy stared at Han as if he was an idiot and a genius at the same time. With just a few words, he had managed to offend both parties at once! Was this also not a form of talent?


    Even if the Terran King failed to do anything to him, Aurora might lop his head off just the same.


    The brown haired man seemed oblivious of his fate, however. "Let''s all take a step back and think about it. The Terran Kingdom is currently involved in a great war, I''m sure you don''t have many resources to spare. Are you really willing to suffer here? And as for us, well, let''s just say we''re a bit short-handed. I''d rather not make the situation worse, no matter how unlikely that is."


    Rochester glowered as he jumped off the flying sword Eruniel andnded right in front of the headmaster, followed closely by his generals and royal guard. "What do you want to say?"


    Han chuckled. "I''m just saying there''s no need to fight. Why don''t we have a chat first? And if the matter can''t be resolved peacefully, we can always settle the dispute another wayter. How about it?"


    The Terran King snorted. "Honeyed words, but how do I know you''re not leading me into a trap?"


    Han chuckled. "Come now, do we need to be like this? I give you my word as the Ancient Academy''s headmaster, how about it now?"


    The Terran King pretended to be deep in thought, but although he stood in front of Han, his eyes remained fixed on Aurora.


    In the past, Rochester often used to hear the brave tales of his ancestor who had almost broken the academy''s tens of thousands of years of undefeated history by nearly shattering its strongest pir, but in the end, he lost his life due to his focus on protecting hisrades.


    It was a beautiful story that had inspired many soldiers for many years, but Rochester now knew, that''s all it was. A story.


    When he became the king, he discovered that it was all just lies and deceit, for the ancestors were too ashamed of their humiliating defeats. The masses would believe whatever was told to them anyway, so why lower their own majesty?


    In reality, his ancestor hadn''t managed to fight Aurora at all, let alone almost defeat her. He had been crushed like a bug by Kaling, the third strongest pir. The same audacious woman who had dared make fun of their national artifact.


    The hatred that Rochester felt against Aurora was umted generation by generation, and was almost a part of his bloodline. The humiliation she had brought, and the vendetta that the Terrans had against her was almost deeper than that against the academy itself. It couldn''t be washed out no matter what.


    The fact that they still didn''t ban or discriminate against Terran students was just another huge p in the face. It was as if the Terrans were being told that they weren''t even a big enough threat for the academy to pay attention.


    And what was even more humiliating was the Terrans truly didn''t dare incite rebellion from within, as it would be a fruitless and self-defeating task. It would perhaps still be worth trying if it had any chance to work, but Rochester knew it was as futile as it could be.


    The Terran King snorted. "Fine then, I shall believe in the academy''s prestige just this once. Lead the way, Han."


    "Ahaha, of course, everyone is free to rest and wait in the southern forbidden city. I''m sure they''re all tired from the long journey." The headmaster turned around with a smile, but froze as he faced Aurora''s sharp gaze. He couldn''t help but gulp. "I-Is something the matter, Lady Aurora?"


    The tinum blonde nodded. "Only corpses are allowed to enter the valley today."


    The other three pirs didn''t move out of the way either,pletely ignoring Han''s imploring gaze.


    What a joke! If the entire Terran army was allowed to enter the forbidden city, who would be left to pick out the weeds one by one once they attacked? Such a thankless task would definitely fall on their shoulders!


    As for trusting them not to do anything and leave after whatever negotiations? They would have lived so long in vain if they blindly believed that.


    The atmosphere chilled instantly as Rochester''s face turned dark. "Just what is the meaning of this, headmaster? On one hand, you invite me in to give me an exnation on Craig''s matter, but on the other hand, this woman curses us to die? Is this the so-called prestige of the academy?!"

 Chapter 171: Unreasonable?

    Chapter 171: Unreasonable?


    Before the matter could escte further, however, the headmaster immediately waved his hands with an apologetic expression. "This matter is my fault, which led to a misunderstanding. Please forgive me, Lady Aurora, King Rochester."


    Aurora just looked at the bowing brown-haired man indifferently, while the Terran King snorted in displeasure. "Misunderstanding?"


    The headmaster coughed. "Right. Due to the presence of the sentinels, it''s not practical to take the Terran army in through the valley, and there''s no need to do so, either. I''m sure they would be happier to go home sooner, and whether youe to negotiate with me or I go to negotiate with you, isn''t it all the same?"


    Rochester grimaced. "Hoh? Although I agreed to listen, you better give me a good exnation. Especially about this attitude."


    The headmaster smiled. "Isn''t it just a small matter to clear such a misunderstanding? It''s already escted more than it should have, so I''m more than happy to resolve it right away."


    Not to mention Kaizen and Kaling, even Hyperion frowned as the new headmaster agreed to get on the flying sword to ''provide an exnation''.


    Although they couldn''t be considered particrly good friends, Hyperion had already had a frank discussion with the man over tea, and found his attitude quite pleasing.


    At least,pared to the other pirs  and especially Aurora  he was a million times more amicable.


    Watching such a man walk into danger alone, Hyperion couldn''t help but frown. "Is this really fine?"


    In his opinion, although it was always better to settle things peacefully when possible, they really didn''t need to bow their heads like this.


    It''s true that the academy wasn''t as strong a force as it used to be, and the Terran Kingdom had grown a lot since the ancient times, but the disparity between them was still there, and perhaps always will be.


    They may not be able topletely annihte the army in front of them, but defending against them wasn''t that big of a deal.


    Kaizen hesitated. "Although there''s no real risk as long as we stay here, going over there all alone should we follow?"


    Kaling frowned. "But then we might be walking into a trap, who knows if they have formations already set up there to disadvantage us? It''s too risky, isn''t it?"


    Although they didn''t believe they would lose against this level of strength, none of the pirs felt like it was worth it to joke around with their lives.


    After all, even if they had managed to repel the Terran invasion hundreds of times, it hadn''t always been without a loss. Otherwise, there wouldn''t be just the four of them among the top-tier strength in the academy.


    Compared to them, the army behind the Terran King was even more confused.


    They came all the way to the Wondend of Doom, just to see a few people arguing? They weren''t going to fight? What about all those who got sacrificed on the way, then?


    If the King had only wanted to talk, couldn''t he havee along with a small elite division? An army of this size was only useful for deploying grand formations in great battles against powerhouses, after all.


    Meanwhile, Aurora didn''t participate in their discussion, and simply stared at the departing Han with a frown.


    Just as the other pirs wished to get her input on whether or not they should take the chance and follow, a magnificent aura burst from Aurora''s body, and the pirs felt their minds turning numb immediately.


    Because Aurora''s eyes weren''t fixed on Rochester, or the flying sword but their new headmaster!


    Before Hyperion even realized it, he had already smashed towards the tinum blonde. "What are you doing?!"


    Was she going to kill their new headmaster for no reason? How can someone be so unreasonable?!


    Although he was still a little toote to stop her from attacking, his disruption did slightly alter the trajectory of the attack as Aurora hurriedly formed a barrier to prevent their collision.


    "WHAT!"


    "Defensive formation!"


    "Prepare for battle!"


    Amidst the chaos, Han stared at his missing arm in disbelief. It was only then that he realized that Aurora had attacked him.


    Had the attack not ''missed'' maybe he would be dead without even realizing what happened.


    The thought sent a chill up his spine. ''All my scheming and nning for so long it would all have gone to waste!''


    Even though the beam of light had only brushed him slightly in the end, not only did itpletely obliterate his arm, but his entire spirit cirction was also ruined!


    Hundreds of years of cultivation, gone in an instant!


    Blood burst freely from the wound on his shoulder as well as his mouth, but he still used the other hand to quickly grab Rochester before he could rush off to fight. "NO! Retreat, immediately retreat!"


    The Terran King grit his teeth furiously, but still waved his hand to issue the order. "Retreat immediately! Defensive formations! Deploy the barrier!"


    Meanwhile, although Kaizen and Kaling had already taken out their natal artifacts for battle, Hyperion was still pointing a finger at the gloomy Aurora in rage. "Have you gonepletely insane?! I kept trying to justify all your actions so far, somehow convincing myself that there had to be a reason for everything, no matter how small!"


    The tinum blonde waved her hand to push him away further from her before once again gathering spirit power in her hand. "Argueter. Because of you, he''s still alive. We must kill him. Kaizen, Kaling"


    Both of the ck robed pirs held a crystal sphere in their hands, and gave Aurora a nod. Right now, they could only grit their teeth and start mobilizing their spirit power.


    Whatever reason Aurora had, even if it was utter nonsense, they didn''t want to argue with her on the battlefield while being right in front of Eruniel. It was fine to joke around, but getting hit by it full force even Aurora would likely die if caught off-guard!


    "The darkness binds you!"


    "The light shall be your release!"


    "No! I refuse to follow this nonsense! You must give me an exnation!" Hyperion felt like he was going crazy. "Give me an exnation!"


    Aurora didn''t bother with him as a blue long spear of water formed in her hand and Hyperion''s eyes turned red as his fist smashed against the barrier that the tinum blonde had created around herself.


    It wobbled, but didn''t break.


    "Step back, if you do not wish to perish first."


    Hyperion gaped in disbelief as the tinum blonde still aimed for Han''s life. "You''ve gone crazy!"


    Had he not known better, he would think that there must be some deep, irreconcble vendetta between Aurora and Han.


    It was as if the man had not only ughtered her loved ones, but also consumed their flesh and blood. Aurora wouldn''t give up until she''d taken his life.


    But he knew! He knew that not only was there no such thing, the tinum blonde hadn''t even cared about the man until just a while ago!


    Until he was nominated for the position of headmaster, the two of them could be consideredplete strangers, even!


    A massive golden shield came into existence around Eruniel before Aurora''s attack was even halfway through, but two great spheres of spirit power smashed into it right as it appeared  one white and one ck  and a momentous explosion immediately obscured everyone''s vision and senses.


    The blue long spear swished past the smoke, and a thunderous crack echoed in everyone''s ears.


    The soldiers in the Terran army felt their hearts collectively shudder in terror.


    The sound definitely came from Eruniel''s barrier!


    The great barrier took a hundred years to ready, and could only be deployed once before requiring a long period of cooldown again. It hadn''t even been used when the three hegemons attacked, how could it be broken right away?!


    The King had issued an order to retreat, and they weren''t being protected by any formation at the moment either. Whoever got hit by an attack that could break Eruniel''s great barrier was sure to perish!


    Many had already sent their prayers to the King, wishing he would be more fortunate in the afterlife.


    Although their optimism needed work, their loyalty was top-notch.


    By the time the smoke cleared, Eruniel was already shooting off back to Terra, and small bits of flesh and blood covered the disbelieving face the Terran King.


    Instantly, massive cheers erupted from the army as they saw that their king was alive, and they were also able to get away safely.


    "The King is alive!"


    "Hurrah!"


    Rochester''s face immediately turned dark as the bottom of a wok. "SILENCE!"


    The King''s roar immediately silenced the cheering soldiers, and they finally noticed that a very important individual had gone missing.


    Meanwhile, Aurora''s expression was full of regret as she watched the flying sword vanish into the distance at almost ten times the speed with which it had arrived.


    The ck robed couple looked at each other awkwardly before turning to Aurora. "Shall we give chase?"


    Aurora sighed. "It''s pointless we''re too slow."


    Hyperion''s hysteria had already turned into disbelief as he watched the Terrans run away. "What? They left just like that?"


    He couldn''tprehend what had happened at all.


    Aurora finally turned to look at him, her expression grim.


    Hyperion flinched a little before righteous indignation took over his mind. "What? Are you going to kill me now too? Because I dared to question your nonsensical decision?"


    Immediately after saying so, he startedughing hysterically. "Oh wait, I forgot, you don''t need a reason at all, do you?"

 Chapter 172: Imperial Impostor

    Chapter 172: Imperial Impostor


    Listening to Hyperion''s enragedughter, the other two pirs looked at each other helplessly.


    Aurora stared at the direction the Terran army had left in with lingering regret. "I attacked Han because I believed he was going to bring us harm. Now that he''s escaped I hope I was wrong."


    The ck haired man stared at her suspiciously. "What? Why would you say that? And you weren''t even sure?!"


    The tinum blonde hesitated for a while before sighing. "It was just a feeling I had based on how he was acting."


    "Ahahaha isn''t that just saying you just felt like it? How can you be so unreasonable? Did you not even consider the possibility of him not being a traitor?!"


    Kaizen looked at the two of them in confusion. "What''s wrong with him?"


    His wife shrugged. "Who knows?"


    Although Kaizen and Kaling also didn''t feelfortable with the fact that Aurora so readily attacked the headmaster without a concrete reason, the fact that the Terrans protected the man and escaped right away was a dead giveaway of the fact that the tinum blonde wasn''t wrong.


    Aurora frowned. "Hyperion''s mind isn''t right."


    Kaizen nodded grimly.


    Kaling hesitated. "Hasn''t he always been stupidly melodramatic?"


    The ck haired man couldn''t help but bristle in anger. "Don''t talk as if I''m not even here!"


    But before he could continue arguing, his face turned pale as he felt all three of the pirs mobilize their spirit power at the same time.


    Hyperion pointed at them in disbelief. "Y-You!"


    Aurora looked at him coldly. "Surrender, or perish."


    The dark haired man could feel his world turning bleak in moments. Standing between the two sentinels that only Aurora could control, while facing three opponents on the same level as him or higher could he resist even if he wanted to?


    As Hyperion copsed on his knees, Kaling immediately sent a phantom dark sphere into his head. Facing the threat of death, he didn''t dare resist, and shortly after, he seemed to havepletely lost his soul, his face turning nk.


    Kaling frowned as she saw the ck, cockroach-like insect crawling around Hyperion''s brain. "There''s a bug? No, isn''t this the Imperial Impostor Tea Bug?!"


    Aurora had suspected that there must be something wrong with the man, but she didn''t think it would be so insidious. "Kill it. The longer it stays in his head, the more his loyalty and personality will shift to favor the creator."


    The female pir immediately acted on Aurora''s instruction, but no matter how she tried to squeeze the insect in Hyperion''s head, it only seemed to consume more and more of her spirit power. "T-This thing is strange! The more I try to kill it, the stronger it bes! I''ve never heard of the Imperial Impostor Tea Bug doing this."


    Although it was called a ''bug'', in reality, it was a nt that looked like and behaved like an insect. The seed of this nt had to be created within the belly of its creator using a special technique, and only after ten years of nurturing would such a seed be ready for consumption.


    The most terrifying part of it was that this seed was like dirt, and when mixed with any kind of liquid, it was almost impossible to tell if there was anything wrong. Unless someone was specifically using a formation to test for it, the dissolved seed was essentially invisible and undetectable.


    Once it took root, it remained equally difficult for others to tell there was anything wrong with the person being manipted. And horrifyingly enough, if left alone for a long time, the effects became permanent as the bug crawled around the brain to change things to ''its taste''.


    However, once someone probed the manipted person''s head with spirit power, it was extremely easy to find and destroy this bug. For Kaling to fail to do so made no sense at all.


    Kaizen frowned at his wife''s words. "Could it be something else? Or a mutant, perhaps? Should we confine him and wait?"


    Kaling also felt that might be the case. "Although I''ve never heard of such a thing, it''s possible that someone in Terrazyme came up with a new technique for a more resistant type of Imperial Impostor Tea Bug. Perhaps we should freeze him and wait"


    Aurora shook her head in denial. "No. We cannot lose him, and we cannot let his loyalty shift. He''s thest person we have for the fourth position."


    The ck robed couple looked at her hesitantly. "Then"


    Aurora nodded. "Use your Yin-Yang cleansing. It can obliterate everything within a specific area, can''t it?"


    They already knew she was going to say that, but it wasn''t as if they didn''t know their own skill, but the cleansing method wasn''t something they had ever used on an ally, and for good reason.


    Kaling gulped. "But the bug is crawling on his brain? It will leave a hole? There''s a chance he''ll die. Also direct contact with the Yin-Yang array will greatly damage his soul!"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "We can heal him, then. Maybe he will lose some memories, maybe something else. But the remaining part will at least still be him, and we won''t lose a pir No matter how much damage it will do, just make sure he doesn''t die."


    "Understood."


    As they didn''t have any time to waste, the two pirs immediately got to work deploying the formation right outside the valley. Within minutes, with Hyperion at the center, an illuminated great array of light and darkness spun around before shrinking rapidly in size, and flying straight into his head.


    Immediately, Hyperion''s nk expression turned frantic, and his eyes became bloodshot as he screamed. Even though he currently couldn''t think, he could still feel his soul slowly being torn apart as soon as the Yin-Yang array touched his head. "BASTARDS!"


    The ck robed couple tried their best to make the array circle following the Mutated Imperial Impostor Tea Bug as small as possible. But when they activated it, a chunk of Hyperion''s brain still ended up being obliterated alongside the Mutated Imperial Impostor Tea Bug, and his soul suffered a tremendous amount of damage.


    A small amount of soul damage would slowly heal by itself. A little more, and it will cause great pain, but still eventually recover.


    At some point, expert treatment and treasures became a requirement to recover from a soul injury that was too great.


    But when the damage reached a level that was beyond even them, the owner could only suffer eternally, always waiting for that ''lucky chance'' that might turn things around, but would nevere.


    Such people eventually just gave up and chose death when they could no longer endure the suffering.


    Hyperion''s screaming immediately came to a halt as his expression went ck, and his body started convulsing. Even his spirit power started to rampage.


    If not for Aurora immediately suppressing it with her own spirit power, it wouldn''t have taken long for Hyperion to go on a truly mindless rampage, or worse, explode on the spot.


    As they had already been prepared, it didn''t take long for them to heal Hyperion and restore the missing chunk of his brain. His soul, however could never be recovered.


    "How is it?"


    The team of healers and priests had already finished examining the ''distinguished guest'', and could only prostrate themselves before the king in apology. "Forgive us, your majesty. The spirit power contained in that attack was too great, and the damage sustained by the circuitry in the body makes it impossible to ever use or store spirit power again."


    Rochester frowned as he waved them all away.


    Han sighed as the door closed, leaving only the two of them in the room. "Guess I''m a cripple now, huh?"


    Not only had he lost his hand, but also all his cultivation. At first, he thought that he could still cultivate back from scratch, but perhaps even that was a pipe dream.


    Rochester mmed his fist against a pir, causing a crack to form in smooth marble. "None of this would have happened if you just stuck to the n you sent me earlier!"


    Han chuckled as he leaned back on the bed and looked at the ceiling with a smile. "Heh, I don''t regret it."


    The Terran King couldn''t help but feel strange in his heart, wondering what made the man so carefree even in this situation. "Have you lost your mind after losing your cultivation? And when are you going to exin why the hell you got there in advance? You told me I could deal a critical blow to the sentinels before!"


    This was the first time they got here since the Terran Kingdom had obtained intelligence on the w in the sentinels sensing ability, but before he could make use of it, the opportunity was already gone!


    Even if they hadn''t managed to get anything else this time, simply being able to ruin a single sentinel would have made their trip worth it.


    The next time they went to invade the ancient academy, there would always be one powerhouse less!


    Han chuckled. "Don''t be so angry, your majesty. I''m but a cripple with a weak heart. What if I died from fear?"


    Rochester snorted.


    The crippled man sighed. "Anyway, it wasn''t me who gathered everyone there, but Aurora."


    The Terran King could only grit his teeth in rage and disbelief. "How did hell did she know in advance we wereing? Impossible!"


    Han chuckled. "If there''s one thing I learned while studying the secrets of the academy, it''s that nothing is impossible, your majesty. Nothing."

 Chapter 173: Secretive Matters

    Chapter 173: Secretive Matters


    For as long as Rochester had known Han, he had never been able to guess what the man was thinking or nning to do It had always made him feel apprehensive, despite being the sole crown prince of Terra at that time.


    Even though he knew that, logically, a lowborn son of the Stonehardt family could never really pose a threat to him, Rochester had always felt like he needed to guard against this man.


    That had all changed, however, when Han himself volunteered to stay at the ancient academy permanently as a professor. Many of his friends derided the man for being cowardly and abandoning his home country for a life of leisure, but as the heir to the throne, Rochester knew better.


    Because he was the only one to whom Han confided his real reason for staying at the academy, along with his life goal.


    Just like himself, Han wanted to see Terrazyme be the undisputed strongest in the continent.


    Looking at the once talented man''s sorry state, Rochester couldn''t help but sigh. "Forget it, then. I just hope there wasn''t any traitor among our upper echelons."


    Han chuckled. "I wouldn''t worry about that so much. Aurora has always been a little strange, I couldn''t quite figure her out. It''s possible that she has some trick that allowed her to detect your presence."


    The Terran King nodded grimly. "Enough about that. Now tell me where''s Craig?"


    Han hummed. "I''m not sure myself. I know that the pirs scoured the forest for a few days, but I had assumed they failed to find the boy. For now, it''s better to assume he''s either trapped in the Wondend of Doom, or, most likely"


    Rochester gritted his teeth. "Don''t say it!"


    Han shrugged. "You can''t put it off forever. The inheritance ritual needs a lot of preparation, and theter you start, the worse. But never mind that. There''s something far more interesting that I have to tell you."


    Although he''d already tried to make peace with it in his mind, having someone else put it out there so inly still made the king''s expression turn dark. "What?"


    The crippled man smiled. "I''m not sure if you know, but there''s a little girl that Aurora has taken in as her student recently."


    Seeing the uninterested look on the man''s face, Han chuckled. "What? You think it''s a trivial matter? Then what if I told you her identity was beyond your expectations?"


    Rochester frowned. "Is she not from our continent?"


    After all, with his identity as the Terran King, even if the girl was the next heir to the throne for any of the other kingdoms, there was no need for him to care.


    The crippled man smiled. "No, your majesty, not at all. I didn''t mean that she has a special identity in terms of who she is or where she''s from but what she is."


    The Terran King smacked his thigh in anger. "Stop screwing around, Han! My day has been bad enough already, just spill it out if it matters, or I''ll leave you here to rot!"


    Han shook his head wryly. "You''re not fun at all, your majesty. Let me just say it, then. That little girl is probably a throne."


    Rochester''s expression immediately turned to one of disbelief. "A THRONE? She''s training a throne?!"


    The crippled man nodded grimly. "Yes. I''ve already determined it''s very likely to be true. And that girl isn''t being trained to be a throne she most likely is one already. Just a young and weak one."


    An oppressive silence enveloped the two as Rochester mulled over the revtion.


    It wasn''t the first time that rumors of a throne had reached his ears. But every time, it came from unfounded sources, and looking into them always led to a disappointing result.


    Just another genius with a little better growth rate, ultimately still the same.


    However, Rochester knew that Han was no fool. Had he not been sure of it, he would never dare spout such nonsense in front of him at all.


    The Terran King had to admit that his old friend was right. This matter, if true, was indeed much more important than his son''s life and death. "You said she''s only started recently, then shall we try to poach her to our side?"


    Han shook his head, the expression of regret clear on his face. "Unfortunately, it''s impossible now. Your son and a few other Terrans made a terrible impression on her from the start, and as I hadn''t known about her identity either, I also ended up being influenced to do the same."


    Rochester frowned. He knew Craig better than anyone else. His son would never bully the weak for no reason, and young as she was, this girl was akin to a bug to his son. If there was a conflict, there had to be something wrong. "What happened?"


    Han sighed. "Forget it, I''ll tell you about it some other time. Anyway, even if that hadn''t happened, her loyalty has already been secured by Aurora. She dotes on her too much, and their rtionship is too strong already for our interference to have any impact."


    The Terran King could only ept it reluctantly, though he made a mental note to have his people look into the matter separately. He had a feeling that this conflict was perhaps a clue to his son''s disappearance. "What do you suggest, then? Should we kill her? Or inform the great temple?"


    Although it was impossible to do so under Aurora''s watch, Rochester didn''t believe that the girl would never leave that woman''s sight. If she was really a ''throne'', she had to have her own pride, after all. How could she allow anyone to stunt her growth?


    The crippled man smiled. "No need to rush. If she''s really what she seems, wouldn''t it be a pity to waste such a good resource?"


    Meanwhile, back at the academy, Evelyn had no idea about the great conflict that the academy had with the Terrans, nor did she know that the new principal had already run away.


    She couldn''t be med, however, as even the senior professors had no idea that something had changed, and except for the pirs, life in the academy was the same as it had been the day before.


    In Aurora''s absence, Evelyn continued practicing her cultivation technique in her room, and attended sses with Amber whenever she got the time, but never managed to catch a sight of her increasingly elusive teacher.


    It wasn''t that she hadn''t gone to her tower, either. But Aurora never seemed to be ''home'', though she had apparently keyed her into the arrays to allow free entry and exit.


    Her teacher had even left her a note by the bedside, but that said no more than she might be unable to meet her student for a while.


    Evelyn endured it for a few days, but she couldn''t help but be worried. The possibility that something went wrong due to the death of either Craig or Mantis kept lingering in her mind, and she decided that she couldn''t just ignore it anymore.


    The pink haired girl nodded to herself. "Aurora must return to her tower sometimes, at least. I''ll just stay here until shees, then."


    Of course, she knew that her teacher mustn''t want to meet her, or she could have easilye to the White Lily Pce at any time. But since Aurora hadn''t forbidden her from doing so, Evelyn decided to do this anyway.


    In fact, even if Aurora had forbidden her, she might still have done it.


    It took nearly a full day of ''camping'' for her to spot her teacher''s returning figure.


    Evelyn frowned immediately at the tired look in the tinum blonde''s eyes.


    Aurora blinked in surprise when she saw her student waiting for her at the tower, but then shook her head with a smile. "Did you need something, Evelyn? I''m sorry I haven''t been around much."


    A thousand thoughts ran through the pink haired girl''s head before she nodded. "I did, actually."


    "Mhm?"


    Evelyn rubbed her nose in embarrassment. "Teacher, actually, I''ve been a little depressed recently. I need a hug. Can I?"


    Aurora stared at her nkly. "A hug? Don''t you have so many friends? Why not ask them?"


    The pink haired girl coughed. "I-I feel like my pride will be hurt if I ask to beforted by them?"


    Aurora shook her head with a smile, feeling a little amused. "Fine then,e here."


    Evelyn immediately darted into the tinum blonde''s arms with a grin. "Teacher is the best!"


    Feeling the pink haired girl rest her chin on her shoulder and pat her back gently, Aurora couldn''t help but rx after a few moments as she closed her eyes with a sigh.


    Even though it was tofort her student, she couldn''t help but feel that she was the one being consoled.


    Evelyn smiled when she felt Aurora rx in her embrace. "Teacher what have you been so busy with, recently?"

 Chapter 174: Over The Horizon

    Chapter 174: Over The Horizon


    At first, Aurora hadn''t felt the need to share such burdensome things with her student. After all, she was far too young, and still a little short of being strong enough to interfere in such matters.


    But when she considered that the girl was the one at the center of it all, Aurora couldn''t help but hesitate.


    In the end, the tinum blonde could only sigh. "Since you want to know,e and sit."


    Evelyn nodded as she followed Aurora to the bed.


    Her teacher gave her aplicated look from the corner of her eyes before looking away. "Um, before I start, first know that none of it was your fault. This is something that happens every few hundred years."


    The pink haired girl tilted her head in confusion. "Something that happens every few hundred years?"


    Aurora nodded. "Yes. The Terrans have always had the ambition to take over our academy. Even though they fail miserably every time, they continue trying every few centuries. But this time"


    Evelyn gulped. She had no idea that the Terrans had attacked the academy at all. In fact, none of the students or teachers seemed to have any idea.


    She would haveughed, thinking that the Terran attack must have been pathetically weak, if not for her teacher''s grim look.


    The tinum blonde sighed. "I was so focused on getting the next pir ready before a cmity strikes, that Ipletely overlooked who was taking over the principal position This was my fault."


    Evelyn reached out to hold her teacher''s hand. "The new headmaster betrayed us? A-Are you hurt?"


    Aurora shook her head quickly. "No but Hyperion, the old headmaster his situation is dire."


    "What happened?"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "His mind was being manipted by the new headmaster, and in the process of releasing that control, he suffered a grave injury to his mind and soul."


    Evelyn''s expression turned grim. As someone who already had a decent understanding of the searing soul, a grade nine cultivation technique, she had a clear understanding of how bad the situation must be for Aurora to be so helpless.


    Although a soul injury could recover with time, that was only the case in usual situations. In the same way a torn cloth could be sewn back together, the situation changed greatly depending on whether or not there was missing material, and if so, how much.


    Moreover, not all kinds of soul injury were the same. The easiest ''injury'' was obviously when someone exhausted their soul power on their own, such as what she did regrly. Much like a resin being dried up, it could easily be undone once rehydrated.


    A more severe soul injury would be like tearing a hole through a cloth. Even if it could be sewn back together, it would leave a certain ''imperfection''. Evelyn understood that such an injury would directly reduce the total soul value of a person, but it shouldn''t be something that could trouble the top echelon of the academy.


    After all, such an injury could still be recovered from with certain treasures, and even if that wasn''t possible, it would never get worse by itself.


    The pink haired girl bit her lip. "I-Is it getting worse?"


    Aurora shook her head with a rueful smile. Her little student really did exceed her expectations every time. "I''m surprised you could see it, but no. We managed to stop that, but it can''t be undone anymore."


    The fabric of Hyperion''s soul already had a huge hole burnt right through its center, and the edges of this hole were fragile and crumbling like threads that had turned to charcoal. Any attempt to sew the hole shut would only make the situation worse.


    Evelyn frowned. "I can I take a look?"


    Recalling the dark-haired man constantly screaming for Han''s blood, Aurora shook her head with a sigh. "No. Hyperion is more or less a lunatic now. He''ll attack anyone aside from the three pirs on sight, and perhaps only when he kills Han will he be able to regain his mind. You leave this matter to us."


    The pink haired girl rubbed her cheek awkwardly. "That um, teacher, I know you were really worried about the whole defensive array thing what are we going to do now?"


    Aurora looked down thoughtfully. "I don''t know. Hyperion can probably sustain the array, but I''m not sure."


    Evelyn tilted her head in confusion. "Isn''t that what you were worried about?"


    The tinum blonde shook her head with a smile. "No. I''m worried because Han managed to escape with the Terrans alive. I fear what he knew that was so important that he didn''t care for his life."


    Even if the new headmaster hadn''t been born and raised in the academy like her, being a senior professor, he had still been here for hundreds of years. How could he not know the risks he was taking?


    Had Hyperion not managed to interrupt her at that exact moment, or had she been just slightly more decisive, wouldn''t he have lost his life?


    She still felt frustrated when she recalled she had failed to kill him twice. Once, she was interrupted by Hyperion, and then one of the Terran generals shielded the traitor with his body.


    Evelyn frowned. "Teacher, what kind of things are headmasters told that the senior professors don''t know?"


    Aurora blinked. Wasn''t her little student acting like she was going to help her solve all the problems? How long had it been since someone talked to her like this? She couldn''t recall it at all. Perhaps this was a feeling she had never experienced before.


    The tinum blonde swung her legs back and forth, a faint smile lighting up her face. "Many things, but since we were still dealing with integrating Hyperion into our defensive array first, that knowledge wasn''t yet passed on to him."


    Evelyn scratched the back of her head in confusion. "You mean that he only knew what he did since he was a senior professor? That makes no sense couldn''t he have just left earlier, then? It makes no sense to do it right in front of you like that, and risk getting killed?"


    Aurora shook her head in denial. "No. Although I didn''t tell him anything new after he became the headmaster, isn''t there still Hyperion?"


    Realization finally dawned on the pink haired girl. Given that he got caught by such a low level ploy, the old master certainly didn''t have his guard up against this Han guy.


    The tinum blonde gave her a gentle look. "I only worry that he knew about you. If it was anything else, we can still handle it. The academy''s secrets aren''t so hard to exploit, even if someone knows about them, after all."


    Evelyn pointed at herself in confusion. "You mean about me being a throne?"


    Aurora nodded. "Mhm. Although there is no way to be sure, it''s possible that he came to know of it. Unfortunately, Hyperion isn''t quite in his right mind, or we would be able to make sure."


    Evelyn had always known that one day, there was a definite possibility of her special physique to be known by others. After all, she had never told anyone about it, but people managed to discover it by themselves.


    Ruru could still be excused, as she was the ''same'', and had a direct link with herself. But hadn''t Aurora managed to do the same?


    Evelyn had the feeling that, if not for her ability to view her own status, perhaps Aurora would be the one telling her about the ''Lotus Throne'' before she even knew about it herself.


    All that being said, she had always tried her best to grow as fast as possible, just so that by the time her enemies knew, she would be able to more or less defend herself from those threats. Right now, however was she even close to being ready?


    At best, she could kill a junior professor. Was that enough?


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but gulp. "T-Then assuming the Terranse to know of it, w-what do I do?"


    Aurora smiled as she put her hand on her student''s head. "Don''t you still have me here?"


    On the other side of the endless sea, Bonnie stared at her home continent vanishing over the horizon with some mncholy.


    "Reluctant to depart?"


    The blue haired girl straightened immediately. "No, Ancestor!"


    Gwendolyn smiled. "Don''t be so ashamed of it. It''s only natural to miss what you have be used to. If you wish, I can still send you back."


    Bonnie hurriedly shook her head. "I wish to follow you to the old world, ancestor!"


    Gwendolyn just chuckled and turned away, once again staring out into the endless seas.


    Seeing her ancestor no longer paying attention to her, the blue haired girl bit her lip tightly. ''Just what kind of thing can make her move? Everyone tells me she''s been in the same ce for tens of thousands of years Could it be that person?!''


    Recalling the words of her ancestor on that night, years ago, Bonnie suddenly felt a chill run up her spine.


    What kind of person was this ''Lotus Throne''?


    Her ancestor told her it was her peer, a girl of about the same age. She even wanted her to make friends with this Lotus Throne, but Bonnie only felt strange whenever she thought about it.


    Could a person with the same title as her ancestor really exist among her peers? No, even if such a person existed, would they even be able to get along? How could they ever possibly be friends?

 Chapter 175: Temple Of Shinra

    Chapter 175: Temple Of Shinra


    Every continent had its own local superpowers.


    In the past, the superpowers of the ''Old World'' were, indisputably, the ''Ancient Families''. With time, however, that status had slowly been lost to the royalties of various kingdoms and empires, especially after ready ess to Timaeus Vault was no longer a possibility for the ancient families.


    As for the ancient academy, while it was definitely not below their level, it was too passive in nature for inspire any fear in the masses.


    In the ''New World'', however, there had only been one single hegemon that no one dared to defy for thousands of years, and that was the Fairfax family. This wasn''t because the family itself was strong, but because it was rted to the Ocean Throne - Gwendolyn Fairfax.


    With her influence, they were able to grow from being nothing but a minor, insignificant force to what it was today. Perhaps even if all the ''superpowers'' of the old world united, they wouldn''t be able to contend against the Fairfax family. And that was if Gwendolyn herself didn''t interfere.


    Needless to say, every movement of this titanic force was closely observed by the world with much trepidation, and this was especially so for the Temple of Shinra, which dedicated most of its intelligencework to monitoring the Fairfax family and its descendants.


    When the news of the Fairfax ancestor leaving for the ''Old World'' arrived at the temple, all hell broke loose.


    Perhaps the power dynamic of the world was finally going to change after thousands of years.


    After talking to her descendant, Gwendolyn erased her presence and continued staring at the open seas with a smile. "I really am a terrible person to be happy today."


    Every once in a while, she received the spirit eggs from various people around the world who had agreed to pay a certain price to the Fairfax family, and elevated them to the next rank, greatly enhancing the physique of the child to be born.


    The batch she received around a decade ago, however, gave her far more than she ever expected.


    Gwendolyn had always had the thirst to make up for her past mistakes somehow, and to once again meet the Lotus Throne.


    That wasn''t why she wanted to do such a thing, however. After all, the chances of a spirit egg that was capable of turning into a throne just turning up at her doorstep were abysmal at best.


    This had proven to be true, as she had done this for thousands of years, and never once had it ever happened before.


    Instead, the practice of blessing the spirit eggs started more as a countermeasure against the ''Temple of Shinra''.


    Who knew, however, that one day she really would get such a pleasant surprise. Even when she had held that pink veined egg in her hands, Gwendolyn had still partially been in disbelief.


    Eventually, though, she realized that it wasn''t just her hallucination. More than ten thousand yearster her sessor was finally born.


    She couldn''t tell much aside from the fact that not only was her soul value was astonishingly high, but her other stats far exceeded that of an unborn child as well.


    In fact, just the power contained in the spirit egg made her worry that someone else would also discover the same thing. That is, until she realized that the shell couldn''t be seen through by spirit power at all, and only those who could deploy chaos essence had the ability to see through it.


    With a sigh of relief, Gwendolyn had finally given it her blessings, though she knew it was far from enough.


    For a moment, her mind wavered.


    Why not keep her by her side?


    Gwendolyn still felt a chill run up her spine as she recalled how her hands had shivered. At that time, she wanted to control the childpletely. Raise her as her own, and make all her dreamse true.


    After all, the world was a dark and cruel ce. Wouldn''t she be safer with herself?


    Gwendolyn chuckled. "Hehehe if she knew what I did to her predecessor, she''ll realize that being by my side is probably the most dangerous of all. Wouldn''t she hate me then?"


    Besides she was, ultimately, the child of someone else.


    Of course, although her descendants worshipped her as if she was a goddess, a goddess she was not. Gwendolyn couldn''t care less of robbing someone''s child, but what she couldn''t bear was robbing the Lotus Throne''s sessor of her real parents.


    After taking everything away from the previous throne, how could she bear to wrong her sessor?


    The path of a throne couldn''t be as smooth sailing, however, and Gwendolyn knew it better than anyone else.


    It was no longer the same era as that of the previous lotus throne, who had grown so innocent and charming. No, this was an era where the Temple of Shinra controlled everything that she didn''t vie with them for, and continuously increased their influence and strength.


    A newborn throne would be like a delicious feast that had already been served to those beasts.


    Gwendolyn sighed. "I hope that girl managed to train her well so far."


    Meanwhile, back at the academy, Aurora couldn''t help but smile as she listened to Evelyn describing all kinds of shenanigans that Vivian had pulled on Amber, subtly feeling that her gloomy mood all this while waspletely gone.


    Evelyn smiled. "Well, that''s that. Teacher remember your promise to me, okay?"


    Of course, the pink haired girl wasn''t talking about how Aurora promised to protect her, but something else.


    The tinum blonde nodded. "As long as there''s a situation I can''t handle, I will let you know. Even if I think it''s way beyond what you''re capable of. But!"


    Evelyn pouted. "You promised, no buts!"


    Aurora shook her head with a smile. "How can you be so tyrannical against your teacher? Won''t you at least listen first?"


    The pink haired girl coughed in embarrassment. "Well, teacher you speak, I''m listening."


    Aurora hummed. "Well, although I promised to let you know if there is such a situation, you still have to follow teacher''s instructions. Understand?"


    The main reason she had promised to let the girl know was just so she could rest assured, after all. Aurora didn''t want such worries to cloud her mind needlessly, slowing down her growth and preventing her from focusing on her training with one mind.


    It didn''t mean that she agreed with letting her student put herself at risk, at all. If needed, she was even willing to resort to using force to keep her away from a conflict if she deemed it was hopeless for her student to get involved.


    This girl''s life was more precious than anyone else, after all.


    Evelyn frowned. "You can''t say that, teacher! I''ll definitely be obedient, but only if it makes sense. I won''t make that promise. We''ll discuss it on a case-by-case basis!"


    Aurora blinked, wondering if it would be worth it to argue with her, but in the end she decided she might as well give up. In the end, she would just have to use force, anyway.


    This girl wouldn''t listen to her in such a situation even if she promised her, after all. Aurora already knew how naughty and disobedient she could be.


    Seeing her teacher nod, Evelyn grinned. "Good! Thank you, teacher!"


    Meanwhile, in a distant grand temple, a golden haired man hummed in thought after hearing the priest''s report.


    Cold sweat dripped down the aged man''s forehead as he continued kneeling piously, hands shivering from both nervousness and excitement. On one hand, he was facing the lord, but on the other, he came as the bearer of bad news.


    He didn''t even dare look up at the splendor of the man he was facing. "W-We confirmed that the ancestor of the Fairfax family was also on the vessel that left for the old world."


    The priest knew that their lord wouldn''t be happy hearing such a thing. However, that was all the more reason why he didn''t dare conceal.


    After a short, oppressive silence, the golden haired man waved his hand in a clear dismissal, and the kneeling priest was unceremoniously flung out of the hall before he could even gasp.


    The man sighed once he was left alone. " with such timing, it can''t be a coincidence. This confirms that the report earlier was true heh. Gwendolyn, oh Gwendolyn you really dare go against me time and time again, huh? You think I don''t dare fight? Unfortunately for you... I am no longer the same as before, and the same goes for you!"

 Chapter 176: Looming Threat

    Chapter 176: Looming Threat


    The Lord of Bones didn''t mind people waiting on him on their hands and feet, but he himself didn''t like waiting around for anyone or anything.


    Since he had the thought of confronting his old rival, and he knew exactly where she was, the man immediately set out to confront her in person.


    With his ability, the speed of Gwendolyn''s vessel could be considered only slightly faster than a crawling baby.


    Obviously, she still didn''t understand the meaning of carrying burden and slowing herself down, just like thest time. Why take these insignificant people along? He didn''t understand at all.


    The ''burdens'' had all rushed inside the vessel as soon as their ancestor appeared in front of them and gave her instructions, and the golden haired man couldn''t help but sneer. "Do you think I care about those pet insects of yours? No need to be so careful."


    Gwendolyn frowned. "Why are you here?"


    Staring down at the cold face of the blue haired woman from his position high in the sky, he couldn''t help butugh. "What''s with that unweing attitude? You think I can''t fight you in the open seas? Just because you have an advantage here? Heh how long has it been since you felt my strength?"


    Gwendolyn clutched her staff tightly as she gave him a gloomy look. "Come, if you dare, or get out of my way."


    The Lord of Bones immediately burst intoughter. "You know what? Your response has really amused me today, so I''ll just let you go."


    Gwendolyn sneered as she tapped her staff, and the ship continued moving on its previous course,pletely ignoring the Lord of Bones.


    As he watched her leave with a gloomy look on her face, the golden haired man chuckled in his mind. ''I still remember how I had been so scared of attracting her wrath thousands of years ago, when her power had still exceeded mine greatly. Ahh how exciting makes me a little nostalgic.''


    Had it been the Gwendolyn of the past, she would never have let him off for making such a remark. After all, even if she didn''t look for a fight with him, she still had her own pride.


    Challenging her like this in her own domain could be considered the highest form of insult for such a person.


    For her to leave like this, obviously, his personal strength was no longer something that Gwendolyn could look down upon. In fact, if one of them had to be wary of the other, it would have to be her, not him.


    And that wasn''t even counting the force hemanded  ''The Temple of Shinra''.


    In the beginning, it wasn''t something that he created or nurtured deliberately. Just another venture of his descendants who had worshiped him. Of course, he agreed with their ideals of uniting the people under his banner.


    But as it grew in size, The Lord of Bones realized just how greatly it could benefit himself.


    Even for someone at his level, to be able to channel and filter the most valuable resources of the whole world using such a giant force wasn''t something insignificant.


    The moment he realized this, he started actively strengthening the temple, and thus the faith of people in the Lord of Bones grew and grew, to the point where it was now almostpletely dominating the world, if not for a select few ces.


    If there was a ce he had the least influence in, though, it had to be the old world, but that had been quickly changing in the past few centuries.


    This problem stemmed from the fact that the ''Old World'' was separated from his continent by the ''New World'', and Gwendolyn was still an enormous thorn in his side, making it hard for his forces to expand whenever she could.


    The Lord of Bones smiled as he turned his gaze in the direction of the ''Old World''. "Maybe it''s time to pay a visit to some people who seem to have forgotten their ce, after all."


    Meanwhile, back at the academy, Evelyn''s life continued as before, though her approach to growth changed to being far more cautious than before.


    With the threat of the Terrans leaking her identity, she no longer took her friends out of the academy to hunt in the Wondend of Doom.


    After all, although it was technically the academy''s territory, any force that was willing to sacrifice enough strength could be waiting there in ambush.


    Instead, she turned to focus more on learning from the academy''s courses, as well as her own cultivation technique.


    Although the growth rate was far slower this way whenpared to reaping the energy from high-level monsters, Evelyn realized that it had its own advantages as well.


    The energy that was directly absorbed from the channels  be it the world channel or the throne channel  was only able to boost her stats directly, but it wasn''t able to enhance her understanding and overall abilities.


    Cultivating and increasing herprehension of her cultivation technique  Searing Soul  on the other hand, brought her more benefits in other aspects than it did in terms of experience.


    The first and most important of which was, of course, the level ofprehension she had of the ''Soul'' and how to use it.


    This would not only boost her abilities  since her most basic form of attacks relied on utilizing soul energy instead of spirit power  it would also allow her to unlock and understand new abilities more quickly.


    The experience gain, on the other hand, was also not that bad. Obviously, it couldn''t bepared to the massive boosts she could get from ughtering beasts, but thanks to the Searing Soul''s clones being able to cultivate simultaneously, it was still much, much faster than others.


    Evelyn soon realized that the best way to progress was to bnce cultivation and experience gain from killing beasts, at least for herself. It would allow her to gain new abilities, grow at a fast enough pace, and also prevent her from being too far behind in terms of the variety of skills she had.


    Meanwhile, she still had to make sure to keep an eye on the situation outside, in case she could catch any hints on how the Terrans were handling the matter, and what exactly they knew.


    Unfortunately, even though her friends tried their best to help, it didn''t yield many results. Even E, who was a confidant of the princess of an empire allied with the Terrans, seemed to be clueless about what they knew.


    Aside from that, she could only keep an eye on the forbidden cities, as their ess to the outside world was still quite restricted.


    With the absence of the Thousand Eyed God and its convenience to take people through the Wondend of Doom, it was no longer so easy to enter and exit the academy at will, after all.


    And even if Evelyn could, she wouldn''t take such chances at such a critical moment.


    Not long after she started her observation, however, Evelyn realized something strange.


    A force that had previously been dormant in their continent  the Temple of Shinra  seemed to be expanding rapidly.


    In fact, calling them dormant wouldn''t bepletely true, since they still had considerable influence before. Their Golden House, for example, was one of the most prominent forces that dabbled in the business of auctioning artifacts and other rare materials, with only one major force daring topete with them.


    And even their main prospect  the Temples themselves  were spread throughout the continent, providing healing and guidance to people who were willing to submit to the Lord of Bones, one of the great hegemons.


    Or as Evelyn now knew - one of the Thrones.


    That being said, they had never shown to have any ''other'' interests before, and most of the major forces had just assumed that the Lord of Bones couldn''t be bothered with their ''backwater'' ce.


    Now, however, as the Temples seemed to start teeming with more and more militaristic might, and even started sending scouting and conversion parties everywhere, the aristocrats and elites who had previously beencent couldn''t help but panic one by one.


    None of the so-called superpowers could remain calm in the face of such a great foreign force trying to meddle with their business.


    All but one of them, that is.


    Strangely enough, the Kingdom of Terrazyme not only didn''t seem to prevent, hinder, or even worry about the rapid growth of the Temple of Shinra, but they even encouraged it!


    With their seemingly tacit cooperation, and the timing of the whole thing, Evelyn couldn''t help but have a bad feeling.

 Chapter 177: Unstoppable Oppression

    Chapter 177: Unstoppable Oppression


    The atmosphere in the Ancient Academy seemed to get more and more oppressive by the day, and even the students soon became affected by the depression, despite most of them being cut off from the outer world.


    The most that they could hear were rumors that were being circted in the forbidden cities, but what little they did hear was still enough to send chills up their spine.


    The war between the superpowers had already made many of them anxious, especially the students of Gwyntere and the Lavinian Empire, but they hadn''tpletely lost hope.


    After all, it wasn''t the first time these two superpowers were fighting, and it likely wouldn''t be thest. The situation was dire, but certainly not apocalyptic.


    With some luck, their families should be able to survive, or so most of them thought. With theck ofmunication and istion from the outer world, they could only convince themselves so.


    However, the matter of one of the strongest powers in the world expanding their influence while using the Terrazyme Kingdom as their spearhead was something else entirely.


    Even the Aquans, who had mostly maintained a neutral stance, for the most part, couldn''t help but be rmed.


    Their world only had three major continents, and thest one that faced the Temple of Shinra''s rapid expansion was already ''united as one'' under their ''guidance''. Would their fate be the same?


    Even if themoners didn''t care so much, the elites immediately lost all their sleep.


    As Evelyn made her way to the ''cafeteria'', ignoring the hundreds of strange looks being thrown her way, she couldn''t help but do a double-take at the haggard appearance of E. "What happened to you?"


    The green-haired girl shook her head with a sigh. "Nothing much, Evelyn. Don''t worry, I was just worried for my princess."


    The pink-haired girl frowned. "What''s wrong with her?"


    E seemed to hesitate for a while before she grit her teeth. "It''s no secret. But the royal fleet was confiscated by the Temple of Shinra. I don''t believe my princess or the empress would agree to give it up, a-and I haven''t heard from her."


    After a moment of silence, she held her head in her hands and groaned. "She didn''t even reply to my message earlier!"


    Evelyn had thought that they were only slowly increasing their influence and making preparations, but to be able to seize what was possibly the greatest fleet in the continent, although it was not militaristic in nature it seemed like whatever they were nning to do wouldn''t take long at all.


    ''Moreover, if they can just suppress the royal families like that'' Evelyn sighed. ''No, of course they can, what am I thinking? As long as one of the hegemons gives an order, would they dare to disobey?''


    Evelyn didn''t know the exact power dynamic between the local superpowers of the continent and the old thrones, but she was sure that the thrones should still be able to suppress them somehow.


    In that case, there was no telling what happened to the Aquan princess.


    She couldn''t help but shake her head. Even if she thought so, saying that while E was so distraught would be insensitive at best. "Maybe she''s just busy, so"


    E groaned. "My princess won''t ignore me!"


    Evelyn didn''t know how else to console her, so she could only smile awkwardly. E was one of the people she was relying on to obtain the information she otherwise wouldn''t be able to know, so she still owed her quite a bit in terms of favors.


    Just as they were about to continue their conversation, however, a palpitation ran through her heart, and her eyes unconsciously turned towards the sky.


    A wave of power seemed to have materialized high up, far above them and in the distance, but even then, Evelyn felt a threat of death just from the vague sensation.


    ''T-This is so much spirit power?! No, t-that''s something else!''


    There was no time for her to prepare at all, and the wave of power shed like a bolt of lightning, and a tremendous impact rang through the ears of every student and teacher in the academy.


    Evelyn ran out of the cafeteria even as most students copsed on the ground in shock and fear, and finally saw the white spear in the sky, far in the distance.


    It was right above the tower of solitude.


    A thinyer of protection had halted it in its tracks, but it only seemed to be able to hold the spear back momentarily before it slowly started pushing downwards. An agonizingly painful screeching echoed throughout the academy with every inch of its progress through the barrier, and Evelyn saw its direction change away from the tower, tilting more and more sideways.


    By the time it was close to the ground, it was already dozens of meters away from the Tower of Solitude. The thin film finally gave way, and a shockwave erupted from the spear as it was embedded into the ground.


    It seemed to be harmless, but wherever it passed, the people there heard a peal of scathing and mockingughter in their ears. ''Don''t meddle in the games of the mighty, you powerless fools!''


    Those who hadn''t fainted already felt a shock in their hearts, along with uncontroble fear.


    By the time Evelyn arrived, Aurora was already standing right in front of the bone spear with a grim look on her face.


    "T-Teacher"


    The tinum blonde turned to look at her student, and sighed. "Don''t worry. Although it looks like this"


    She paused, as if not sure how to continue.


    Evelyn moved forward and held her hand, her brows furrowed in worry. "Who was that?"


    Aurora looked at the bone spear, her expression indifferent. "An old enemy."


    The pink-haired girl of course didn''t believe that was all. After all, the voice had made it clear that whoever it was considered ''them'', presumably the academy, as the outsiders.


    Evelyn believed this attack was a warning.


    She could only grit her teeth and clench the soft palm in her grasp. "Please tell me the truth! You know I''m selfish and greedy. I won''t do anything stupid and selfless."


    Aurora gave her a strange look before shaking her head with a smile. "What are you thinking? Have I ever lied to you?"


    Evelyn felt her words get caught in her throat. Since it was true, she really couldn''t refute it.


    The tinum blonde sighed. "Don''t overthink. He is an old enemy to us, but maybe to him, we''re no longer worth mentioning."


    Evelyn frowned, suddenly having a bad feeling in her heart. "I-Is it the throne in control of the Temple of Shinra?"


    Aurora nodded. "That''s right. The Lord of Bones, as he''s called, can be considered our enemy dating back to ten thousand years, if not more. Since before I was born, I have known that a day woulde that he would wipe us out."


    Evelyn furrowed her brows, feeling a little annoyed in her heart. "That will never happen."


    ''I won''t let it happen.'' Is what she wanted to say, but knowing her own strength, Evelyn knew that such words were meaningless. In fact, if not for Aurora''s protection, she would have to resort to a life of running away and hiding continuously to ensure her survival.


    The pink-haired girl sighed. "Forget it, teacher are you hurt?"


    Aurora shook her head with a smile. "Don''t worry, we''re not so weak. Or do you think he would go away like this? I don''t know how much strength he used, but this attack couldn''t have been effortless."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but bite her lip. "B-But"


    The tinum blonde nodded. "Right, in the end, his attack did get through. We couldn''t coordinate the barrier well because of Hyperion''s condition. Moreover even if he was in his prime, we couldn''t block that attackpletely. But didn''t we avoid the destruction of the Tower of Solitude?"


    Evelyn thought the exnation from her teacher made some sense, but the dreadful feeling in her heart only became more intense.


    The more she thought about it, the more something appeared wrong. Especially when Aurora didn''t scold her when she used her probe skill, not able to control her anxiety, the feeling only got worse.


    From the moment she had known Aurora, it had always appeared to her as if the tinum blonde didn''t have her priorities right. Especially when it came to herself, there was something that just didn''t sit well with Evelyn.


    Clearly, she had promised that she would share any worries and troubles that she couldn''t handle, but Evelyn had the feeling that she had been foolish to believe in that promise.


    After all, ''couldn''t handle'' in her mind was probably a lot different from what her teacher thought.


    How far would Aurora allow herself to be hurt before she decided it was something she couldn''t handle?


    The pink-haired girl frowned as she squeezed her palm. "Y-You promised you won''t hide from me if you needed help, so"

 Chapter 178: A Big Gift

    Chapter 178: A Big Gift


    By now, many other students and teachers had tried to approach this area once they realized that the attacker had left, and the threat passed.


    Of course, some had run away farther to distance themselves, as they were still overwhelmed by an instinctual fear, but more were curious about what happened, and were driven here by that curiosity.


    This was especially the case for the senior professors and the like, who believed they had the right to look into the situation and be briefed on the details.


    Of course, they were all blocked by a thin, transparent film far away from the tower of solitude, and before long, the transparent film turned cloudy and opaque, obscuring both their vision and hearing.


    Some of the senior professors were obviously a little dissatisfied. "What''s going on? Is no one going to exin to us how we managed to anger someone who could shoot through all those barriers?"


    "I think maybe we''ll get an exnationter. The pirs must still be dealing with the situation"


    The situation inside the barrier remained unperturbed regardless of their discussion, and Evelyn continued to look at Aurora with a slightly teary and imploring gaze.


    While Aurora was clearly resistant to her interference in a matter that she considered beyond her ability to handle, her student''s insistence was too much, and in the end, she could only give in.


    The tinum blonde sighed in defeat. "Fine I''ll tell you, but since I''m trusting you, shouldn''t you also listen to your teacher?"


    Evelyn nodded, feeling both relieved and a little ashamed. "I''ll of course listen to you, as long as you''re not going to get hurt unreasonably."


    Aurora shook her head with a helpless smile. "Alright. The situation isn''t as dire as it looks. If our academy was so weak that he could wipe us out on a whim, he would have long done so. So"


    The pink-haired girl frowned. "But he clearly managed to do this right? If he wanted to kill someone in particr"


    Obviously, her meaning didn''t escape her teacher, and she shook her head with a smile. "It''s not so simple. Our main defensive array covers such a wide area, and is best at preventing entry. When ites to blocking attacks, although it''s slightly worse, but it''s still good enough to handle such things for a long time."


    Evelyn bit her lip nervously. "Then"


    Aurora sighed. "This attack, I believe, was not as simple as it looks. He made it sound like he just passed by and shot us offhandedly, but it clearly is very different from what he used back then."


    The pink-haired girl blinked. "Back then?"


    Aurora nodded. "Mhm there are records of the Lord of Bones fighting, though they are ancient and scarce, and I''ve studied them for a long time."


    Of course, she had done the same for the other throne, Gwendolyn, but her records were even more scarce.


    The tinum blonde smiled. "Believe me, no matter how strong he is, there is no way he cane inside our academy and go on a rampage without smashing his head against our barrier for months."


    Evelyn felt a tight string in her heart loosen slightly as she breathed out in relief. "I see that''s good. But if he can do this, he doesn''t really need to enter at all, right?"


    Aurora shook her head. "As I told you before, this attack isn''t as simple as it seems. Even from here, I can feel some type of strange energy from the spear which hasn''t dissipated at all. Maybe it will stay there for a long time, as a symbol of our failure. Perhaps that was his goal today."


    Thinking of the tens of thousands of years of the academy''s glory being slowly ruined like this, perhaps just for the amusement of that man, Aurora couldn''t help but feel as if a knife was twisting through her heart.


    Evelyn turned to look at the spear closely, but as she tried to move closer, she felt a soft palmnd on her shoulder.


    Facing her teacher''s grim look, the pink-haired girl smiled. "Teacher, why are you so worried? Am I stupid enough to kill myself by smashing my head against that spear?"


    The tinum blonde frowned. "Don''t joke around, Evelyn. That thing is overflowing with some strange energy. I can tell it''s not spirit power, or even soul power"


    Evelyn blinked, feeling as if a lightbulb had been lit inside her head. "Ah Teacher, you watch me, okay? I promise nothing will happen!"


    She didn''t give Aurora any time to hesitate at all, and immediately moved closer till the spear was within the range of her probe skill.


    Aurora felt like her heart was about to jump into her throat when the pink-haired girl dashed towards the spear overflowing with strange, corrosive power, but thankfully the girl stopped some distance away.


    Evelyn quickly looked at the panel that disyed the status of the spear, and instantly, a wide grin lit up her face.


    Chaos Bone Spear


    ???


    ???


    ???


    Although its internal details weren''t visible to her, perhaps because it was an object still overflowing with the energy of her opponent, or it being too high for her level, or maybe simply because the system was unable toprehend it but her goal was achieved.


    When she had heard Aurora mention that the spear seemed to flow with some energy that was different from both spirit power and soul energy, she already had the feeling that it must be the strange energy that she had managed to obtain from that orb.


    Whether the source of it was the ''Thousand Eyed God'' or Bree''s inheritance, they could both be considered to be things that existed at the pinnacle of this world''s strength, perhaps only slightly below the two thrones.


    If there was another type of energy that those high-level beings used, then it made sense for those who were close to that threshold to be able to use the same, even if it was to a lesser extent.


    Seeing her student almost jump in excitement, Aurora couldn''t help but give her a weird look. "Don''t tell me you want to keep this spear for yourself?!"


    The thought almost sent her mind reeling.


    Aurora had always known how greedy and cheeky her student could be, but this was really too much!


    After all, this wasn''t an artifact, or an object that could be moved at will, but an attack that seemed to be formed purely from energy!


    Although that bone looked solid, Aurora knew that every time the Lord of Bones attacked, he only used some of his physical essence to form the bone outside, and didn''t actually pull it directly out of his body.


    Just looking at the size of this spear, which was twice as tall as her little student, there was no way it came out of any part of the physical body of the Lord of Bones. His stature wasn''t much different from a human, after all.


    Evelyn coughed in embarrassment. "T-Teacher, I know this will be a bit hard to believe, but if you let me bring my little puppy here, then this thing she''ll eat it up in one go!"


    Her teacher was silent for a while before she shook her head in amusement. "What kind of ideas are going through that head of yours? Just because she''s a puppy and this is a bone"


    The pink-haired girl looked at her with an extremely offended expression on her face. "H-Howe you make it sound like I''m stupid? I obviously never said it''s because she''s a puppy No, to begin with, she''s not actually a dog?!"


    Aurora coughed. "Well, no matter what, this thing is just a stain on our reputation. No need to put your dear puppy into danger just so"


    Evelyn quickly shook her head. "No no, you don''t understand, teacher. This thing it''s actually good for me! I can take this energy for myself using Bree!"


    The amount of chaos energy this thing contained was probably many times that of the tentacle from the ''Thousand Eyed God'', and thinking about being able to absorb it for herself, Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a little giddy.


    Even if it wasn''t in terms of tens of thousands of points, it would still at least be over a thousand, right?! In total, how many points of spirit power would she gain, and how much would herprehension of chaos shoot up? It had to be worth dozens of levels!


    Although the Lord of Bones had done this to shame and disgrace them, and she would definitely count it on his head in the future  while bashing it in, of course  Evelyn actually felt it was pretty good.


    After all, wasn''t this just an express delivery of spirit power and speedprehension package for chaos energy?!


    Evelyn couldn''t help but giggle at that thought. ''If that Lord of Bones guy knew he was just sending me a big gift, I wonder how angry he''ll be?''

 Chapter 179: Come, Bree

    Chapter 179: Come, Bree


    Aurora already knew about Bree''s existence, even before Evelyn hade along, though they couldn''t be said to be familiar with each other.


    As one of the most talented students they''d had so far, the girl had managed to reach the level of almost a senior professor before entering her twenties! Even if she had left the academy at that time, Aurora had been hopeful that the girl would one day return and join them as a pir. After all, few had that kind of potential, and fewer still whom she liked.


    Among the academy staff, though, Bree''s name was more controversial. Her name had once been a matter of pride, but eventually, few people spoke of it. It wasn''t that she did something unforgivable, or that they hated her, but not everyone could bear the embarrassment.


    After all, someone who was barely a fraction of their age was already close to surpassing them. Even if they could suppress the jealousy, few could suppress the inferiority in their heart while thinking of someone who was too dazzling. Whether they were looking at it in terms of talent, level, skill, or affinities she wasn''tcking at all. The only thing shecked, perhaps, was her background, but that hardly mattered much at the academy.


    Before she graduated, Bree was already level seventy-five, and at that time she could already go toe-to-toe with opponents that were over ten levels above her.


    Mortal elders could alwaysment that their bodies were not what they used to be, and they could no longer learn as fast, and praise their juniors wholeheartedly, but these teachers could only feel a sense of inferiority whenpared to such a student.


    In contrast, someone like Cecilia was still more eptable. Her growth rate may be fast, but she would still be in her fifties or more by the time she reached their level. At least, that is what they assumed.


    As for Craig, who was considered the ''greatest talent in the academy'', there was always the excuse of him having the backing and resources of an entire kingdom for his growth.


    Aurora considered these things to be beneath her, as the growth of others had nothing to do with herself. Why should she be ashamed or proud if someone''s pace was faster or slower than herself?


    As someone of the Qilin bloodline, Bree must certainly have her own some special abilities stemming from that source, but Aurora wasn''t a stranger to spirit beasts. Although the Qilin were a rare species, she had still met a few, and none of them could do what Evelyn was iming.


    But even if Aurora had her doubts, she still decided to believe in her student''s words.


    Looking at the disapproving frown on her teacher''s face, Evelyn grinned, already knowing she had agreed. "Thank you, teacher! I''ll bring her right away?"


    Aurora sighed as she took a silver cloak out of her spatial artifact and wrapped it around the younger girl''s shoulders. "Go, then. I''ll wait for you, but remember If you do this, it''s your own responsibility."


    Evelyn nodded seriously. "I understand."


    The tinum blonde gave her a grim look. "Do you? Since I don''t understand that thing fully, I cannot tell if I''ll be able to protect your little puppy if something goes wrong. Don''t cry if"


    Before she could continue her warning, the pink haired girl enveloped her in a hug. "Thank you for worrying about me, but don''t worry. I definitely won''t disappoint you!"


    Watching her rush away without giving her a chance to respond, Aurora could only stand there and sigh as she let the girl pass through the barrier.


    The silver cloak that Aurora gave her allowed Evelyn to conceal both her aura and appearance. Although its defensive value wasn''t very high, it was perfect to prevent her identity from being discovered under these circumstances.


    Evelyn knew that there were sure to be quite a few people already waiting outside, and since Aurora had concealed everything like that, she decided not to let her teacher''s efforts go to waste and immediately poured some spirit power to activate the cloak''s effects.


    The waiting crowd only saw a glimmering silver figure dash past them through the barrier, and while they were curious, no one dared to get in their way, or even follow them.


    If they ended up disturbing whatever the pirs were doing to rectify the situation, there was no telling how severe the punishment would be. It was better to wait for an exnation first.


    "Who was that?"


    "Well, considering they moved out of the barrier created by the pirs, must be one of their hidden subordinates?"


    It didn''t take long for Evelyn to reach the White Lily Mansion and carry Bree back into the barrier.


    She noticed that the crowd outside was slightly smaller than before, and the pink haired girl couldn''t help but furrow her brows.


    While it was entirely possible that some people got bored, the most likely case was that they made some hasty assumptions and decided to err on the side of caution.


    She had a feeling that the longer this matter was left alone, the worse the damage to the academy.


    Even if she hadn''t had any feelings for it, she was not so coldhearted as to not care about how Aurora felt after everything she had done for her. And her teacher clearly cared for this ce, even if she rarely made it obvious.


    She found the tinum blonde still waiting near the bone spear, a little bit closer than where Evelyn remembered.


    Aurora gave the golden puppy in her student''s arms aplicated look. One of the best students from her academy was now like this, turned into her student''s pet.


    Moreover, she was going to take such a huge risk for them. She had no idea how to feel about the whole thing.


    Evelyn rubbed the golden hair on Bree''s head with a smile. "Are you ready? You remember what I told you, right?"


    The little puppy nodded her head enthusiastically, and Aurora felt even more guilty. ''The poor thing probably doesn''t understand much at all''


    Had she not been tied down with all the things, maybe she could have taken them to the spiritnds to solve her troubles first.


    The tinum blonde quickly shook her head in denial. ''No I just didn''t think it was important enough. I thought it would be too much of a waste to spend a few years going back and forth to the spiritnds at such a critical juncture. But''


    If Bree was really able to help solve their problem today, then not to mention the academy, Aurora herself would owe her a big debt.


    The tinum blonde quickly made up her mind. ''Regardless I''ll find a way to fix her state.''


    Evelyn''s thoughts weren''t soplicated, as she was already fully focused on leading Bree to dissolve the spear and purify its energy for herself.


    Aurora may know a lot more than her, and normally her warnings would have made Evelyn hesitate, but there were a few things that the pink haired girl was confident that no one but herself knew that well.


    Whether it was her primordial ability ''Cmity'' and its effects, or the strange bond that had formed due to the burnout from Bree''s inheritance ability''s overuse how could anyone else be more familiar with that than her?


    Evelyn knew very well that Bree was no longer what she used to be, and while she had paid a great price, what she had obtained in return wasn''t worse at all.


    Just the fact that she could refine the Thousand Eyed God''s tentacles into the Chaos Essence Bead while still being a little puppy that was almost on the verge of death was proof enough.


    Even if the Lord of Bones could crush them both at will, Evelyn didn''t believe that an attack that was already separated from his consciousness couldn''t be refined by them!


    The golden puppy had already changed to her human form by now, and was tightly holding Evelyn''s hand as they stood just an arm''s length away from the chill exuding spear.


    The corrosive miasma seemed to subtly weave around the tiny blonde, which made it avoid Evelyn as well, and Aurora finally felt a little more confident in their ims.


    Evelyn smiled as she patted the little blonde''s head. "Go on."


    Bree nodded at her ''mother'' and reached out with one hand to directly grasp the bone spear. No matter how the miasma wanted to avoid her now, there was no way it could escape its source.


    A shockwave burst from the spear almost immediately, and Aurora barely resisted the urge to pull them both back as she stared at the duo, her gaze unblinking.


    Although she could see them shivering, the strange energy from before was already thickly clouding her senses and making her unable to judge the situation.


    Aurora was already faintly regretting her decision. Hyperion''s state had regressed a little after powering the array, and the other two pirs had to stay behind while Aurora came to the Tower of Solitude by herself.


    Before her student arrived, however, both Kaizen and Kaling had tried tomunicate with her from outside the barrier, requesting entry to help her solve the situation.


    Of course, since she herself had no solution, Aurora had instinctively wanted to believe in her student, and ended up telling them to return and control the other situation first.


    The tinum blonde shook her head with a sigh. ''Forget it I''ve already made the choice, so I can only bear the consequences.''

 Chapter 180: Assimilation

    Chapter 180: Assimtion


    The moment she had learned that the boisterous man who came to threaten the academy was a throne, Evelyn couldn''t help but have some doubts.


    How could that man have left so simply after knowing that his attack had been, for the most part, ineffective?


    Aurora''s exnations made some sense, and Evelyn agreed that using the Chaos Bone Spear might have been quite taxing, even for the Lord of Bones, since it could so easily pass through their main defensive formation, despite it being powered by four pirs.


    However, no matter how taxing it was, seeing his attack fail to do what he wanted, there should have been some dissatisfaction or anger.


    After all, from what Evelyn knew, the two thrones of this world had been at the top of the food chain for a very long time already. And the Lord of Bones was definitely the more domineering of the two.


    For such a person, there was no way they could so easily swallow the breath of being countered by a weaker party.


    The only reason he could leave so easily after throwing the Chaos Bone Spear down was if it had already achieved its purpose.


    Her conjectures proved to be correct as she was able to observe the flow of energy from up close, but it didn''t bring Evelyn much joy at all.


    Had the main defensive array not diverted it from its original path, it was expected that the ''Tower of Solitude'', along with the multitude of precious cultivation technique discs, would all have been destroyed, and the spear would have still plunged deep into the ground.


    That is to say the ''Tower of Solitude'' was just an optional side objective, and the main target of the ''Chaos Bone Spear'' had always been the academy''s soil.


    Evelyn would never have thought of such a thing, or known of its effects, had Aurora not already told her about the main defensive array''s engravings being deep underground.


    And looking at the chaotic flow of energy that kept plunging into the depths of the earth from the spear tip she knew exactly what was happening.


    The pink haired girl chuckled. "Heh instead of bashing his head against the main defensive barrier for months, he would just leave this poisonous needle in the academy''s belly, and wait for it to corrode from within, huh? Maybe by the time Aurora realized it no, even if she realized it, she probably wouldn''t have been able to do anything!"


    Thinking of the consequences had the barrier been allowed to copse, Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a chill run up her spine. In a frontal confrontation, it was highly likely that the Lord of Bones would be able to easily ughter the pirs one by one.


    Not to mention her own safety, just the fact that she would have been losing Aurora had that happened was already enough to both terrify her and fill her with rage.


    Thankfully, now that the spear was in Bree''s grasp, the chaos energy had already stopped flowing downwards, and started being channeled through her body instead.


    The process was the same as the pink haired girl had expected, but the result was not. Bree''s golden hair glowed, and lightning sparked but the spear remained the same.


    Evelyn''s breath hitched in her throat as she watched Bree''s expression turn painful as she clutched at the white bone with both palms, her forehead creasing as she bit her lip till it bled.


    Throwing caution to the wind, the pink haired girl immediately grasped Bree''s shoulders and directly opened the link deep within their soul. Evelyn''s eyes turned vacant, and Bree''s expression immediately became ck.


    It had existed since the time she had enved the Lavinian princess, but Evelyn never thought one day she would use it like this.


    There was no time to think about the possible problems it could cause. She couldn''t let anything happen to Bree.


    Exploring the blonde girl''s body and soul, Evelyn soon discovered the root of the problem.


    There was just too much chaos energy flooding into the little girl''s body at once, and she couldn''t bear it. Moreover, the concentration of it was so thick and heavy that it was far more difficult to dissolve and purify than anything she had handled before.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but have a headache as she thought about it. She had thought that the Chaos Bone Spear could, at most, have tens of times more chaos energy than the tentacles of the Thousand Eyed God.


    After all, those were still the body parts of the strongest beast on the continent, while this was just one attack from someone at a higher level. The difference could be great, but not overwhelmingly so.


    Bree should still have been able to handle it, all things considered, even if it was a hundred times worse. She had grown considerably since then, and purifying those tentacles from the ''Thousand Eyed God'' hadn''t looked very challenging even then.


    But she failed to consider the fact that the tentacles were enormous in size, and when Bree purified them, the chaos energy seeped out only a little bit at a time.


    Inparison, although the spear could be considered rge'', it was only a fraction of the size of one of that thing''s tentacles, but the chaos energy it contained was horrifyinglyrge.


    The moment Bree tried to purify it, the dense and overwhelming amount of chaos energy was able to instantly clog everything that made the process work, and had nothing been done to resolve it, it would slowly suffocate and smother Bree''s soul from within.


    As she took a look around, Evelyn now understood that although the process looked simple and quick, Bree actually did work very hard to purify things for her every time. It wasn''t effortless at all.


    In her soul form, Bree was still an adult  the beautiful fairy that had stunned her all those years ago  but she was crying like a little baby.


    Clearly, although she looked like this, her mentality remained that of a child, and after being overwhelmed, she could only sob and call for her mother.


    Evelyn didn''t waste another moment before she directly enveloped Bree''s soul with her own, her smaller arms wrapping around the older girl''s head as she embraced her. "Don''t worry, I''ll protect you."


    The golden haired girl looked up her pitifully, and her eyes immediately shone as she saw her mother hade to help.


    Evelyn ran her hand through Bree''s golden hair before turning her gloomy gaze at the dense, corrosive miasma that was now flooding her soul space. "Do what you always do, okay? I''ll handle everything else."


    Bree had full confidence and faith in her ''mother'', and obediently did as she was told, closing her eyes as she started plucking out small bits of the dense chaos essence around her,plete ignoring the vast flood that followed as soon as she did so.


    The expected result would have been a searing pain as her soul was sted with far more energy than she was prepared to handle, damaging it over and over again till she gave up, however, that didn''t happen.


    Bree kept her eyes closed as she concentrated on her task, not doubting the abilities of her ''mother'' at all. After all, her mother knew everything, and could do anything.


    Evelyn obviously didn''t have it so easy, as she was nowhere close to omnipotent. She could only shield Bree''s soul with her own in the most direct way possible - cing herself between the corrosive energy that Bree had rejected, and the girl''s soul.


    Although this meant that Bree would only need to handle the amount that she plucked out each time, it left the pink haired girl to bear the brunt of everything that was left. If she couldn''t bear it her soul would soon be torn to shreds.


    Thankfully, there was one saving grace and that was her understanding of the chaos energy itself.


    Although she only had a little over 12% progress in the preliminary understanding of chaos that was still exponentially more than what Bree had. Compared to her bearing it all with just her soul and bloodline, Evelyn could actually resist and handle it to some extent.


    Up until now, her contact with ''Chaos'' was limited to the filtered product that Bree had handed to her before, as well as the faint understanding from the rotation of ''Chaos Incarnate''.


    But this time, Evelyn was able to feel the chaos energy directly with her soul.


    Evelyn''s expression immediately distorted in pain and agony as her soul suffered from the erosion of the chaos energy, but she wouldn''t just let it burn her like that, and did her best to both repel and assimte what she could.


    Along with the pain, her soul power was also consumed, but it wasn''t all a loss.


    Consumed 10 points of Soul Value.


    Preliminary understanding of chaos +0.1%


    Consumed 10 points of Soul Value.


    Preliminary understanding of chaos +0.1%


    Although her expression remained distorted in pain, deep within her heart Evelyn smiled.

 Chapter 181: Reversal

    Chapter 181: Reversal


    Although Bree''s mind wasn''t back to its full maturity yet, she was still able to understand that the situation was dire, and was thus fully focused on refining the chaos energy ording to the instructions of her ''mother''.


    Meanwhile, Evelyn made sure to not only protect herpletely from the iing chaos energy that she hadn''t plucked yet, but also to help her channel it better, making it easier for her to ''pluck''.


    Although this way, her soul value deteriorated even faster, Evelyn knew that she couldn''t simply continue relying on Bree''s previous pace, as her soul would have run dry long before the girl was finished, and then both of them would be doomed.


    Her tactic proved to be effective as Bree''s pace of refinement increased, but it also pushed Evelyn ever closer to a desperate situation. If she truly started running low on soul power, regardless of her understanding of the soul and her cultivation technique, she would still lose her mind to the pain after a certain point.


    Once she became unable to channel the chaos energy properly, with their current situation she could only take Bree away using their soul link, and abandon the girl''s body.


    Evelyn grit her teeth as her expression distorted in pain. ''N-No, I can''t let that happen!''


    Quickly checking her stats only confirmed her thoughts.


    -Evelyn Knox: Level 78 [5,035 / 29,500]


    Hybrid Physique: Blessed Spirit, Lotus Throne


    Strength: 788 = 23640 KG


    Spirit Power: 1239 / 1239


    -Final dimensions of the inventory space: 111.33 meters long x 111.33 meters wide x 111.33 meters high


    Inventory Status: 84% Empty


    Soul Value: 2,276 / 2,296


    Vitality: 761 Years Left


    -[ Abilities / Enhancements ]


    [Hunter], [Artist], [Basic Spatial Maniption], [Basic Probe], [Minor Shield], [Disease Immunity], [Poison Immunity], [Advanced Regeneration], [Cmity], [Advanced Spatial Maniption], [Chaos Incarnate], [Soul Searing Shot], [Draconic Scales], [Lethal Leap], [Pyromaniac]


    Dream Weaver: Level 1 [Proficiency 3.16%]


    -Cultivation Method: Searing Soul [Grade 9]


    [Soul Avatar]


    [Soul Dominion]


    [Preliminary Understanding of Chaos] = 12.2%!


    Her [Preliminary Understanding of Chaos] was continuously rising at a steady pace, but Evelyn knew that it wasn''t enough.


    Consumed 10 points of Soul Value.


    -Current Soul Value is 2,266 / 2,296


    Preliminary understanding of chaos increased by +0.1%


    -[Preliminary Understanding of Chaos] is now at 12.3%


    Since she was only gaining 0.1% for every ten points of soul value she lost, Evelyn knew that she would only be able to reach a little over 30% in her understanding of chaos energy by the time her soul value fell to critical levels.


    Even if she could somehow endure till her soul value waspletely depleted, which was almost impossible, she would only reach 35.1% in her [Preliminary Understanding of Chaos], which was far from enough to change anything in this situation.


    She could only wrack her brains trying to figure out some other way to resolve the situation, but that only decreased her learning rate.


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but feel distressed as she held Bree in her arms. ''N-No, I can''t rely on blindly believing that something will change once I reach 20% or 30% in my [Preliminary Understanding of Chaos]. I need to take the risk!''


    Evelyn knew that continuing to go on at this rate would only doom them both, so she could only take drastic measures, and directly send a part of her soul into Bree''s. The golden haireddy flinched as she felt the foreign energy flooding from Evelyn''s arms into her shoulders and straight to her heart, but soon calmed down.


    Perhaps she felt the deep connection between the two of them, or maybe she realized that it was her ''mother'', but just like she hadn''t resisted Evelyn''s intrusion to her soul space, she allowed her into the her soul itself, and even assisted her along.


    At this point, Evelyn was clearly able to see the filtration process of the chaos energy, and while there was nothing she could do to assist Bree, witnessing it with her own eyes greatly boosted the rate at which she could learn about the chaos energy!


    The rate at which her [Preliminary Understanding of Chaos] grew drastically, and by the time Evelyn''s soul value dropped to 800 points, she had alreadyprehended it by over 50%!


    From that point, the road was even smoother, and she was even able to guide Bree''s consciousness subtly to handle the chaos energy more efficiently, increasing the rate of filtration by more than half.


    Evelyn didn''t know if the chaos energy left behind by the Lord of Bones had the ability to ''think'' on its own, but shortly after the situation changed it seemed to ''panic''.


    The flood of chaos energy intensified, and Evelyn''s soul suffered even greater impact than before while she protected Bree within her embrace, but Evelyn''s expression eased instead.


    By throwing itself at them, the chaos energy had unknowingly assisted them instead! After all, the situation was no longer the same as before, and Evelyn knew it would only get better.


    [Preliminary Understanding of Chaos] has reached 60%!


    [Preliminary Understanding of Chaos] has reached 70%!


    [Preliminary Understanding of Chaos] has reached 80%!


    [Preliminary Understanding of Chaos] has reached 90%!


    And as she expected, by the time her soul value dropped to [300 / 2296], her [Preliminary Understanding of Chaos] was already at 100%!


    Immediately, it was as if a whole new world had opened up to her, and Evelyn could breathe in fresh air while previously she had been suffocating.


    It was as if she was now able to connect with a deeper part of the universe, and tap into a source of energy she previously was never able to feel!


    The chaos energy that had previously appeared corrosive and almost untameable immediately looked no different from flowing water - something that she could easily guide and make use of as long as she handled it properly, and Evelyn wasted no time at all in doing exactly that.


    The floods within Bree''s soul space immediately seemed to have been constricted by an invisible force, and the miasma that had been previously wreaking havoc became docile and orderly, bing far easier to handle for Bree, whose filtration speed immediately doubled.


    Evelyn''s smile turned rxed, and with another thought, she directly connected with Bree to further guide her in the handling of chaos energy. Even though she was unable topletely convey her meaning, the speed of filtration directly quadrupled!


    The vast amount of chaos energy started shrinking in the blink of an eye, and before long it was over!


    Meanwhile, the Lord of Bones frowned as he felt a strange tremor in his heart, as if something had gone wrong. ''What''s going on?''


    At his level, there were very few things he needed to worry about, and even fewer enemies that could bring him harm. Regardless, the Lord of Bones hadn''t lived for so long by being careless.


    Concentrating within himself, he was unable to find any anomaly, and soon started inspecting his domain, only toe to the same conclusion.


    Nothing was wrong.


    The Lord of Bones couldn''t help but frown.


    There were many things that could have gone wrong, but few that could really be considered bothersome.


    The expansion of the Temple of Shinra in the Old World was going as nned, and a quick check with the priests under hismand indicated that nothing was wrong.


    The various royal families were obviously unable to sit still for long, but their schemes and movements were obvious and under his control. But even though he was certain it couldn''t be so, the Lord of Bones was cautious by nature, and still sent someone to bring him a report.


    Before long, however, it became clear that nothing they were doing was out of his calctions, and they were still within control. Although they were trying their best to p their wings, could a bird within a cage ever hope of flying away?


    The only ce he couldn''t check, was the now fully isted base of Gwendolyn''s forces in the Old World. With his old rival staying there, there was really no way for his subordinates to bring in any news.


    The golden-haired man couldn''t help but rub his chin in thought. "Could it be that Gwendolyn did something? I thought she would take some time to inquire about the matters in the old world first, but if she wants to speed things along heh, I''d be happy to oblige!"

 Chapter 182: Springing The Trap

    Chapter 182: Springing The Trap


    With all the chaos energy that had flooded into Bree''s body filtered into a sparkling white pearl, Evelyn was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.


    Now that its source of power was gone, the Chaos Bone Spear should either have already broken down, or be a powerless shell that she could then reuse for herself.


    The only thing that disturbed her was the fact that she could feel that the intent that had been guiding the chaos energy had managed to escape in the end, though it didn''t manage to take back any of the chaos energy that already entered Bree''s body, it was possible that it kept a small portion in the spear itself.


    If that was the case, she would have to take the exhausted Bree and repeat the whole process again. Even if the threat of a weakened Chaos Bone Spear wasn''t great, Evelyn knew it was better to grit her teeth and wrong her little aunt than to take a great risk that might end up dooming them all.


    The pink-haired girl could only sigh in her heart, deciding to make it up to Breeter.


    Once the pearl was fully formed, Bree''s soul opened her eyes and blinked up at her, a trace of both confusion and fondness in her eyes. "Evelyn?"


    Evelyn felt a shock run through her mind, but she soon calmed herself as she grinned. "Has aunty recovered her memories?!"


    But the golden-haireddy tilted her head, as if her words confused her. "Aunty?"


    Evelyn was just about to say something when she suddenly felt a terrifying sense of crisis, and immediately shuttled out Bree''s body to return to her own.


    She was barely able to catch Bree''s fainting form in her arms before she realized that the Chaos Bone Spear had already exploded into fine white powder, and the two of them were shooting away from it in a bubble of water.


    Her confusion was instantly cleared when she saw a cart-sized wed creature shoot out of the fog at a terrifying speed,pletely bypassing the numerous barriers of water that kept forming between them as if they were no more than a light drizzle of rain.


    Clearly, the spirit power within the water was as ineffective against this thing as the element itself, and the cause was clear to Evelyn''s eyes - a thinyer of chaos energy coated its bones, repelling anything and everything that contained any other form of energy.


    Evelyn knew that this wasn''t the time to be in a daze, and quickly organized her thoughts as she held Bree in her embrace. With her little aunt having fainted, there was no way for her to use the purification ability to counter the beast.


    But now that had some understanding of how it worked, she was notpletely without solutions.


    Evelyn was clearly able to realize that this little beast was born from the ''intent'' that was left behind by the Lord of Bones. And it was this intent that had fueled the actions of the chaos energy that was in the Chaos Bone Spear, aside from its primary function.


    The ability for someone to induce their intent into chaos energy was interesting, and while Evelyn couldn''t do it herself quite yet, she still understood the basic principle of it.


    Just because she understood it, however, didn''t mean much in this situation. The little beast seemed bent on ughtering her and Bree for the crime of breaking the Chaos Bone Spear, and while Evelyn already had some understanding of chaos energy, the most she could do was give it some direction and use it to increase her spirit power, neither of which would help in this situation.


    Evelyn knew that there was no time to wasteing up with a chaos energy based technique under such dire circumstances. Aurora''s abilities were clearly unable to halt its advance, and maybe she would have to rush back to mobilize the main defensive barrier to lock it in.


    But if that was what she decided to do, until she was able to take care of it, who knew what havoc that thing would wreck? At the very least, the people outside the current barrier would be in great danger!


    Since Aurora''s abilities were ineffective, how could they possibly defend themselves? Not to mention anything else, the mere fact that the thing escaped the barrier created by the pirs and ughtered people wantonly would greatly damage the academy''s image.


    Maybe no one would dare believe they could defend themselves from this opponent, then, and most would choose to abandon them in that case in favor of self preservation.


    Evelyn could only grit her teeth and make the decision in her heart. "Teacher! Separate me from Bree into two bubbles, don''t let us go too far from this thing, and let it keep chasing!"


    Aurora frowned, not knowing what her student nned, but she still separated them. She was already going crazy from frustration as she saw all her techniques being rendered useless in front of this strange beast.


    It was one thing to not be able to face the Lord of Bones in person, but for just one of his techniques to be able to trouble her so, the tinum blonde could feel a deep crack in her pride.


    The crazed beast seemed to pause for a moment in confusion as its target split into two, blindly turning between the two bubbles before it decisively chose the bigger one.


    Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief once she saw it start chasing her. Had it gone after Bree instead, things would have been much moreplicated.


    The pink-haired girl turned her gaze to Aurora, her eyes filled with determination. "Teacher, send Bree far away first, and let me down, I won''t get caught now that I''m ready! I have a n, but it will only work if she is out of the academy first!"


    Looking at the tinum blonde hesitate, Evelyn grit her teeth in anger. "Listen to me and don''t waste time, Aurora! If something goes wrong, do you want me to spank you?!"


    Immediately after saying so, Evelyn lit a candle for herself right beside the one she had lit for Craig in her mind. Let her teacher be merciful when she punishes herter, oh please!


    Aurora seemed to have really been angered by her words as her eyes turned red. In all her life, even when she was facing ridicule in her youth, no one had dared to be so crass towards her! This student was really deserving of a beating, she was too soft on her, after all!


    With her eyes slightly red, she turned away from the pink-haired girl with a huff. "Shameless! Don''t me me if you die, then!"


    The bubble with Bree sped off in the opposite direction, but the bone beast didn''t notice at all as its ravenous empty sockets remained fixated on the now unprotected pink haired girl on the ground, who was watching it vigntly.


    Evelyn didn''t waste any more time as she sped off, but the crazed bone beast really was much faster than her, and caught up with her in moments. Just as it was only a meter away, however, the pink-haired girl shot off with a boom, creating a huge gap between the two in an instant.


    [Lethal Leap], an assassination ability, ended up being the life saving straw at this crucial moment, and Evelyn silently lit a candle for Craig in her mind. He was not such a bad person, after all.


    As she was escaping, Aurora''s anxious voice floated over into her ears from a distance. "Channel your spirit power into my anklet if you can''t hold it, I will return within a minute after sending your aunt out of the academy and handle everything else, you''re not allowed to be disobedient!"


    There was a warm feeling in her heart, but Evelyn didn''t let it distract her as she continuously used lethal leap to maintain her distance from the increasingly furious little bone beast.


    ''From my understanding, the intent is formed as a reflection of the very base of its owner''s personality, so this Lord of Bones must be quite arrogant and easy to anger, then?''


    Of course, her intention in running away wasn''t just to anger the little bone beast, nor was it just to save her life. Had that been it, it would have been safer to simply stay within Aurora''s bubble and figure out another solution.


    The pink-haired girl prayed in her heart as she shot off towards the pristine white tower nearby.


    When she had been wracking her brain over how to get rid of this beast of chaos energy and ill intent, she couldn''t help but think of this ce. Given that Bree''s ability didn''t work on this thing, it was worth a shot to drag it into theke where no form of energy worked!


    The only downside to this idea was that she would be taking a great risk herself, as Evelyn didn''t believe she would be an exception to whateverw ruled the ''Siren''s Call'', which fascinated even her teacher.


    Thankfully, she didn''t encounter anyone on the way, and a smile lit up her face as the ''Siren''s Call'' finally came into her view. It was often said that danger and opportunity came hand in hand, and she hoped today more than ever that it was really true.


    With another [Lethal Leap], she once again escaped the clutches of the bone beast by just a hair, and gazed at theke that was now within reach. "I hope this works!"

 Chapter 183: Depths Of The Lake

    Chapter 183: Depths Of The Lake


    Evelyn still recalled what her teacher had told her about the people in theke, as well as its special properties.


    The ''Siren''s Call'' wasn''t a ce where one would immediately perish if they entered, as long as they made sufficient preparations. However, over the countless years, no matter how many preparations someone made, no one was able to truly explore its depths ore out with anything of value.


    ording to Aurora, this was mainly due to two reasons. The first reason was that one couldn''t control their spirit power to use any techniques once they entered theke physically, and the second reason was that their spirit power would be continuously corroded once they were inside.


    The only way that people had found to explore theke was to use a technique that would coat the surface of their skin in spirit power, one that could automatically keep consuming it without the need for the user''s control, and then explore theke as much as they could before it ran out.


    In theory, this would make it possible for those with vast amounts of spirit power to explore the depths of theke, but that was not what ended up happening.


    After all theke wasn''t empty, even though it appeared to be so.


    Evelyn used the [Lethal Leap] right at the surface of theke this time, shooting a few feet over the surface with the intent topletely cross the body of water while leading the chaos bone beast into its depths.


    The rampaging beast chasing her furiously obviously didn''t care whether it was going through earth, air, or water. Whether it was due to itsck of thinking ability or a deep belief in its own capabilities, Evelyn didn''t know.


    The pink-haired girl safelynded on the other side of theke and breathed a sigh of relief as she turned around, her expression turning grim as she saw the bone beast swimming through the ''Siren''s Call'' at a rapid pace.


    Even if it was only a quarter of the speed it had on thend, it still couldn''t be considered slow, and she knew it would catch up to her in seconds.


    The corrosive nature of theke didn''t seem to affect it as much, but Evelyn could clearly see the thinyer of chaos energy that was coating the bone beast sizzling and dissipating, even if it wasn''t fast enough to get rid of it before it would have already crossed theke.


    The residents of theke didn''t show up. Perhaps they were waiting for their prey to lose its protection before enjoying a leisurely meal, or maybe they just weren''t interested in this bony little thing, the pink-haired girl didn''t know.


    Although her strategy hadn''t worked exactly as she nned, Evelyn knew that she couldn''t let it get out. Once it did, there was no guarantee that it would follow her into theke again, having experience it once already, it might be aware of its threat.


    Gritting her teeth, the pink-haired girl immediately coated herself with [Draconic Scales] and leapt into theke, much to the excitement of the bone beast, which started paddling through the water even faster.


    Evelyn would obviously not swim towards it and deliver herself to its jaws, that would be suicide. Instead, she directly started diving into theke''s depths after making sure that the bone beast could clearly see her dip inside.


    The bone beast seemed to freeze for a moment as its prey seemingly disappeared from its senses, but it quickly dove in and regained its vision of the enemy. Even though it could no longer sense the girl, it didn''t matter as long as it could catch her and tear her to shreds before its power ran out.


    The will of the master would never allow anyone who dared go against him to live. No matter the cost.


    Immediately after diving in, Evelyn could clearly feel her spirit power declining slowly but surely, losing one point every ten seconds, and her system prompts soon confirmed the same.


    Since Draconic Scaled didn''t have the function of being able to siphon her spirit power by itself, she had decided to simply put almost all of her spirit power reserve into the ability first.


    After all, it would be a certain death if she really ran out, since there was no way for her to use any ability inside theke, presumably.


    Plus, while [Draconic Scales] didn''t have the ability to passively siphon her spirit power to strengthen itself if corroded, it did have the extremely handy function of allowing her to take back any spirit power she had already used for that ability once she withdrew it.


    In case an unexpected situation urred inside and she was able to use her spirit power again, and there was no need to keep the Draconic Scales up, Evelyn felt like she should be fine.


    Looking at the ravenous little bone beast still chasing behind her furiously as she dove deeper and deeper into the ''Siren''s Call''ke, Evelyn couldn''t help but grin. Either that thing didn''t realize that over half of the chaos energy coating its surface was already gone, or it was too stupid to care.


    Meanwhile, her reserves had barely dipped at all.


    "It''s a good thing I remembered to get Cecilia''s buff when I went back to my room, after all."


    Thinking about it this way, the fact that Bree hadn''t been with her at that time actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, while she was usually quite cautious, it was possible that she could have neglected getting Cecilia''s buff.


    Had that happened, her spirit power reserves definitely wouldn''t be in such a good condition as they were now, and she could have already been at half or even less of her total power by the time she entered theke, thanks to the frequent usage of [Lethal Leap].


    But thanks to the increased natural recovery rate as well as decreased consumption of spirit power thanks to the buffs, Evelyn was able to maintain over a thousand points of spirit power by the time she decided to dive into theke.


    Even after the chaos bone beast chasing after her had lost almost half of its protective coating, she still had over 800 points left, and the natural recovery buff hadn''t yet expired either!


    Feeling much more confident, the anxiety she had been feeling in her heart finally dissipated a little. As long as she could continue leading this beast until it lost its protection and became food for the people of the ''Siren''s Call'', it wouldn''t be toote for her to swim back up and get out alive!


    A few minutester, she clearly felt a change around her as strange ripples started spreading through the water.


    Clearly something other than the two of them was moving!


    The chaos bone beast also seemed to sense the threat as its movements turned jerky, but that was only for a moment before it continued chasing after Evelyn, looking even more desperate to tear her apart than before.


    She had to admit that whatever camouge ability the people here had, it was definitely top notch! Even though she knew they were nearby, the only way she could feel their presence was through the movement of the water, and she didn''t know if that was intentional or not.


    Aurora had definitely not been joking when she said they could only be seen while feeding.


    Evelyn didn''t have to wait long before they revealed themselves. Perhaps they were also able to see that the protection of one of their prey had almost run out, and there was no way for it to escape back to the surface.


    Immediately, translucent figures of humanoid creatures surrounded the chaos bone beast, and before it could continue chasing after Evelyn,tched onto all four of its limbs, its spine, and even its jaw.


    Their elongated limbs and deathly maws were clearly visible even in this translucent form, and Evelyn didn''t waste any time waiting to see the show before she started swimming back up.


    Anyway, she believed that now that the beast had lost its protection, these things should be able to take care of it.


    Not long after she started rising back up, however, Evelyn heard strange sounds of struggle behind her, and she couldn''t help but look back.


    Immediately, her pupils shrank as she saw the translucent creatures being torn to shreds one by one by the chaos bone beast''s deadly ws and maw.


    Clearly, even though it had lost its protective coating, it was not a soft persimmon!


    Its physical fighting capability was still terrifying, and while the translucent creatures weren''t weak by any means, they had clearly been expecting an easy feast, only to hit an iron te instead.

 Chapter 184: Crisis From The Deep

    Chapter 184: Crisis From The Deep


    Evelyn felt her breath hitch in her throat as she saw the blueish-green blood flow from the translucent attackers stream after stream. If this thing couldn''t be defeated here, and was still able to chase her out, what would she do?


    The pink haired girl soon shook her head. ''N-No, I can''t think like this. So what if it is able to escape? Let''s get out of here first. Even if it is able to chase me back, it should have already lost most of the chaos energy by now. Even if I can''t solve it by myself, Aurora should already be either waiting for me outside or already be on her way!''


    Just as this thought crossed her mind, the translucent creatures seemed to enter a frenzied mode, and the scuffle below her soon turned even more fierce as both jets of bluish-green blood and fragments of bone burst out from time to time.


    Looking at the bone fragments, Evelyn finally breathed a sigh of relief and continued to swim upwards, towards the surface. Even if her senses were blocked in theke, she could still tell that those hardened bone fragments were most likely the bone beast''s, and not those of the translucent figures.


    Momentster, however, an extremely strong feeling of crisis struck her heart, and Evelyn''s pupils dted as she continued to swim away without looking back.


    Maybe something deep within theke had been disturbed by the scuffle underwater, and awakened in an enraged state. Evelyn didn''t have any delusions of being able to fight whatever such a thing was.


    After all, Aurora had mentioned that there could be an incredible treasure at the bottom of thiske, and whether or not that was true, it went without saying that there must be an incredible danger at its depths as well.


    Her rise towards the surface didn''t continue for much longer, however, as the pink haired girl felt her limbs and body freeze involuntarily, and she wasn''t the only one.


    The chaos bone beast had alsoe to aplete halt, along with the crowd of translucent creatures who had been attacking it in a frenzy.


    Unlike Evelyn and the chaos bone beast, who were both frozen involuntarily, the translucent creatures seemed to have stopped moving of their own free will, however.


    They backed away from the chaos bone beast as Evelyn''s sense of crisis got stronger and stronger.


    At first, Evelyn thought they must be giving way to a superior predator out of fear, but observing their reactions closely, the pink haired girl realized that their actions resembled more that of ''respect''.


    Evelyn understood that even if they weren''t a civilized group, they should at least have some form of hierarchy.


    As they had stopped attacking, however, their bodies soon turnedpletely transparent, and Evelyn was no longer able to observe their actions.


    Her heart beat frantically in her chest as Evelyn tried her best to mobilize her limbs to climb upwards, but to no avail.


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but grit her teeth. ''I don''t sense any foreign energy in my body, what the fuck is going on?!''


    As someone who had already reached a preliminary understanding of chaos, and also delved into the soul energy more than most, Evelyn refused to believe something could infiltrate her body and control her without her even being able to tell.


    She already understood that the reason she couldn''t use any form of energy in the water, nor mobilize it from within was due to a deep suppression from within theke.


    It was as if she was trying to pull water out of a well, as she usually did, but the gravity was suddenly hundreds of times greater than it should be. Naturally, it became impossible to repeat those actions under such circumstances.


    The pink haired girl rapidly revolved her thoughts, and soon realized where the problemy. Figuring it out, however, only made her expression turn even more pale.


    ''T-The water itself it''s got such high resistance to my movement?!''


    It was as if the entireke had be a solid block of metal!


    And the most mystifying thing of all was that the translucent beings were still able to move as normal. Only the ''intruders'' - that is to say, herself and the bone beast, were the ones stuck inside this solid block of metal, not able to move an inch no matter how hard they tried.


    A sense of helplessness came from Evelyn''s heart. Without the ability to mobilize her energy in any form, and not being able to move her body either she felt like a sitting duck. Even though she kept trying to wrack her brains for a solution nothing came to mind.


    And at this moment she finally saw something emerge from the deep darkness beneath her, slowly bing clearer.


    It wasn''t a translucent creature, nor a giant beast as she expected. Instead, it was a beautiful girl with bluish-green hair and a fish tail that was covered with iridescent scales.


    Her skin was a healthy pinkish-white color, and her eyes shone like ck, dark gems that contained the mysteries of the universe, and Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a little uncertain.


    From this creature, she couldn''t feel any sense of malice, as if she was looking at a newborn child. However, the terror she felt was all too real, and she couldn''t make sense of it at all.


    Compared to the translucent creatures she had seen before, this ''mermaid'' was actually much smaller, but the sense of oppression she got from her was many times greater than even the pir Mantis who had fought with her teacher on almost equal grounds. It was as if in her current state, she was but an ant.


    Thinking about it that really wasn''t far from the truth.


    Evelyn could only dumbly watch the girl approach the chaos bone beast, looking at it curiously and poking at the thing here and there, as if she had discovered a new toy.


    The pink haired girl couldn''t help but feel a little ridiculous. ''I-Is this thing really what roared like that before? O-Or is there something else deep down?''


    As there was nothing else she could do, her eyes remained fixated on the girl''s ''y'', and a chill ran up her spine when the girl non-chntly broke a small part of the jawbone off of the bone beast and put it in her mouth.


    The bone beast seemed to try to roar in rage and unwillingness, but it still remainedpletely frozen in ce except for a slight vibration of its head.


    The effortless crunching sound rang loud in her ears, perhaps magnified by the fact that it was likely to be her own fate next, and Evelyn couldn''t help but furrow her brow in displeasure.


    Recalling the scene of her first death, when she had been ground to death in that industrial meat grinder, a deep sense of unwillingness emerged from her heart.


    If, after all this time, she still had that same type of miserable ending was this really what she deserved?


    Evelyn knew that maybe she hadn''t been such a good girl in this life, having retaliated against anyone who showed her ill intentions, but hadn''t she done nothing wrong in her first life? All she wanted to do was find out more about her mother.


    Unfortunately, her situation still remained the same no matter how angry she got.


    The small, pearl like teeth of the mermaid didn''t seem like they would possess much biting force, but the chaos bone beast''s body was like soft tofu in her mouth, being easily chewed through piece by piece as the girl gulped it down with interest.


    Soon, there was nothing like where the chaos bone beast used to be except for a few smaller broken bone fragments that the girl seemed to not be able to bother herself to pick up, and the mermaid''s sight turned to the pink haired girl, shining with curiosity.


    The distance between them was not small, as Evelyn had been escaping upwards since the moment the chaos bone beast started fighting against the translucent creatures, but the mermaid covered it within seconds, still appearing quite leisurely as she swam.


    Evelyn didn''t know if the other translucent beings had left or were watching the show, but she knew that even if she managed to free herself now, somehow, she still wouldn''t be able to escape from this mermaid. Her speed in theke was much faster, after all.


    Once the two of them were face to face, the girl''s expression showed the same curiosity as when she had been breaking the chaos bone beast apart piece by piece, and her eyes remained pure yet mysterious.


    Evelyn knew that if she didn''t do anything, she would end up no different from the chaos bone beast. Devoured alive, one small chunk at a time. Clearly, even if this mermaid looked much different from the translucent creatures before their diet wasn''t that different.


    But in this state, not to mention using any abilities or her body even speaking was impossible!

 Chapter 185: Primordial Naiad

    Chapter 185: Primordial Naiad


    Evelyn felt like she was once again back at that conveyor belt. Helpless, unable to move, and only able to stare at her slowly approaching death. Only this time, it was a mermaid instead of an industrial meat grinder.


    Her only source of relief was that the mermaid hadn''t immediately started tearing her apart, and the longer she dyed, the more time there was for her to flip the situation around. Maybe Aurora woulde, maybe somehow she could mobilize her strength, or something else.


    The half-fish girl rubbed Evelyn''s long pink hair between her fingers curiously, and then swam around her in circles, as if observing her from every angle.


    It was as if she was trying to decide what kind of thing this was, and had Evelyn not known she might die the next second, maybe she would have found it cute.


    Up close, Evelyn noticed that what she had previously thought was some type of armor or clothing that covered the mermaid''s chest, it didn''t seem to have any seam to put on or take off, and looked more like an exoskeleton, or perhaps an ability?


    The mermaid stopped circling her abruptly as she seemingly made up her mind, and the entire right sleeve of Evelyn''s dress was ripped right off before she even realized.


    The grade two dress obviously never stood a chance to put up any kind of resistance against this creature''s sharp ws, but Evelyn wasn''t surprised. What did surprise her, though, was that instead of chomping on her arm after throwing the cloth away, the mermaid actually started stuffing the torn sleeve into her mouth.


    Only to spit it out a few momentster with a disgusted expression.


    She gave the pink-haired girl an aggrieved look, as if feeling wronged.


    Even if she had been able to, Evelyn wouldn''t know how to respond. ""


    ''I''m sorry that my dress doesn''t taste good?''


    Although that thought flitted across her mind for a moment, Evelyn quickly realized something else.


    The residents of theke were clearly used to feasting on humans and beasts alike, but that wasn''t necessarily true for this mermaid, who seemed to have awoken from the depths after being disturbed by the chaos bone beast''s struggle.


    Given the fact that she was able to consume the chaos bone beast like that, even though it was really all bones, it was expected that what the mermaid sought in food must be energy. And as long as something didn''t have enough, it would probably be tasteless.


    As Evelyn''s mind revolved rapidly, the mermaid looked a lot more hesitant on taking another bite. She even looked in another direction, as if debating whether she should just go back and leave this little morsel to the others.


    Thankfully, she didn''t really do so, and hesitantly inserted a finger right into the pink-haired girl''s belly.


    The sharp w pierced through her soft skin like a hot knife through butter, but instead of being terrified, Evelyn''s eyes glinted in excitement.


    Although she had been helpless before when surrounded by theke''s restrictions, all she needed from this girl was to not kill her with the first move!


    The suppression of theke was strong, but it wasn''t omnipotent. If that had been the case, no one would be able to even defend themselves at all, and their abilities would all dissolve the moment they entered the water.


    However, if their energy sources were considered ''wells'', theke''s suppression only made it impossibly hard to draw the ''water'' out, leaving them helpless.


    Now, however, the mermaid was already in direct contact with Evelyn''s well itself!


    Had it been anyone else, with their spirit power likely dried out from exhaustion in theke, they would still have been helpless. In fact, Evelyn''s situation wasn''t much different, and most of her spirit power really had been exhausted at this point.


    But as someone who mostly relied on soul energy anyway that didn''t matter at all!


    The mermaid''s eyes instantly turned nk as she felt a strange tug deep inside her and then she entered a strange ce.


    Evelyn smiled as she looked at the confused little fish that was now swimming around in her soul space. From the girl''s behavior, she had already figured that even if this was a superior creature of some kind it was just a baby.


    Or at the very least, its mind wasn''t mature enough to understand most things, and most of its actions were guided by natural instinct and curiosity.


    The ''little fish'' didn''t look very panicked as she swam around the dark ''sea'', curiously exploring the strange area she had entered, and Evelyn observed her actions passively for a while.


    As this was her own soul space, with Evelyn''sprehension level, it was easy to modify it as she pleased with but a thought.


    That didn''t mean she was omnipotent here, however.


    Looking at the curious half-fish girl flitting around the dark sea, Evelyn couldn''t help but frown. "This thing''s soul power doesn''t seem to be low at all at least. Maybe even if I had Ruru with me, and we used the Lotus Throne''s Nirvana, we could barelye out on top, but"


    Unfortunately, she was alone, and the only assurance Ruru''s absence brought her was that in case she died, there was a chance that she might still be able to live thanks to the ''Lotus Throne''s Golden Wheel''. What kind of life that would be, however, Evelyn had no interest to find out.


    After all, hadn''t the previous Lotus Throne perished?


    Now that she had a clearer understanding of many things, Evelyn knew that although she couldn''t say so for sure before using it, the ability must be some sort of a soul escape, and it was very likely that the perished partner''s soul would take temporary residence within the one that still lived.


    That is, if Evelyn really died, she would then possess Ruru, and the two would share a body. Having cultivated to this extent wouldn''t that mean most of her hard work would go down the drain?


    Gritting her teeth, Evelyn made up her mind and disappeared from her position, only to reappear right in front of the curiously exploring mermaid. ''It''s just a baby, I don''t believe I can''t bully it!''


    Evelyn knew that since there was no way to defeat this half-fish physically or even through a soul battle she must do so mentally!


    "What is your name?"


    The mermaid blinked at her curiously, as if she found it fascinating how the creature in front of her pped her mouth.


    Evelyn felt her brow twitch as she smiled. "Little baby, don''t you know how to speak yet?"


    Seeing the creature curiously tilt her head, Evelyn pointed to her mouth and repeated her words, and in response, the mermaid grabbed her hand and tried to take a bite!


    Unfortunately for her, this was still Evelyn''s domain, and while she couldn''t smother or destroy a soul that was stronger than her own with a snap of her finger, defending herself from someone who didn''t know anything about manipting her soul energy at all was like snatching candy from a baby.


    The mermaid looked shocked when someone smacked her up her head from behind, and she swiveled around with an aggrieved expression, pouting at the pink-haired girl.


    "Do you think you can do as you please with me? No one likes little babies who don''t know how to behave themselves, you know?"


    Although she knew it was unlikely for the mermaid to be able to understand her words, this was her own soul space, after all. Carrying her intent to the other party was simple.


    Whether or not she was willing to hear her out, however, was an entirely different thing.


    The mermaid obviously didn''t want to hear anything, and quickly lunged at her again. This time, her expression was no longer so cute and curious, but ferocious instead, and her speed was fast as lightning.


    Had this not been her own soul space, Evelyn believed she would have been torn to shreds before she even realized what was happening.


    Unfortunately for the mermaid, however, she picked the wrong ce to fight.


    Smack after smacknded on the back of her head, and even her fish-butt, and the always silent creature finally started howling in aggravation, as if she couldn''t believe someone would hit her like that.


    Slowly, her lunges got slower, and then she stopped altogether and just floated there, crying big, pearly tears.


    Obtained one drop of [Primordial Naiad''s Tears]


    Water Affinity increased by one percent!


    Current affinity with water is 81%


    Obtained one drop of [Primordial Naiad''s Tears]


    Water Affinity increased by one percent!


    Current affinity with water is 82%


    Evelyn''s expression turned nk as she looked at the little baby mermaid crying, and then listened to her continuous system prompts in shock.


    Each one of her tears gave one percent water affinity?!


    The pink-haired girl''s serious expression quickly melted into a smile, and the mermaid stopped sobbing as she wagged her tail cautiously, as if wondering if she wouldn''t bully her anymore.

 Chapter 186: Sorrow Of Learning

    Chapter 186: Sorrow Of Learning


    Evelyn had long since known that the information in this world was heavily restricted, and knowledge itself was one of the most well-guarded secrets for most major families and organizations.


    And that wasn''t just true for cultivation techniques and secrets, but also general knowledge that would allow one to forge ahead and select a path for themselves with rity of mind.


    For example, simply finding out how much experience a grade nine or ten cultivation technique would be able to provide in a day was almost impossibly difficult without getting one''s hands on a grade nine or ten cultivation technique themselves, or being on good terms with someone who met those conditions.


    At first, Evelyn didn''t understand why this was the case. After all, this world had an extremely rich history, as just the academy itself was tens of thousands of years old if not more. Plus, not to mention pen and paper, there were even crystals that could directly store memory!


    In terms of the ability to pass on information, even if it wasn''t as convenient as the inte of her past world, it was still uniquely superior in its own way.


    Only aftering in contact with Aurora did she discover the root cause of the issue - the thrones.


    Her teacher didn''t exin it to her in too much detail, but Evelyn was still able to understand that, aside from the ancient academy, most would only pass on knowledge to their own descendants, and that was because no one wanted to be targeted by the Temple of Shinra.


    ording to them, only their Lord had the right to decide who should and shouldn''t be able to gain strength, and every other means was deemed unfair and evil.


    The Temple''s influence in the old world had been the lowest of all continents in this world, but they still weren''t a force to be trifled with. If someone dared to insult their dignity, wouldn''t one wave of their Lord''s hand make their entire family disappear in an instant?


    This hadn''t always been the case, but happened some time before Aurora was born. ording to her, things changed once the Lord of Bones had power that exceeded that of the Blue Throne, and there was no longer any need for him to act with restraint.


    This was also one of the reasons that the old headmistress lived in such fear and terror of the thrones - she knew they were openly disobeying the Lord of Bones, and it was only a matter of time before he came knocking at their door.


    But even with their lower level of influence in the old world, new records of information were rarely made out of fear, and with slow but sure loss of old records, natural or otherwise, the situation became as it was now.


    Therefore, the information provided by her system was usually far beyond the level of what the people in this world had.


    ''Primordial'' was a word that made Evelyn pause, for the sole reason that it was the highest category of abilities that she knew of. Her ''Cmity'' skill was a ''primordial ability''.


    Not counting the mortal beasts, the highest grade of living beings that this world knew of would have to be those ''spirit beasts'', but after hearing the prompt, Evelyn suddenly couldn''t help but question it in her mind.


    Above those with spirit physique, there were still the ''thrones''. So wouldn''t it make sense if there was a ''primordial beast'' that was superior to even the ''spirit beasts''?


    The ridiculous strength and strange abilities that the mermaid showed so far only affirmed Evelyn''s belief, and she soon became certain of her guess.


    Before, Evelyn had thought that although she acted like a child, the mermaid should probably still be an ancient creature. Perhaps her intelligence was just lower, and her mind couldn''t develop well due to living in such a closed environment.


    However, now that Evelyn knew that the half-fish girl was a primordial beast, there was no way to tell her real age at all. Since the growth rate of a primordial creature''s strength was unknown to her, she might as well be an actual baby.


    "But what do I do with her?"


    Although she had managed to drag her soul here, that was only because the other party was foolish and nave, and hadn''t resisted her at all when she was being dragged in.


    Killing her here was impossible, and she couldn''t keep her here indefinitely either.


    The mermaid looked at her pitifully for a while, and seeing her face remain indifferent, she started crying once again, as if she knew she would be bullied again.


    Obtained one drop of [Primordial Naiad''s Tears]


    Water Affinity increased by one percent!


    Current affinity with water is 83%


    Obtained one drop of [Primordial Naiad''s Tears]


    Water Affinity increased by one percent!


    Current affinity with water is 84%


    Evelyn gulped as she suddenly had a preposterous idea. ''I-If this is an actual baby can''t I just train her?''


    She wasn''t thinking so without a good reason. Evelyn still remembered how easily she had been able to form an impression on Vivian all those years ago, and she had now be the only person to have had her ability unlocked in the ''normal'' way outside of her family.


    At that time, Vivian may have been young, but her mind should still have been far more developed than this mermaid. After all, she was already able to talk andmunicate well, even though she sometimes stumbled with her words.


    Evelyn knew she didn''t have much time to think about it, so she quickly made up her mind. Even if it wasn''t guaranteed to work out, it was better than just biding her time without a n, hoping to be rescued.


    After all, given the fact that Aurora hadn''t yet arrived meant that something must have gone wrong, and Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a little anxious in her heart.


    Obtained one drop of [Primordial Naiad''s Tears]


    Water Affinity increased by one percent!


    Current affinity with water is 85%


    The pink-haired girl quickly floated in front of the mermaid, and looking at her suddenly timid expression, Evelyn gave her a gentle smile. "Looks like we got off on the wrong foot"


    Looking awkwardly at the swaying fish tail of the primordial ''beast'', the pink-haired girl coughed. " Let''s start over. My name is Evelyn, and today, I shall be teaching you how to talk!"


    Although Evelyn''s understanding of the soul wasn''t poor by any means, she had no way to manipte the passage of time in her soul space to be faster or slower than normal.


    Every minute that she spent ''training'' the mermaid was another minute that Aurora was facing the unknown, and another minute where anything could go wrong.


    Maybe the primordial beast had a ''parent'' who coulde looking for her if she went missing for too long. Maybe the translucent creatures in theke would figure out that something wasn''t quite right, and decide to attack her.


    Or maybe something could go wrong on Aurora''s side, and by the time she got back, the situation would already be unsalvageable.


    None of those were scenarios Evelyn wanted to face, so instead of taking chances, she directly enveloped the primordial ''beast'' with her soul power the entire time she was ''teaching'' her.


    Obviously, the ''teaching'' part was simply meant as a distraction, and the real trick was to directly increase her favorability through the contact of their souls.


    The idea hade to her from the fact that after the ident which linked their souls, Bree''s favorability had directly hit ''max'', far exceeding anything that could be realistically achieved with anyone else in her mind.


    After experiencing the previous event in which they once more used the soul link to cooperate and dissolve the threat of the chaos bone spear, Evelyn now had a little more understanding of the concept, and felt like it should be possible to use this method to drastically increase one''s favorability without spending too much time.


    Of course, Evelyn understood that while having the primordial ability ''Cmity'' increased her odds greatly, the actual reason behind increasing the ability still depended on a lot of factors.


    If their two souls were naturally averse to each other, for example, not only would her favorability not increase, it might just drop instead.


    Her spirit power had already drained, and she had no way of using the probe skill to determine how much favorability the mermaid had for her at any point, and she could only go by the feel of it.


    The mermaid didn''t seem to be aware of her tricks, and while she was still paying attention to her teachings at first, she gradually started avoiding her and running away.


    Of course, Evelyn couldn''t have that, and instantly appeared in front of the poor child whenever she tried to escape, and resumed her lesson.


    The primordial beast could only cry in sorrow.


    Obtained one drop of [Primordial Naiad''s Tears]


    Water Affinity increased by one percent!


    Current affinity with water is 86%

 Chapter 187: Nadia

    Chapter 187: Nadia


    Evelyn could clearly see how wronged the primordial creature felt, as her emotions seemed to be worn on her face, but with her life on the line, how dare she let feelings of pity dy her ''teachings''?


    "Hey, I know you understand me, so don''t pretend to be dumb! Believe me, as long as you don''t learn to speak for a day, I''ll keep you for a day, and if you don''t learn for a year, I''ll keep you for a year!"


    Obtained one drop of [Primordial Naiad''s Tears]


    Water Affinity increased by one percent!


    Current affinity with water is 90%


    Obtained one drop of [Primordial Naiad''s Tears]


    Water Affinity increased by one percent!


    Current affinity with water is 95%


    At first, the mermaid really kept her mouth shut and refused to listen to her anymore, but with Evelyn''s persistent efforts  and a little ''bullying''  she could only cry and try her best to imitate the big bully in an attempt to please her.


    Evelyn soon noticed that while it was quite nave on the surface and looked dumb, the primordial creature actually had a terrifyingly great learning ability.


    Before long, the mermaid was actually able to start speaking ''words'', which were mostly just unintelligible sounds, but considering she couldn''t do anything at all just a while ago, this was still shocking!


    The first time she had responded with an actual sound, Evelyn had praised her generously, since she knew that punishment would soon lose its effectiveness in conducting learning without corresponding rewards.


    However, who knew that such an approach would boost this little thing''s learning speed by leaps and bounds?


    "U-Uh Uwaa! Naa Da-da-da?"


    The mermaid looked at her proudly, as if expecting to be showered in praise, and Evelyn felt like it was a great test of her willpower to not give her a ''are you stupid'' look.


    In the end, she could only helplessly pat her head before encouraging her to learn more. No matter how she looked, this was now firmly a little baby in her mind. Even if she had terrifying chompers, Evelyn couldn''t find it in herself to be too mean.


    The pink-haired girl smiled. "Nadia say ''Nadia''!"


    Of course, this was the name she had given the little mermaid, and after debating between this and her own name, Evelyn decided to teach her how to speak ''Nadia'' first.


    Who knew that even though she wasn''t being ridiculed, the little mermaid would still feel wronged, and start shedding tears again?


    Obtained one drop of [Primordial Naiad''s Tears]


    Water Affinity increased by one percent!


    Current affinity with water is 100%!


    Obtained one drop of [Primordial Naiad''s Tears]


    -Affinity with the element [Water] is already at its limit, and cannot be increased further.


    Vitality increased by +1 points!


    Evelyn blinked her eyes in shock. ''There''s still this function?!''


    Of course, any boost in her stats was a wee change, even if it didn''t directly boost herbat ability.


    With Nadia no longer being so restless, Evelyn thoughtfully changed her soul space to resemble the garden at her home, and held the fascinated little mermaid in herp to continue her lesson.


    Presumably, the little mermaid had never been out of theke''s depths, and was understandably fascinated by the new scenery, leading to a slower speed of learning.


    Of course, as her primary objective was to increase her affection by using her soul to contact with the little mermaid, and even the learning session was only meant to distract her from being on guard, this wasn''t an unwee change.


    Soon, however, Nadia was able to get over her curiosity and diligently start learning how to pronounce her name.


    Evelyn felt like her affection should at least be at a somewhat decent level by now, since not only was Nadia no longer as rebellious, but also showed hints of being docile and obedient. Still, until she got the notice that she had obtained her ability, she didn''t want to take any chances.


    After all, it could just be that the little mermaid was curious and whimsical, and with her affection not being high enough, would still tear her apart once they left Evelyn''s soul space.


    "N-Nah Deee AH?"


    Evelyn blinked, before her eyes lit up in surprise. "Wow, you actually did it?! Good girl! Good girl!"


    The mermaid happily wagged her tail as she closed her eyes in delight, letting Evelyn ruffle her hair obediently.


    The thwacking sound from the ground from Nadia''s tail smacking against it soon awakened Evelyn as she realized how ridiculous she was being.


    Coughing in embarrassment, the pink-haired girl gave Nadia a grim look. "You know how say your own name now, but I''m so sad that you can''t say mine."


    Nadia looked at her pitifully. "NahDee?"


    Evelyn swallowed her ''are you a pokemon now'' and quickly corrected her. "Evelyn, now, say ''Evelyn''!"


    Of course, her own name was much harder to pronounce than ''Nadia'', especially for the little mermaid who was probably only relying on imitating the pink-haired girl.


    Soon, the little mermaid found herself frustrated once more, and Evelyn''s vitality continued to increase.


    Meanwhile, back at the academy, Aurora''s face was pale with anger and desperation as she stared at the blue-haired woman in the sky. "Leave!"


    Gwendolyn chuckled. "Don''t be so stubborn, now, and stop testing my patience, it has a limit. Had I wanted to harm you, would I not have done it long ago?"


    The tinum blonde pursed her lips and refused to budge, stubbornly maintaining the barrier along with the other pirs. Thinking how her student was likely facing a life and death crisis by now, she couldn''t help but feel a sense of powerlessness in her heart.


    Everything seemed to go wrong today.


    Gwendolyn sighed. "Little girl, don''t be so hard-headed, okay? If I wanted to break this barrier, we both know it is only a matter of time. We share amon cause, so let me in, I''m only here to help."


    Of course, Aurora knew that long ago. With a pir''s strength, perhaps breaking through their main barrier really was only a matter of time.


    However, just because she knew that the flimsy and thin wooden door of her house couldn''t hold back the tiger outside, didn''t mean she would open it herself and let it in.


    Even if that tiger appeared to be docile and have a full belly, she still couldn''t bring herself to do it.


    The blue-haired woman in the sky sighed as she closed her eyes, and finally decided to use herst resort. There was no way she could keep floating here like this.


    Even though her presence was masked so only those she allowed would be able to sense her, there was no telling that someone wouldn''t be able to notice her identally. Just like everything else in existence, her technique also had its ws.


    Sending her voice directly through her domain, Gwendolyn made her statement directly in Aurora''s mind. ''Don''t you recognize me, little girl?''


    Aurora was immediately stunned as her expression turned nk.


    Years ago, this was exactly how she had been informed of her student''s existence. At that time, she had a hunch that it could be a person, but the voice came directly from the natural domain she was trying to master, so Aurora had convinced herself that it was the domain''s will, or perhaps the world will itself, that wasmunicating with her.


    Of course, there had always been a little doubt in her mind, especially whenbined with the rumors she had heard of Gwendolyn, but there was no way for Aurora to be sure.


    Now that she knew of this, however, Aurora didn''t hesitate anymore, and decisively opened the barrier to let Aurora in.


    The other pirs didn''t know who or what it was she was blocking, since Gwendolyn''s presence was still masked, and were greatly relieved when she dismissed them and moved out, assuming that she had already dealt with the issue, one way or the other.


    At least this time, there were no ''leaks'', or they would really feel like they were useless.


    Aurora didn''t waste time with Gwendolyn, and immediately arrived at the ''Siren''s Call''. Since she had decided to take the chance, the tinum blonde decided to solve the crisis first, and decisively believe in Gwendolyn all the way for now. "My student is inside, I will go in to save her. If you like, please help me, or wait here."


    Just as Aurora was about to jump into theke, however, Gwendolyn smiled and clutched her shoulder gently but firmly. "You''re not going anywhere, and neither am I."


    The tinum blonde''s expression immediately turned pale as she red at the blue-haired woman. "I-I I believed you?"


    Gwendolyn looked a little amused. "Of course you did, silly girl."


    Of course, the blue-haired woman didn''t dare leave her hanging, and immediately exined further to avoid the tinum blonde from doing something absurd like blowing herself up. "Do you want to interrupt your student''s lucky chance? If not, I advise you to wait here."


    Aurora''s expression eased a little as she furrowed her brows in confusion. "Lucky chance?"


    Gwendolyn nodded. "My domain is water, and while thiske''s water isn''t quite what I can control, it is still water in the end. I can vaguely sense that not only is your student safe she''s growing."


    The tinum blonde blinked. "Growing?"


    The blue-haired woman smiled. "Right. She''s getting stronger, slowly, but surely."


    Of course, she didn''t let Aurora know that there was an existence that could crush her little student into powder in an instant right next to her, or Aurora was sure to jump right in regardless.

 Chapter 188: Tamed?

    Chapter 188: Tamed?


    When she had first started ''teaching'' Nadia how to speak, Evelyn was driven mostly by desperation.


    After all, she had no other way out of her situation, and could only choose to believe that she would be able to win over this primordial creature using her ''Cmity'' skill, and somehow escape from both the figurative and literal jaws of death.


    Eventually, however, she realized that Nadia was really just like a child, and while her goal for ''taming'' her remained, her ''tutoring'' actually became earnest.


    Aside from teaching her how to speak botched-up versions of their names, she also tried to teach her the basics ofmunication.


    This wasn''t something that could be forced, and while Evelyn didn''t consider herself an expert, she at least knew thatmunication was more than just words.


    For this primordial creature who probably had never ever tried tomunicate with others, simply teaching her words would serve little purpose, even if she managed to slowly expand her vocabry.


    So instead of simply focusing on making her learn new words, Evelyn decided to teach her to be attentive while listening, and also pay attention to her actions and expression.


    The soul space, in this case, turned out to be an invaluable tool. She could easily change the environment to suit her needs, and also materialize the image of any object that she needed for demonstration purposes.


    Perhaps Nadia sensed her sincerity on some level, or maybe her affection was already quite high, so she no longer threw tantrums.


    With an attentive and willing student, the job of the ''teacher'' of course because much easier, and soon there was no need for Evelyn to make too many exaggerated actions and expressions to get her meaning across.


    Although Evelyn wasn''t able to use her spirit power, she was still able to use her senses to check the condition of her body, and was relieved when nothing untoward happened even after what seemed like hours of inactivity.


    From the outside, it was as if the mermaid and the pink haired girl were frozen in the dark depths of theke.


    By the time Nadia was able to sessfully pronounce a few words, including their names, and learned how tomunicate with her on a basic level, Evelyn finally felt a subtle change in their connection.


    There was still no prompt from the system of sessfulpletion of the yellow mission, nor did she receive any new ability from the mermaid, but Evelyn felt like there was now a strange thread connecting her soul to the mermaid''s not much different from Bree, but only on a much smaller scale.


    Evelyn ced her palm on the slightly damp bluish-green hair of Nadia, her smile a littleplicated. "When we go out from here, you have to take me back, okay?"


    Nadia tilted her head curiously. "Eevee Back?"


    After hesitating for a while, the pink haired girl looked into the mermaid''s innocent starry eyes, and finally grit her teeth and released her from the soul space.


    The half-fish girl blinked in surprise once she found herself back in the familiar water. "Eevee?"


    The pink haired girl sighed in her heart, still unable to move. She should have known nothing would change, but at least she no longer needed to worry about being chomped to death by this primordial baby.


    Now, she could only trust Nadia to follow her earlier instruction, and take her back to the surface.


    Nadia curiously circled around the pink haired girl, as if wondering why the chattering and active being from before was now so still and umunicative.


    Constantly chattering ''Eevee! Eevee!'', the primordial baby seemed to havepletely forgotten about her words earlier.


    Evelyn''s only source of relief was the fact that there hadn''t been any other idents after returning back from the soul space. She had been a little worried about the injury from Nadia''s w, but thankfully it had healed just fine on its own.


    It wouldn''t really have been a surprise, given that is what should have happened due to her regenerative abilities, but Evelyn had been worried that theke water would flood into her body and lead to unknown dangers.


    The only thing she was unsure of was if this was only the case for herself due to thebination of disease and poison immunity, or if theke''s water didn''t have any strange effects inside the body.


    Regardless, she was d to have survived like this, and even if Nadia didn''t take her back, as long as she wasn''t killed, Aurora should still be able to find her and take her back.


    After all, Evelyn knew that even if her affection with Nadia had been raised, and they now had some connection, the primordial creature simply felt close to her.


    She wasn''t her ve, and Nadia was only slightly more likely to listen to hermands now than she had been before. Her only assurance was that the mermaid was unlikely to harm her, but just that was already a miracle.


    At least, that is what she was thinking until Nadia grabbed her by the hand and started dragging her to the depths of theke.


    "Eevee back!"


    The cheerful little mermaid didn''t seem to care for the dumbfounded horror that the pink haired girl was experiencing as she realized that the primordial baby hadpletely misunderstood her words.


    She wasn''t taking her ''back'' to the surface, but back to her own home?!


    Evelyn felt a terror from the depths of her soul as she realized she might just be facing creatures that could be even more terrifying than Nadia.


    At least, she was a nave little baby whom she was able to deal with using some tricks and luck, but it was unlikely that such a thing would happen again.


    Perhaps Nadia sensed her distress somehow, and actually stopped dragging her down and turned around in confusion.


    Just as Evelyn was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the half-fish girl embraced her head carefully. "E-Eat No?"

 Chapter 189: All My Treasures

    Chapter 189: All My Treasures


    The pink haired girl felt a little helpless, but she knew that Nadia was probably trying to assure her that she was safe, and she wouldn''t be eaten? At least, she hoped so, but it could also be that the half-fish thought she was hungry and hadn''t eaten for a while?


    Evelyn could only sigh in her heart. ''If only I could directlymunicate with her using the soul link Unfortunately, it seems like she can only sense intense emotional fluctuations, but nothing more.''


    A mood fluctuation like that, no matter how intense, couldn''tst long. Perhaps Nadia felt that the pink haired girl was already consoled, and started dragging her down again, all the way to the white sandy floor at the bottom of theke.


    The bottom of theke was, ironically, no longer as dark, and Evelyn was finally able to see everything clearly.


    Blue and green bio-luminescent nts and mildly glowing reefs fascinated Evelyn''s heart with their beauty, and even though the situation was so dire, she couldn''t help but appreciate the fact that she was able to view such a scene.


    Soon enough, Nadia led her to a cave hidden behind arge reef, and they entered what appeared to be a small paradise full of treasure.


    Everywhere she looked, there were strange weapons, essories, armors, and gems.


    With a start, Evelyn realized that these were probably the treasures left behind by those who tried to explore theke and died. Perhaps the translucent creatures didn''t care for them, and once they floated to the bed of theke, Nadia found them and took them back.


    The pink haired girl felt her brain buzz as she tried to estimate the value of her little mermaid''s treasury, but soon gave up. Without her ability to probe the artifacts to know their grade, she really couldn''t tell, after all.


    Thankfully, there was no ''daddy mermaid'' or ''mommy mermaid'' waiting for her back at home, or Evelyn was sure she would ironically be a fish on the chopping block.


    After taking her ''back home'', Nadia happily let go of her hand and started digging through her treasury. Returning triumphantly with a ne.


    Made out of some pure white metal and iid with beautiful purple gems, it looked like a precious treasure just from the appearance alone, and Evelyn was sure that the owner must have treasured it very much when they were alive.


    Evelyn could only move her eyes now, even in this cave, though she felt that the suppression here was slightly weaker than before. Most of her movement still remained frozen, and her spirit power was still immobile, leaving her helpless.


    Nadia carefully finished wrapping the ne around the pink haired girl''s nape, and then happily swam away to fetch something else.


    Evelyn soon realized what she was facing next with some dread. ''Am I going to be her dress-up doll now?''


    Her guess soon proved to be correct, as after the ne came a bracelet that seemed to be made out of some transparent crystal, and decorated with green and blue gemstones in a snowke pattern.


    Nadia didn''t seem to understand where it will go at first, and after trying and failing at both her neck and calf, the girl finally realized it would go around her wrist. Looking proud of her achievement, the little mermaid once again darted off to fetch another treasure to decorate her doll with.


    Evelyn could only sigh in her heart, realizing that the child was too lost in her y to care about anything else. In that case, she might as well make the most out of the situation, and enjoy getting a few more presumably high-grade artifacts on her person.


    Since she could still move her eyes, Evelyn decided to look through the little treasury and try her best to point out something that would be useful to her. She soon found a beautiful crystalline bow among a pile of shields and swords, and furiously stared at it in an attempt to draw Nadia''s attention.


    Nadia remained oblivious at first, spending the next few minutes decorating Evelyn''s head with various hats, tiaras, and crowns. Unfortunately, she didn''t seem to like the look of any of them, and soon threw them away.


    Evelyn felt a pain in her heart when some of the headgear was directly ruined after colliding against the cave wall, and could onlyment at the horrifying strength of the primordial baby.


    Thankfully, she didn''t try to take revenge on her for ''beating'' her in the soul space, or maybe she would already be blown to gory little bits. Even if Nadia regretted itter, Evelyn didn''t believe her regeneration function was good enough to recover from that, even if it seemed to work fine in thiske.


    Her furious stares at the beautiful bow were finally noticed by the curious Nadia, who soon bought her a shield near the bow, and tried to put it over the dumbstruck Evelyn''s head as a makeshift headgear.


    The pink haired girl felt like she was finally getting hit by retribution for all the time she spent teasing her teacher.


    Thankfully, Nadia soon realized that it wasn''t quite it, and after a few more unsessful attempts, finally brought back the beautiful bow to Evelyn.


    Curiously enough, there was a soft glove dangling from its string nock, and Evelyn had the feeling of getting a paired freebie with her purchase.


    Nadia tried a few times to get the bow over her head to no avail. Thankfully, she was quite careful and didn''t force it, and soon found out that it could go through the pink haired girl''s arm and rest on her shoulder.


    The half-fish didn''t look very satisfied, but looking at Evelyn''s eyes, she seemed happier, so the little mermaid just shrugged and went back to looking for a good hat for her newpanion. After all, she wanted to decorate her beautifully, and also show off all her treasures.


    Evelyn could only sigh in her heart. ''Teacher, where are you? Your student has been abducted!''

 Chapter 190: The Fake?

    Chapter 190: The Fake?


    Aurora''s anxiety was palpable as she waited at the edge of theke, repeatedly checking with Gwendolyn about the state of her student, but aside from telling her that her student had encountered an opportunity, she remained silent.


    When she saw the blue-haired woman''s expression change, however, the tinum blonde almost immediately jumped into theke, only to be held back once again.


    Gwendolyn frowned. "Don''t panic, she''s not dead yet. Anyway, even if you charge in, what can you do? No matter how much spirit power you have you can''t fight that thing inside theke."


    Aurora frowned as she tried to stabilize her spirit power and not immediately attack the woman who kept holding her back. "What do you mean? Even if I can''t fight those creatures, I can still take Evelyn back!"


    The blue haired woman chuckled. "I''m not talking about the fodder, they don''t matter individually. I''m talking about the monster at the bottom of theke. The fake."


    The tinum blonde furrowed her brows. "The fake?"


    Gwendolyn nodded, though she didn''t exin the term. "Hold on, I''ll try tomunicate with it. Hopefully, it''s not too dumb."


    Aurora could only watch anxiously as she felt the surface of ''Siren''s Call'' ripple faintly, even though she couldn''t detect any energy flow from the throne at all.


    She knew that whatever method that woman had used tomunicate with her through her domain was probably being used once more, only tomunicate with whatever beast was inside theke.


    Although she was curious about ''The Fake'', her student''s safety mattered more to her than any curiosity, even if it involved the mystery of the Siren''s Call.


    Aurora had always believed that there was a major threat deep within, though she hadn''t known what it was.


    However, her guess had been more along the lines of some natural artifact or treasure that also had the function of suppression, which would also exin theke''s special properties.


    Going by Gwendolyn''s words, though, perhaps there was no ''Serenity Bead'' inside the ''Siren''s Call'', and its other name of ''Serenity Lake'' was just a hopeful delusion.


    At the same time as Gwendolyn moved, the situation on Evelyn''s side suddenly changed.


    Nadia''s previously docile expression immediately turned ferocious, and she dragged Evelyn to a corner of her cave before surrounding her with all the treasures, as if trying to ''hide'' her.


    The dumbfounded pink haired girl could only wonder what was going on. Shortly after, she vaguely felt as if the little mermaid had swum away, not leaving her with a single parting word.


    If she could, she would definitely bite her lip in worry. ''Even when she was tearing the chaos bone beast apart, she only looked a little curious. What could cause her to be like that?''


    Was there more to thiske? Some threat that she was unaware of? But the base seemed so peaceful and untouched that it didn''t look like anyone other than Nadia dwelled here at all.


    She recalled seeing many dark spots that looked like tiny caves on their way down, but Evelyn had assumed that those were the ''homes'' of the translucent creatures.


    None of them seemed big enough to house a huge beast, but it didn''tpletely rule out the possibility of something small yet strong, much like Nadia.


    That being said, why would it fight Nadia now? Going by her nature, it didn''t seem like she was used to facing challenges, or her reaction would definitely not be what it was when she tried to teach her.


    Confused and distressed, the pink haired girl could onlyment that there was no way for her to even hold her aching head.


    Meanwhile, Aurora found herself blinking in shock at the beautiful little mermaid head that had poked out of the water. Although her expression was a little distorted, it still appeared quite harmless.


    Recalling what a beast her little student could be, though, Aurora soon put those thoughts out of her mind.


    Sensing the faint breath of her student from the little mermaid, Aurora couldn''t help but feel a little relieved.


    Even if no one else could feel it, the tinum blonde had clearly observed this same aura from when Evelyn was dealing with the chaos bone spear earlier.


    Vaguely recognizing it as a soul signature, it not only confirmed that her student was safe and sound, but had also formed a bond with this creature!


    Nheless, Aurora didn''t know if it would be safe to reveal such a thing to Gwendolyn, and could only regret that she had panicked and let her in.


    If she had known her student would be safe, she definitely would have persevered more and rejected the throne''s entry into the academy, regardless of anything else.


    Meanwhile, Gwendolyn wasn''t familiar with Evelyn''s soul aura, and thus couldn''t sense anything strange.


    Facing the little mermaid who hissed at her threateningly, she smiled. "It seems like I underestimated your intelligence Since you can understand my words, can you bring back the little girl who fell into theke? Of course, I shallpensate you appropriately."


    Along with her words, Gwendolyn also took out a big red ball that seemed to be so stuffed full of energy that even Aurora''s expression turned nk.


    She could tell that it was nothing more than a container for spirit power, and had she not known better, Aurora would surely have believed it to be some form of exploding artifact.


    Nadia''s unfriendly expression turnedpletely hostile as she realized this woman wanted to snatch Evelyn from her, and the Siren''s Call seemed to boil with her mood. She didn''t even look at what the blue haired woman was offering.


    Soon, thousands of translucent creatures started to appear right below the surface, as if preparing for war, and Gwendolyn''s expression turned grim. ''As expected, it is both unreasonable and vtile. Even if it''s a fake, it seems to have inherited some of the real thing''s bad properties. As for its abilities I hope I don''t need to find out.''

 Chapter 191: A Gamble

    Chapter 191: A Gamble


    Gwendolyn''s expression remained indifferent as her voice echoed directly in Aurora''s head. ''I don''t know if this dumb thing can lead the chaos apparitions properly, but if she can, you might have to say goodbye to your academy, understand? Shall I continue?''


    Regardless of whether it was the fate of her student or the academy, Aurora would rather not put it in the hands of others unless she was truly helpless.


    The tinum blonde only hesitated for a moment before she gritted her teeth and faced the blue haired woman with determination. "Can you let me talk to her?"


    Even if it was phrased as a question, Gwendolyn could feel that the little girl was in no mood for another rejection, and was sure to rebel immediately if she did so. ''Well although I do appreciate the little girl to an extent, the one I need is not her. If she seeks death so be it.''


    In the end, Gwendolyn only shrugged and moved back. "Help yourself."


    Nadia''s expression was still a little wary, and her stare remained fixed on Gwendolyn, as if only perceiving her as a threat.


    The blue haired woman sighed. "If you''re going to try to convince her with words, I might as well move back a little. But remember, no matter what, you can''t enter the water. If you do you''re on your own."


    Aurora nodded as she waited for the throne to leave, and Nadia''s expression eased once she saw the blue haired woman walk away far enough.


    Looking at her proud face after having ''chased away'' the foe who dared to challenge her, Aurora increasingly felt like her student must have already deceived and won over this child.


    After all, she even tried to y hooligan with her teacher, what else would she dare not do?


    The only question in her mind was why the pink haired girl hadn''t returned yet, or at least informed her of the situation, but that wasn''t as important.


    Regardless of what the rtionship between Evelyn and this little mermaid was, Aurora had to at least confirm her student''s situation first.


    The tinum blonde tentatively kneeled down to bring herself closer to the little mermaid. "Do you know Evelyn?"


    The girl with bluish-green hair tilted her head curiously, blinking her curious starry eyes after hearing the familiar name. "Eevee?"


    Aurora couldn''t help but smile as she breathed out a sigh of relief in her heart. From the way she said it, her rtionship with Evelyn was definitely friendly. "That''s right. Are you Evelyn''s friend?"


    Nadia nodded absently. She seemed to search for a word in her mind for a while before a smile lit up her face. "Baby!"


    The tinum blonde coughed. ''This hooligan of a student of mine! Deceiving children!''


    If Evelyn knew her unknowingly referring to Nadia as a ''disobedient primordial baby'' could lead to such a misunderstanding, she would surely have cried in regret.


    Regardless of how she wished to punish her hooligan student, though, Aurora soon schooled her expression and put it off forter. "That''s right. There''s something I need to tell her, which is why I had to ask for help to call you out."


    Nadia only partially caught her meaning, and blinked at her innocently. "Tell?"


    Aurora nodded. "Mhm. I need to meet her so I can tell her, it''s very important."


    Of course, with her limited vocabry, it was already a wonder that Nadia was able to partially infer what the person in front of her wanted to say, but holding an actual conversation was impossible.


    "M-Meet? Imp-imposh?"


    Looking at the confused little mermaid, Aurora felt weirder and weirder.


    Nadia seemed to feel extremely distressed as she tried to figure out what was going on, and soon dived back into theke, disappearing into the depths almost instantly.


    Along with her retreat, the translucent creatures who had appeared beneath the surface seemingly dissolved as well, and the previously violentke also turned calm.


    Aurora could only sigh in her heart. ''Once she goes back to Evelyn, that girl should realize I''m waiting for her here, right?''


    The tinum blonde felt like as long as her student returned now, everything would be alright.


    Now that she had made a friend that Gwendolyn at least seemed reluctant to fight, regardless of how nave and innocent she was, there was some extra assurance in Aurora''s heart.


    Even if that hadn''t been the case, though, the tinum blonde still had a way to protect her student from the throne, though it was only ast resort, and she would rather not do it unless she had no choice.


    Of course, aside from the cost and repercussions, there was another reason for her to hesitate and wait. Gwendolyn''s attitude, together with what she had heard before, made Aurora both hesitant and hopeful.


    After all, although the Lord of Bones was supposedly stronger now, if Gwendolyn was really willing to ept Evelyn''s existence, even if she didn''t support her growth, that would still be infinitely better than the current situation!


    Her only worry was that Gwendolyn was deceiving her in some way to get to her student, but that made little sense. After all, she had known of Evelyn''s existence years ago, before she had ever entered Aurora''s protection.


    She hadn''t known that the voice from the domain was Gwendolyn''s at that time, but now that Aurora knew, wouldn''t it have made sense to get rid of Evelyn right then and there if that was what she really wanted to do?


    No one would have dared to stop the blue throne from killing a random child in the Lavinian Empire, and most wouldn''t even have realized it had happened until long after the event.


    In fact, had Gwendolyn wanted, wouldn''t Evelyn had vanished before Aurora ever became aware of her existence? It was a terrifying thought.


    This was why Aurora decided to take this chance. Anyway, even if she lost the gamble, she could still assure her student''s safety. In the worst case, she would simply no longer be able to apany her.

 Chapter 192: Meeting A Throne

    Chapter 192: Meeting A Throne


    Evelyn was still unable to move, and could only wait impatiently for Nadia''s return to her cave. Thankfully, the mermaid didn''t make her wait too long.


    The pink-haired girl was relieved to see that nothing strange had followed her in. ''Maybe whatever was bothering her is already in her belly. Oh well''


    After the mermaid pulled her out of the pile of treasures she had been hidden in, Evelyn soon noticed that Nadia was clearly a little confused and distressed, and seemed to be debating with herself over something.


    The bluish-green-haired girl opened and closed her mouth a few times, but seemed unable to find the words to express what she wanted. In her state, Evelyn was unable to guess and work it out with her either, so in the end, the mermaid furrowed her brows in frustration and huffed.


    Just as Evelyn was wondering what in the world was happening, Nadia held her hand and led her out of the cave and up towards theke''s surface. Happiness came too quickly, and the pink-haired girl felt more disbelief than joy.


    Moments before, she had still been wondering if she could possibly use the soul link to brute force her message across somehow, and maybe convince Nadia to take her up. But now, before she had managed toe up with anything, her dilemma was inexplicably solved by itself?!


    Evelyn would have to be a fool to not realize the link between this and Nadia''s previous disappearance, and her joyful expression soon turned grim. ''I hope she''s not leading me to trouble, at least.''


    Thankfully, Nadia didn''t stop her ascent towards the top till they finally surfaced.


    As soon as her head was out of theke, it was as if whatever spell had been keeping her frozen broke instantly, restoring both her movement and speech.


    Looking at the tinum blonde in front of them, Evelyn grinned. "Teacher! How did you convince her to bring me back?!"


    Aurora, who had just breathed a sigh of relief after seeing with her own eyes that her student was safe and sound, couldn''t help but tilt her head in confusion.


    Her student was quite a bit more ''well decorated'' now than she was while diving into theke. It seemed like in the short while she had been gone, the girl had already reaped quite a harvest?


    But thinking about their current situation, Aurora soon pursed her lips and decided to put it off forter. She only hoped that the mermaid''s connection with Evelyn was strong enough to support her in battle, if the worst situation came to be.


    What she needed to do now was to make sure both her student and the academy are able to survive this situation. "Evelyn what is your rtionship with this girl? And how is your condition?"


    It was at this moment that Evelyn realized something wasn''t quite right. Not only was Aurora''s expression a little strange, but there was also a presence nearby that was both familiar yet foreign.


    Deciding to err on the side of caution, Evelyn coughed, as if feeling a little embarrassed. "W-Well, I met Nadia as during the conflict with the chaos bone beast, and we ended up bing friends, I guess? And aside from being a little low on spirit power, I''m mostly fine."


    Aurora didn''t seem to think about it too much, and just nodded. "Okay then, you stay there with her, don''te out yet, but don''t return, understand? I''ll bring someone to meet you."


    Evelyn was nowpletely sure something wasn''t right.


    If Aurora insisted on letting her stay in the water, it meant that she wasn''t quite sure that she could protect Evelyn by herself, and wanted to take the extra assurance from Nadia.


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but be confused. ''The chaos bone spear had already turned to dust, right? And the bones of the chaos bone beast, along with all the intent from the Lord of Bones was already chewed up by Nadia. Was there something I overlooked?''


    With her teacher gone to call over whoever she needed her student to meet, Evelyn decided to rify some things with Nadia first before the situation turned bad once more.


    Looking at her bright eyes and innocent face, Evelyn couldn''t help but sigh.


    She was now sure that the phenomena that rendered her immobile and helpless was caused by thebination of the water in ''Siren''s Call'' along with Nadia''s presence.


    After all, she had still been able to move inside the Siren''s Call when Nadia hadn''t been nearby, and once she was out of the water, she was able to open her mouth and talk once more.


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but be a little impressed. ''In a way, the Siren''s Call is like an invincible fortress for Nadia, isn''t it?''


    Shaking off that thought, Evelyn clutched the shoulders of the mermaid, her expression grim. "Nadia, whatever happens next, remember that whenever there is no threat, you must bring me to the surface so we can talk, understand?"


    Looking at the mermaid blinking her eyes and nodding ''thoughtfully'', Evelyn had no idea if she understood at all. ''Maybe I should make it short and simple?''


    Just as she was about to try again, however, Aurora finally returned along with a blue-haired woman, and Evelyn assumed that she must be the one whom her teacher wanted her to meet.


    As the distance between them shortened, the pink-haired girl couldn''t help but feel a little strange in her heart. ''What is this? Why do I feel like her aura is a little simr to both Nadia and Aurora?''


    Evelyn suddenly had a strange thought. ''Wait a minute I seem to recall that Aurora had a hundred percent water affinity, right? And Nadia should definitely have perfect mastery over water. If that''s the link between them No, that doesn''t make sense. But''


    At this point, Gwendolyn had already arrived at theke''s surface.


    Evelyn was clearly able to feel the intense hostility from Nadia towards this stranger, and she couldn''t help but be a little more wary in her heart.


    For Nadia to be hostile, there could be only two reasons.


    First, this woman was somehow her enemy, either naturally or because she had previously tried to attack her.


    Or second, this woman was strong enough to pose a ''threat'' to Nadia, and thus she was instinctively wary.


    Whatever the case was, Evelyn knew she couldn''t take it lightly. She squeezed the small palm of the mermaid under the water to calm her down, and faced the strange woman calmly. ''No matter what, with both teacher and Nadia here, she shouldn''t be able to do anything, right?''


    Evelyn knew that even if she wouldn''t follow all her orders, Nadia wouldn''t just watch her being attacked indifferently.


    The blue-haired woman smiled at the two little girls floating in theke, though her gaze flicked towards the tinum blonde by her side. "Why so much distrust? You don''t dare let them out of the water? Do you think I''ll attack your student?"


    The air seemed to solidify instantly, and Aurora didn''t seem embarrassed to face her at all. "If I don''t take any precautions for my student''s safety, I would only have myself to me if something went wrong, no?"


    Gwendolyn chuckled. "True. Well, it doesn''t matter."


    Turning her gaze back to the pink-haired girl, her lips curled upwards. "Little girl, do you know who I am?"


    Frowning, Evelyn could only shake her head in denial.


    Gwendolyn smiled. "Well then, let me introduce myself. My name is Gwendolyn Fairfax. Some also call me the Blue Moon Throne here, and in the new world, I''m often referred to as the ''Conqueror of Oceans''."


    Evelyn clearly recognized who she was by now, but the blue-haired woman ignored her shocked reaction as she grinned. "For you, however it''s fine if you think of me as your only kin in this world."


    For a while, Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a little lost.


    When Aurora and Nadia had first acted as if they were threatened, the pink-haired girl already had a vague guess in her heart that this woman must be the other throne, but she had subconsciously denied it.


    After all, how could someone who was supposed to be her greatest enemy face them so calmly? The attitude of the Lord of Bones made much more sense.


    She''d assumed that if this woman was really a throne, she would have already tried to kill her the moment she appeared.


    Gwendolyn didn''t seem to find her lost expression strange, and her smile remained undisturbed as she continued. "To be honest, my purpose ining here today was already achieved by you, which I have to admit was quite surprising. After all, even if it was just a part of his intent, that was still the power of chaos that you were contending with. Using wit instead of power to neutralize a threat you cannot directly deal with is alsomendable."


    It was at this moment that Evelyn realized that the blue-haired throne was probably talking about the attack from the Lord of Bones, and she believed that it had been dealt with using Nadia''s power.


    While it was partially true, it also meant that Gwendolyn didn''t realize that Evelyn was able to deal with the chaos bone spear without Nadia''s help, and it had only been due to the urgency in needing to deal with the chaos bone beast that led her to dive into theke.


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but breathe a sigh of relief. ''That''s right so what if she''s a throne?''

 Chapter 193: Domain Mastery

    Chapter 193: Domain Mastery


    Although the reputation of a throne was equivalent to invible beings in this world, Evelyn understood that it was only because of thousands of years of dominance. It made them neither omnipotent nor omniscient.


    And as long as there were things they couldn''t know and couldn''t do, no matter how strong an opponent was, there would always be a way to survive.


    Regardless of Gwendolyn''s strange attitude towards herself, Evelyn wouldn''t poke an opponent she couldn''t handle needlessly, especially with people she cared about around her that would end up being in danger if she did so.


    Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, Evelyn gave the blue-haired woman a hesitant nod.


    Gwendolyn looked satisfied with her response. "You''re quite brave, huh? It would be natural for you to be skeptical of my intentions, though, and I do not take offense to it. But know that I knew of your existence since before you were born, and if I had wanted to harm you, you''d already be dead."


    Although Aurora had alreadye to a simr conclusion herself, when the blue-haired throne used it in an attempt to win her student''s trust, she still found it a little unpleasant. ''Just what is she nning, exactly?''


    Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a jolt of terror up her spine when she heard Gwendolyn''s words. "B-Before I was born?!"


    The blue-haired throne chuckled. "Naturally, all the blessed eggs in this world pass through my hands, and yours was no exception. At that time, I could already feel the exceptional aura from yours."


    Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief. ''So she doesn''t know about my origins, at least.''


    Meanwhile, Aurora frowned, finally unable to contain herself. "Since you insist that it was you who let me know about her, why didn''t you keep her yourself at that time?"


    The skepticism in her voice was clear for all, and Gwendolyn sighed. "Listen, when I contacted you, do you remember what you were doing?"


    Aurora furrowed her brows before she nodded. "I was trying to manifest the domain of water."


    The blue-haired woman smiled.


    Of course, what else could she have been doing? Stuck at the very peak of her limits, trying her best to break through ayer that can never be broken.


    Poking at it in a futile, pitiful attempt, day after day, week after week. She had already persisted at it for so many years that Gwendolyn wondered when she would finally give up.


    After all, the fate of this child, talented as she was, was bound to be hopeless.


    The blue-haired throne didn''t let her thoughts show on her face, though, and only kept smiling. "Since you know that is what you were trying to do, is it really that much a surprise that the master of that domain decided to chat?"


    Although she wasn''t very familiar with the concept, Evelyn felt that the woman''s exnation made sense. But looking at Aurora''s stunned expression, she realized that maybe there was more to it than she thought.


    Her student may not know, but how could Aurora now know what ''master'' of a domain meant?


    Manifesting a domain and being a master of one were two entirely different concepts.


    One represented dominance and control over a limited area using that particr concept, while the other meant being the owner of the concept itself!


    Even if Aurora was one day able to manifest the domain of water, she knew that at most it would allow her to exert far greater control and strength around herself, and greatly boost her power.


    But if Gwendolyn had truly mastered the domain of water as she imed, then she could not only make the element obey her will using spirit power, she could also make it disobey others!


    Throughout the academy''s history, Aurora knew of only one person who managed to go so far - and that was the Crimson Witch of mes, who mastered the concept of fire.


    Even though the difference in their strength was quite overwhelming, Aurora knew that she could only marginally suppress the woman if it came down to it, which was why she had been so determined in manifesting her own domain.


    The tinum blonde couldn''t help but frown. "If what you say is true wouldn''t you have been able to easily take Evelyn out of theke?"


    Gwendolyn chuckled. "I have a feeling you''re misunderstanding something. Do you know what this thing even is?"


    Nadia hissed when she was pointed to, and if not for Evelyn holding her hand, maybe she would have already started attacking the blue-haired woman.


    Of course, Evelyn was quite interested in seeing how Nadia fought, but that thought was only momentary. After all, such a situation was more likely to lead to a disaster for them than not.


    No matter how good-natured Gwendolyn appeared, Evelyn didn''t dare to believe it at all.


    After all, there was no free lunch in this world, and Evelyn firmly believed that Aurora''s goodwill had already exhausted the good fortune of her next hundred reincarnations.


    Gwendolyn chuckled when she saw the tinum blonde frown. "Fake or not, the water that has been tainted by the presence of a primordial creature is already out of my control."


    She sighed. "The most I can do is vaguely sense what''s going on in there, and that too cannot exceed a certain distance, depending on the concentration of her primordial corruption. The deeper I try to sense into theke, the more difficult it gets. I believe you understand now?"


    While Aurora seemed to be lost in thought, Evelyn frowned. "Why did you use the word ''fake''? I don''t understand"


    The blue haired woman chuckled. "Obviously because this thing was created, and not born naturally. A primordial creature is one thates into being along with the world it lives in, but this thing is clearly not that old."


    Although Nadia''s vocabry was limited, and it wasn''t yet enough to hold a proper conversation, Evelyn knew that she was more or less able to understand what someone was talking about.


    Even if she wasn''t very clear about it, the mermaid should still be able to tell that she was the one being talked about, and the conversation wasn''t exactly pleasant.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but squeeze her palm under the water. Although she was curious, she decided to put it off forter and move on. "Sincedy Gwendolyn intended to help me, can you please tell me the reason?"


    If someone said that it was because they were the ''same species'', Evelyn would only think of it as a joke. After all, for most beings, their deadliest enemies were all from the same species. Without any other factors, it meant little to nothing.


    Gwendolyn smiled, though there was something in her expression that Evelyn felt was strange, she couldn''t quite figure it out. "Have you heard ''The Tale of the Blue Moon''?"


    Evelyn blinked as she recalled the story that Aurora had told her back when she first got her cultivation technique. "You mean to say it''s all true, and you''re helping me to make up for the past?"


    The blue-haired woman shook her head in denial. "That is only a part of it. It''s true that I wanted to make up for the past if I ever had the chance, but I understand that you are not her, nor are you her reincarnation. At most, you resemble her a little."


    Evelyn furrowed her brows in confusion. "Then?"


    Gwendolyn smiled. "Obviously, there are things that you can do that no one else can. As for what they are you will find out, eventually. But first you need to grow."


    The pink-haired girl frowned, suddenly having a bad feeling in her heart. ''The Lord of Bones seems to want to kill me immediately, but Gwendolyn wants me to grow? It seems like whatever it is that''s motivating them it concerns wielding the full power of a throne.''


    Although she wanted to dig for more information, Evelyn understood that since Gwendolyn refused to tell her, insisting on it would change nothing at all.


    The blue-haired woman didn''t seem to care for her thoughts as she sighed. "To be honest, our interference at this point in your life will probably do more harm than good when ites to your growth, but with that disgusting man stretching his ws all the way over here, not interfering would just end up dooming you."


    She turned her gaze to Aurora with a rueful smile. "For all the other troubles, I could still trust and believe in the little girl over here. After all, she is considerably strong, and quite dedicated to you. Far more than I ever expected, actually. But I don''t dare to bex when ites to him."


    Aurora seemed incensed at her words, and Evelyn couldn''t help but think that this must be the most furious she had seen her teacher so far. Even when she had used her probe skill on her twice, the tinum blonde didn''t get so angry, right?


    "Don''t make it sound like I did it because you told me to! The fate between me and my student is not something created by you, regardless of what you believe!"


    Although she wholeheartedly agreed with those words in her heart, Evelyn couldn''t help but tense as she closely observed Gwendolyn''s reaction. After all, if a fight really broke out the one in the most danger would be her teacher.


    Thankfully, Gwendolyn didn''t seem to mind the tinum blonde''s words at all, but what she said next only incensed Aurora further.

 Chapter 194: Auroras Heart

    Chapter 194: Aurora''s Heart


    "The little girl hasn''t grown up at all it seems. Her mind is still as childish as her body, and she throws tantrums when she hears something she doesn''t like."


    Listening to the blue haired woman''s words, Aurora''s face turned pale, and Evelyn couldn''t help but frown.


    From her perspective, it was clear that Gwendolyn was knowingly taunting her teacher, but what she didn''t understand was why.


    But regardless of what her reasons were, Evelyn didn''t want to see Aurora be wronged.


    Gritting her teeth, Evelyn soon made the decision in her heart. "Teacher, can you let us talk alone?"


    Returning Aurora''s sharp look with a pleading gaze, Evelyn finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the tinum blonde reluctantly move back.


    But although she moved back, it was only a few meters. Aurora still wanted to be ready to react in case things went south.


    Even if Gwendolyn was a throne, the tinum blonde didn''t believe she could kill her student before she could react right in front of her.


    Whether she had her control of water or not, Aurora still had her spirit power. Even if herbat ability would be reduced, there was still enough energy in her body topletely turn the entire academy into ashes if she decided to sacrifice herself.


    Throne or not, Aurora didn''t believe Gwendolyn could ignore such a threat.


    Seeing the pink haired girl take the initiative to send her teacher ''away'', Gwendolyn rose a brow in surprise. "For being so suspicious before, don''t tell me you suddenly believe in me now?"


    Evelyn just smiled. "I believe that regardless of what it is that you want to do, you''re not here to kill me today."


    Of course, her words made it clear that she believed that Gwendolyn came here with a motive other than to just take care of the attack from the Lord of Bones as she imed before.


    After all, not to mention whether the academy could take care of it by itself or not what did it have to do with Gwendolyn?


    If what she wanted was really to just foil each and every one of the ns that Lord of Bones had, wouldn''t it make more sense to take the opportunity of his absence to dismantle some of his biggest temples?


    There was a hint of appreciation in Gwendolyn''s eyes as she nodded. "You''re not wrong. What do you think I''m here to do, then?"


    Evelyn pursed her lips and shook her head. "I don''t know. Why don''t you tell me? Why are you here? Why did you keep provoking Aurora? And what is it that you really want from me?"


    Gwendolyn looked amused as she snapped her fingers to make a privacy barrier, immediately isting the two of them and Nadia from any ''eavesdropping''.


    Aurora tensed momentarily, but seeing her make no further hostile actions, she soon calmed down.


    The blue haired woman couldn''t help but chuckle. "Although you''re courageous, you should learn that you won''t get some answers just because you want them."


    Nadia seemed to think that she was being mocked again when Gwendolyn chuckled and immediately became furious. Seeing her hiss and get ready to attack, Evelyn quickly pulled her into a hug tofort her.


    Theke that had just started boiling immediately calmed down again, and Gwendolyn couldn''t help but stare at it in thought. "How about this you tell me how you tamed this wild little thing, and I''ll let you know why I was provoking your teacher?"


    Evelyn tensed almost instantly, but seeing how Nadia didn''t seem to realize anything and just kept swaying her tail docilely in her embrace, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    Obviously, as far as Evelyn was concerned, it was impossible to expose her deepest secrets. However, she didn''t immediately reject the offer either.


    Gwendolyn watched with interest as the pink haired girl seemed to consider her offer before nodding hesitantly.


    "Nadia and I share an intimate connection, and I feel close to her in my heart, and believe she does too. I haven''t ''tamed'' her as you put it, she simply favors me."


    Gwendolyn blinked. "What? That''s it?"


    Evelyn tilted her head in confusion. "What else did you expect?"


    The blue haired woman stared at her silently before she shook her head with a smile.


    Evelyn didn''t worry about being exposed, since it''s not like she lied.


    Every word she spoke was true. And the reason was simply because she felt that lying in front of Gwendolyn was a risk not worth taking.


    E had already told her about the ''secret'' behind the Aquans ability to detect lies, which wasn''t really much of a secret at all. Simply put, those who had a high affinity of water were more sensitive to emotions, and found it much easier to detect falsehood.


    The Aquans capitalized on this ''ability'' and further trained everyone with some talent to be able to observe and detect falsehood even better.


    It proved to be in invaluable skill in both trade and negotiation, and greatly boosted the economical growth of Aquavahn.


    Evelyn believed that even if this wasn''t known to most people due to the information restrictions in this world, there was no way to keep it a secret from those who really wanted to know.


    Besides, as someone who imed to have a mastery of the domain of water, Gwendolyn would probably be able to see through her lies almost instantly, making it pointless in the first ce.


    The blue haired throne sighed in disappointment. "Well, I was hoping it was one of your throne abilities. I''ve always been curious about the skills of the lotus throne, after all. But fine whatever. A deal is a deal."


    Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.


    Gwendolyn smiled as she turned to look at the vignt tinum blonde through the corner of her eye. "The reason I kept provoking Aurora was because I just wanted her to be angry."


    Evelyn had expected many things, such as the woman wanting her teacher to attack so she can test her abilities, or maybe even ''show the girl her ce'', but provoking her simply for the sake of enraging her hadn''t crossed her mind at all.


    She couldn''t help but be shocked. "W-Why?!"


    Gwendolyn chuckled as she saw the pink haired girl''s dumbfounded expression. Compared to her serious look, she looked more ''adorable'' like this, much more suitable for her age. "I remember there was only one question in our deal?"


    Evelyn furrowed her brows, disappointed.


    The blue haired throne smiled. "Well, I''m feeling generous today. To be honest, there is something I need to do that requires the three of you. You, Aurora and the Lord of Bones."


    Evelyn immediately felt a chill run down her spine.


    Of course, she had already expected as much, but there had still been a vain hope in her heart that maybe Gwendolyn simply had a vendetta against the Lord of Bones, and that she wanted her to grow to team up and get rid of him together.


    Since she was directly involved as a throne herself, Evelyn didn''t mind being dragged into her fight. After all, she would have had to face it sooner orter anyway.


    Dragging Aurora into it, however, was something she always wanted to avoid.


    Every time the tinum blonde had sheltered her before, Evelyn had always vowed in her heart that one day, when she was strong enough, she would protect her teacher like a precious jewel in her palm, and never let her suffer any harm.


    However, if the two of them were dragged into a conflict between two thrones that far exceeded her level what could Evelyn even do to protect her?


    Looking at the girl''s pale face, Gwendolyn sighed. "Don''t look so worried. As long as you seed, it will only bring the two of you benefits. As for the Lord of Bones heh."


    Evelyn bit her lip nervously. "I-I''m already enemies with the Lord of Bones, and I have no issue with fighting against him with all I have, with or without you. But my teacher she has nothing to do with it."


    The blue haired throne shook her head in denial. "Don''t be so reluctant. Even if you don''t drag her in, won''t she jump in by herself? Do you even know what she thinks of you?"


    Evelyn frowned but didn''t speak.


    Gwendolyn chuckled. "When she thought I was the domain''s will, she exposed some of her heart the moment she learned about your existence. ''The World''s Only Hope'' is what I saw, and for you she''ll even sacrifice the academy, not to mention herself."


    Instead of looking happy, the pink haired girl''s expression turned pale, and Gwendolyn couldn''t help but think it was interesting. "Why, aren''t you ttered?"


    Evelyn could only try her best to smile, but in her heart, she knew it must look ugly. After all, for an ''outsider'' who used to only think of herself Aurora''s thoughts were like a spike through her heart.


    Author''s Note:


    I wasn''t able to update yesterday. Since I was a little depressed to begin with, and then received some bad newster, it becamepletely impossible for me to focus on writing. I could have forced myself to do it, but... I just couldn''t find the motivation, unfortunately.


    Now that I think about it, I should have just epted earlier that I couldn''t do it and posted a no-update notice.


    So for everyone who waited for the chapter yesterday... I''m sorry. I know there aren''t many of you reading this, but I treasure the few of you who do.


    I''ll make up for it tomorrow, or the day after, with double chapters.

 Chapter 195: The Target

    Chapter 195: The Target


    Before her rebirth, Evelyn had always thought that she was an unwanted girl who had no one to depend on but herself. After all, her own mother had thrown her away into a trashcan shortly after her birth, going so far as leaving her face disfigured.


    Whatever her reasons were, the fact remained that no one in the world found her pleasing to the eye. Moreover, with her somewhat gloomy personality, it was difficult for people to even feel any pity for the girl.


    The beautiful hair and figure she had inherited from her mother only made her existence more miserable, as when someone approached her from the back, their disgust upon finally seeing her face was all the more jarring.


    Her horrible ending didn''t help mend any wounds, and by the time of her rebirth, Evelyn had already developed a firm habit of always thinking of herself first and foremost.


    Her first reaction to benevolence wasn''t gratitude, but doubt. And when facing a stranger, although she remained friendly on the surface, in her heart, she treated them all as her enemies.


    Only those who worked their way into her heart qualified as friends.


    Needless to say, she wasn''t selfless enough to ever think about the ''world'' as a whole, much less all the unknown strangers inside of it.


    After all, as long as she didn''t know them, in her heart they were all her enemies. Only when she knew something would directly affect those she cared about would Evelyn''s thoughts move, but otherwise she remained uncaring.


    It was one thing for Aurora to wish to sacrifice herself for the good of the world, but it was another thing entirely for her to do so while cing all her hopes on her student.


    Evelyn had already grown deeply attached to the tinum blonde, and it was impossible for her to not feel like she had let her teacher down.


    Nadia seemed to sense her distress as she rubbed her cheek against hers, and some of the gloom finally dissipated from Evelyn''s eyes. ''N-No, I can''t think like this. Teacher knows what I''m like, but she chose to believe in me!''


    Firming her determination, she looked calmly into Gwendolyn''s eyes. "Tell me what you need me to do, but you have to promise me that you will do your best to protect my teacher whenever possible."


    The blue haired woman chuckled. "Interesting well, there is no need for you to worry so much. That''s what I intended to do from the start."


    Evelyn nodded, though she didn''t ask if her protection stemmed from the fact that her n might fail if any of them perished, or if it was part of her sincerity. Either way, it didn''t matter as long as her teacher remained safe.


    Gwendolyn sighed. "Actually, even without me, Aurora is still able to put up a desperate struggle to protect you against the Lord of Bones, though she will eventually end up losing."


    Evelyn bit her lip as the blue haired throne continued. "She''s talented, I''ll give her that. Probably she can save you at least once after the academy copses. So that makes it so you can escape two more times from the Lord of Bones, but then, the third time she''ll surely die."


    Looking at the grimace on the pink haired girl''s face, Gwendolyn chuckled. "Rx, I''m here since neither of us want that to happen, right? But before I tell you what you need to do, there is one promise you must make to me as well."


    After seeing her nod, the blue haired throne smiled. "I have a little descendant, a very curious but talented little child I want you to take her along. Of course, you don''t need to worry about her safety, nor is there any need to take particr care of her. The only thing you need to make sure of is not to leave her behind."


    Evelyn gave her a doubtful look. "What do you want me to promise, just to let her follow me all the time?"


    Gwendolyn shook her head with a smile. "Not all the time, no, just until we have taken care of the Lord of Bones. As for why you''ll know when the timees. But that''s not the promise I want from you."


    The blue haired throne paused for a while before she sighed. "To be honest, the n I have is sure to take down the Lord of Bones and aplish what I want, but there are always things that can go wrong. Aurora can die, you can die, even I can die."


    There was a moment of tense silence between them before Gwendolyn smiled. "In case I''m the one who dies, I want you to promise to take care of this little descendant of mine."


    The pink haired girl was stunned, and it took her a while to nod nkly. "I-I''ll promise you that."


    Gwendolyn smiled. "Good. In that case, what you need to do now is grow. As for the Lord of Bones and all the trouble he''s causing I''ll do my best to keep him tied up for a while."


    Evelyn nodded, her expression grim. "How far do I need to level up before I''m ready for what you n?"


    Of course, if possible, even if it hadn''t been for Gwendolyn''s interference, Evelyn was already trying to grow as fast as possible. This was in line with her own wishes.


    Instead of answering her directly, the blue haired throne smiled. "Do you know Aurora''s level? I''m guessing she hasn''t told you."


    Seeing the pink haired girl furrow her brows with a frown, Gwendolyn chuckled as if amused. "So that insecure little girl really didn''t tell you, I was right."


    Evelyn pursed her lips, feeling a little dissatisfied in her heart. "What do you mean by that?"


    The blue haired throne sighed. "You know what, I''ll tell you since you''re interesting, and it doesn''t really matter."


    Giving a sideways nce at the tinum blonde staring intently in their direction from the other side of the barrier, Gwendolyn chuckled. "This little girl probably assumed she would die before you reached the peak of your strength, so instead of telling you how strong she was, she probably wanted to leave a good image in your heart. Prideful to the end, isn''t she?"


    Evelyn just looked down gloomily at the bluish-green hair on Nadia''s head as she squeezed her forfort.


    Gwendolyn smiled. "Don''t be so depressed. Her death in my n is about as likely as my own, so you can rest assured."


    The pink haired girl nodded reluctantly, and Gwendolyn continued. "Anyway, I don''t care what she thinks, so I won''t hide it from you. From what I can see, she''s a Tier One awakened. At the very peak of Tier One, actually. In the old world, she can be considered the strongest human powerhouse if you can consider her a human."


    Of course, Evelyn knew that Gwendolyn must be referring to the spirit beasts and the likes of the ''Thousand Eyed God'', who were likely stronger than her teacher in terms of their levels, at least.


    But the pink haired girl had only known of ranger rankings going up to Rank S, which meant someone that was over level ny. The term ''awakened'' thest time she recalled hearing that was from the ''supervisor'' before her rebirth.


    She couldn''t help but furrowed her brows with a frown.


    Gwendolyn suddenly seemed to realize something as she smiled. "Oh, sorry, I guess you don''t know what those terms mean yet, do you? Well, you can me the Lord of Bones for making things difficult for everyone, but that is what we want to fix anyway.


    The blue haired throne sighed. "Anyway, you can just ask your teacher about thister, I doubt she''ll hide from you anymore once she knows you''re already aware of her level. Heh. I wonder how she''ll react"


    Evelyn pursed her lips, but she knew there was no other choice, even if it ended up upsetting Aurora in the end. There were some things that the two of them needed to face, after all.


    Seeing the determination in her eyes, Gwendolyn smiled. "Well, anyway, she''s been stuck at the peak of tier one for a while, so I guess she probably knows more about the awakened and what they can do than even myself. That girl is quite talented, after all."


    The blue haired throne seemed to hesitate a little before nodding. "I think it should be possible for her to even kill someone past that barrier, and if she puts her life on the line."


    Evelyn nodded, her expression grim. She could pretty much guess that awakening was something that happened beyond the 99th or 100th level, though she would only know for sureter. "Do I need to grow past tier one, then?"


    Gwendolyn smiled. "Not at all. Once you break past the limits of a ranger, you should reach at least tier three of awakening. And depending on your talent and umted growth, you might even be able to shoot straight to tier two. And that... will be enough."

 Chapter 196: The Goal

    Chapter 196: The Goal


    Evelyn would naturally try her best to grow as fast as possible, but having a goal in mind was always good.


    One of the things she had always wanted to know ever since she became aware of the existence of thrones was, of course, how strong they were exactly. After all, since she would one day be facing them, how could she rest assured without even knowing the disparity in their strength?


    Moreover, beyond the thrones there was another threat that she had to eventually face, which was the origin of her rebirth - the space beast Chronos. Although Evelyn didn''t know if it was stronger than the thrones or not, she knew that the threat it possessed was most definitely stronger.


    After all, the knowledge it possessed seemed to be on an entirely different level. Even if it was weaker in raw strength, Evelyn felt like it would still be a greater threat. And that''s not even considering the fact that it might just be stronger.


    However, the time had alreadye that the threat of the Lord of Bones was looming over her head like a guillotine, but she still had no idea how far she was from him.


    Gwendolyn''s statement did provide her with some insight, and Evelyn guessed that she would at least need to cross to level hundred, and then the three tiers of awakening, from three to one, to be about as strong as Aurora.


    However, there was no way for her to know if that''s where the strength of the thrones remained, or if it was even higher.


    Simply depending on Gwendolyn and her mysterious ''n'' didn''t sit right with Evelyn, so although she didn''t have any choice but to cooperate for now, the idea of growing her own strength to their level remained firm in her heart.


    After all, only when she had the ability to resist their will would she have any grounds for negotiation, or she would forever remain nothing but a pawn.


    Taking a deep breath to settle her emotions, Evelyn stared straight into Gwendolyn''s eyes with determination. "Can you tell me roughly how much stronger the Lord of Bones ispared to a tier one awakened?"


    The blue-haired throne chuckled, as if she could already guess her thoughts. "Naturally, I''m no mere awakened, and neither is the Lord of Bones. As for the specifics how about I make it as a reward once we''ve dealt with the Lord of Bones?"


    No matter how she felt in her heart, Evelyn could only reluctantly nod.


    Gwendolyn smiled. "I see you''re very curious. Let me tell you something else that''s interesting, then. Aside from Aurora, you have another awakened by your side, though she won''t be any help for our n."


    Evelyn frowned a little in confusion, wondering if Gwendolyn was talking about the other pirs in the academy, but they could hardly be considered her allies. After all, their loyaltyy with the academy, not herself.


    Soon, however, she realized what Gwendolyn meant, and herplicated gaze turned to Nadia, who was still contently wagging her fish tail in the water, her eyes closed in Evelyn''s embrace.


    Gwendolyn nodded. "It was probably born right past the barrier of tier one, or somewhere around that region? I''m not sure. As for how I have my conjectures, but since I''m not certain, I''ll keep it to myself."


    The blue haired throne turned to look at the sky suddenly, frowning in thought. "Looks like that bastard is heading over to my ce I can''t be absent at that time. Anything else you need to know before I go?"


    Although Evelyn was curious about where Gwendolyn''s ''ce'' was and what was going to happen, she could vaguely sense that the blue haired throne didn''t want to mention it, and would reject her even if she asked.


    The pink haired girl frowned as she nodded, deciding to simply focus on what mattered to her first in that case. "What happens after I be an ''awakened''? Do I seek you out?"


    Gwendolyn chuckled. "No need. I''ll be keeping an eye on the Lord of Bones, and he''ll definitely seek you out. Trust me, the awakening of a throne can''t be kept secret."


    Evelyn''s heart chilled, but she tried her best not to let it show on her face. ''So I guess it will be obvious when it happens. There''s no way for me to dy it further and increase my strength to the next level first.''


    The blue haired throne smiled. "At that time, you need to hold him up for a while and I''lle to you with Aurora. After that I''ll take care of everything."


    Evelyn''s expression turned grim as she nodded. She didn''t ask Gwendolyn how she could do that when the Lord of Bones was supposedly so much stronger, because she knew even Gwendolyn probably had no answer to that.


    She would have to figure it out for herself, and if she failed to do so it would alle crashing down.


    The blue haired throne sighed. "You should realize now that the biggest challenge would be to survive against him until we arrive."


    Evelyn nodded.


    Gwendolyn smiled. "You must have your own ideas for how to grow, and at first I wanted to let you grow by yourself. It would be both more convenient and consolidate your strength better."


    She paused before flicking a ring in her direction, and Evelyn subconsciously caught it. "I can''t wait for long now that the Lord of Bones knows about you, so I''ll give you a shortcut. Go to Lumenzarha and take their trial by fire. It won''t be easy for someone like you, but as long as you''re able to clear it fully, getting past awakening shouldn''t be impossible."


    The blue haired throne really didn''t stay another moment as she disappeared right in front of her eyes. And as soon as she did, the privacy barrier that she had erected also dissolved.


    Aurora walked over, frowning as she ascertained that Gwendolyn was truly gone before she breathed out a sigh of relief. "What did she say?"


    Evelyn pursed her lips in thought as she patted Nadia''s head before swimming over to Aurora''s side to get out of theke. The primordial Naiad followed her to the edge of theke before looking at her pitifully, and the pink haired girl couldn''t help but smile.


    Turning to the tinum blonde, Evelyn sighed. "She wants me to go to Lumenzarha to take part in their trial by fire. Teacher do you know what that is and what I should do?"


    Aurora''s expression turned a little strange at her words, as if she couldn''t quite figure out what was going on. "Why would she want you to go through Lumenzarha''s marriagepetition? Did she really say that, or is it your own idea?"


    Looking at her teacher''s suspicious expression, Evelyn was immediately dumbfounded. "The what? What marriage?"


    The tinum blonde frowned as she saw that Evelyn''s surprise was really not fake, and she had no idea what the so-called trial by fire really meant.


    In the end, she could only sigh and exin it to her student. "Lumenzarha''s ''Trial By Fire'' is an annualpetition organized by the royal family in order to select the most qualified candidate to marry into their royal line. Since it is held each year at the same time, and there are no restrictions on entry, many people from all over the continent, and even some outsiderse over to participate."


    She pursed her lips in thought. "After all, even if it is some small princess or prince of the side branch, the treatment of their spouse will definitely be superior tomon folk."


    Evelyn furrowed her brows in thought. "Does the royal family there have some great secret? A strange ability? I really don''t get it. For Lumenzarha''s ''Trial By Fire'' to be able to boost my strength quickly"


    Aurora''s expression turned grim as she shook her head. "No, I think I get it now. Instead of the royal family, I think the secret lies with where their ''Trial By Fire'' is actually held."


    "Eh?"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "From what I know, the trial takes ce in a mystic realm that is separated from our world. That is to say, apletely independent space! No one really knows what is and where it is, and every year what the candidates face may be different."


    Before the pink haired girl could open her mouth, Aurora bit her lip in worry. "The mystic realm is usually nothing special, and doesn''t hold any great opportunities. From what I heard, only those from poorer backgrounds would consider it a lucky chance, but"


    Evelyn''s expression turned solemn. "You mean"


    Aurora nodded. "That''s right. I believe that this mystic realm must hold some secret that we don''t know about, and it might be able to stimte your growth. But that also means that it contains some danger that we''re unaware of, so you must be careful!"

 Chapter 197: Mystic Realm

    Chapter 197: Mystic Realm


    The moment Aurora had mentioned that the so-called Trial by Fire was held in a mystic realm, Evelyn already had a faint guess in her heart.


    Most mystic realms were naturally formed, and had their own set ofws. Some were incrediblyplex, while others werepletely mundane. Whether one contained a great deal of opportunities or nothing but sand was anyone''s guess until they actually stepped into it.


    However, entering a mystic realm was also a gamble, since it was more or less a portal, there was no way to know where it led, or if a return journey was even possible.


    Most mystic realms ceased to exist after some time, either copsing in on themselves or evolving topletion, thus cutting off all the portals of entry and exit. Some, however, continued to exist for a long time.


    Aurora slowly exined everything she knew about Lumenzarha''s ''Trial by Fire'' to Evelyn, and the more she learned, the more she realized that if not for Gwendolyn, she really would never have tried to go there.


    The true purpose of this ''Trial by Fire'' was for the royal family to cultivate leaders for themselves, and the marriage ''reward'' was really only there to tie down their loyalty firmly to their side.


    This mystic realm contained a variety of areas inside, all with their own challenges and rewards, and no one knew which area their particr batch would be teleported to when they entered. It could only be entered once a year, and remained open for three days.


    These challenges were nothing special, just like their rewards, so both their allure and threat level were low.


    The requirements for exiting would also only be conveyed once the people had already entered, and while it was rare, there had been a few cases of people going missing inside.


    Those who exited before the trial ended were considered passed, and those who were ejected after the time ran out naturally failed.


    Aurora pursed her lips in thought. "I think based on what we know, the mystic realm will change when you enter. Otherwise, it makes no sense for Gwendolyn to ask you to go there."


    After all, whether it was the minuscule rewards from the trial itself or the marriage to the royal family of Lumenzarha, neither would help Evelyn much.


    As for how Gwendolyn knew that the mystic realm would have a different reaction to Evelyn''s entry, neither of them could be sure.


    Evelyn nodded after thinking about it. "Since she''s so old, it''s possible that she''d entered the mystic realm once herself, and no one knew about it. Maybe it''s different for the thrones, after all, and the opportunities inside might be enough to boost me to awakening."


    Even if that wasn''t so and the trial really remained the same, Evelyn wouldn''t lose much since in that case it would onlyst three days.


    But that was unlikely, since if Gwendolyn had really wanted to mislead her, there were better ways to do so.


    The biggest problem Evelyn had was that the ''candidates'' were all required to take a ''team'' with them to the mystic realm, and while thepensation for the winning teams would be paid for by the royal family, the losers could only fend for themselves.


    On the surface, this requirement was to ''ensure survival in case of unexpected changes in the mystic realm'', but really it was only there to seed the ''better'' candidates by the royal family.


    The pink haired girl sighed. "Why are the team requirements so strict?"


    Aurora frowned. "If I go with you, I don''t think anyone will be able to stop us from entering, but"


    Of course, Evelyn knew. With the situation as it was now, even if Evelyn dared to leave the academy, she had to make sure that her whereabouts remained concealed.


    After all, even if Gwendolyn was attracting the attention of the Lord of Bones, it wouldn''t take the man long to reach her as long as he knew she was unprotected, and at that time, her situation would be truly desperate.


    Although Gwendolyn mentioned that Aurora could protect her once or twice from the Lord of Bones, Evelyn was in no mood to risk her teacher''s life like that.


    The pink haired girl sighed. "Forget it. I''ll talk to my friends and see what they think. If not I can always hire some mercenaries."


    Aurora nodded. "It''s better this way. After all, since she mentioned you can grow to the awakened stage in a short period of time, it''s possible that your teammates would also be able to grow. Instead of giving the opportunity to others, it''s better to give it to your friends."


    Additionally, this would also prevent her from dealing with too many strangers, which would have increased the risk of exposure anyway.


    Evelyn nodded as she suddenly thought of something. "Teacher, um, do you have more of those cloaks you gave me earlier?"


    Recalling how none of the professors had been able to recognize her under the cloak''s concealment, Evelyn believed that it would be for the best if she could have such a thing with her when she went out.


    Aurora knocked on her student''s head with a smile. "Do you think your teacher gives you things that can be easily mass-produced? There is only one."


    Evelyn coughed, feeling a little embarrassed. "I-It''s okay, then. I''ll look through Nadia''s collection. I''m sure there must be something."


    Hearing her name, Nadia nodded sagely from the shore, though Evelyn had no idea if she really understood what they were talking about.


    Aurora frowned. "No need. I''ll arrange some concealment artifacts for you soon."


    Although she realized that the mermaid was friendly to her student, she still didn''t know how strong their bond was.


    From what she had seen, the mermaid''s attitude was simr to a child''s, and snatching her things would undoubtedly reduce goodwill. It was better to save her favor for when it was actually needed instead of wasting it like this.


    Before Evelyn could open her mouth to protest, Aurora interrupted her with a sigh. "You shouldn''t treat her poorly because she has the mind of a child. Children are often more sensitive to emotions than adults."


    Of course, Evelyn understood that her teacher would normally never say such a thing, as she preferred not interfering in her student''s personal matters.


    The only reason Aurora went so far must be because she had been watching the ''Siren''s Call'' for a long time, and Nadia had nevere out to meet with her.


    Perhaps, Aurora doubted the reasoning behind her intimacy with her student. After all, Evelyn was not the first person to enter theke, and if Nadia was truly as simple as she seemed, why hadn''t she ever befriended anyone else?


    Could it be that in thousands of years, no one had reached the same depths of theke as Evelyn? Knowing how strong some of the people who entered were, Aurora knew that couldn''t be the case.


    After all, many of them had strength that far exceeded that of her student''s current state, and they had also taken many precautions before entering,pared to Evelyn''s hasty dive.


    This was especially so when considering the fact that even Gwendolyn was cautious against Nadia''s existence, and even if she was truly without any ulterior motives, they should still not be careless at this point.


    "I will go bring Bree back."


    Evelyn could only nod helplessly before she dipped back into theke to face Nadia with a sigh. "Don''t worry, she''s just a little cautious and aloof by nature."


    The naiad tilted her head curiously, and Evelyn didn''t know if she really understood her words, but she still continued with a smile. "If anything, she must think I might take advantage of you and wrong you, and thinks you''re such a pitiful little child, ah."


    Looking at Nadia''s innocent eyes, Evelyn grinned. "Speaking of taking advantage, all these treasures you decorated with me look really good, especially this bow, ahh!"


    She hadn''t even checked it out yet, but Evelyn could feel that it was incredible now that her spirit power was no longer blocked.


    Thinking about her little friend''s stash at the bottom of theke, however, Evelyn couldn''t help but hold the little naiad''s shoulders affectionately. "How about we y a game?"


    When Aurora returned, she was stunned to see a huge pile of artifacts by the side of theke.


    Evelyn was sshing her feet in theke with a grin when a bluish-green-haired girl emerged from the water once more and handed her a crystalline tiara with a smile before diving back in.


    If Aurora still couldn''t figure it out, she would have known Evelyn in vain. ''T-This greedy little swindler!''


    But looking at the mermaid''s delighted expression each time she fetched something out, Aurora couldn''t help but pause in her step, wondering if she should really interrupt them.


    In the end, she could only sigh. "Forget it, maybe she''ll find something she''ll needter and it will end up making a difference."

 Chapter 198: Fractured Soul

    Chapter 198: Fractured Soul


    Seeing her teacher return with Bree, Evelyn temporarily put the matter of artifacts aside to examine the blonde girl.


    The soul form of Bree had already looked like an adult, both before and after dealing with the chaos bone spear, but Evelyn had felt that Bree''s situation had definitely undergone some change after they were done with the purification process this time.


    Due to their desperate situation at that time, Evelyn hadn''t had the time to carefully sort the matter out and see what happened, but now that she finally took a closer look at the blonde girl, the pink haired girl realized that she looked even more confused than usual.


    Her appearance had changed a little, and now she looked more like a girl in her early teens, but that didn''t provide Evelyn much relief. Taking a look at Bree''s status, however, she soon realized what was wrong.


    [Checking Status]


    - Bree Devaughn: Level 82 [ Exp: 843,110 / 967,230 ]


    Hybrid Special Physique: Blessed Thunder Qilin


    [ Anomalous State: Fractured Soul ]


    - Recovery progress is at 84%


    Physique: 1156 / 1156


    Spirit Power: 786 / 786


    Soul Value: 655 / 779


    Vitality: 1581


    [ Enhancement (avable): Raijuu''s Blessing ]


    [ Affection: 100% (Max) ]


    [ Unable to view skills until the anomalous state is removed. ]


    Previously, she had beenpletely unable to see what was wrong with Bree, but now that her situation was no longer as bad, the anomaly was finally detectable.


    ''Fractured Soul'' wasn''t apletely foreign concept to Evelyn, as someone who practiced a grade nine soul cultivation technique. Even without the system, she could more or less tell what had happened and what she needed to do.


    Different from simple consumption of soul power, fracturing of the soul referred to damage to the soul itself. If depleting soul power was like losing water in a bowl, damaging the soul was like poking holes in the bowl itself.


    Depending on the damage to the soul, not only the abilities, but also the memories of the person could be unavable, or evenpletely lost. Generally, this damage was eitherpletely unrepairable or extremely hard to undo, and that too was within a certain extent.


    Evelyn didn''t know to what extent Bree''s soul had been damaged before. For her to be able to do so, she needed to have seen her intact soul space before it was damaged, but she had been too weak and powerless at that time to even know such a possibility existed.


    With the system''s help, however, Evelyn now knew that the damage must have been close to fifty percent. At this point there was no certainty how much of Bree''s memories and personality could be restored after her soul was healed.


    The good news, however, was that her soul could still be fully healed without any permanent damage, and not all of her memories and personality would be lost, if any.


    The breaking point of soul damage at which a personpletely crossed the point of no return was 15%, and Bree was far from that, making Evelyn heave a sigh of relief.


    "Evelyn?"


    The pink haired girl smiled at the confused look on the now slightly taller girl''s face. "Do you remember who I am?"


    The girl clutched her head in pain as she frowned. "I-I my mom? N-No my baby? N-No"


    Evelyn sighed. "I''m your niece. Your sister''s daughter."


    Seeing her iprehensible expression, the pink haired girl couldn''t help but squeeze her cheeks with a grin. "Don''t worry about it too much. Lie down for a while and rest, sort out everything in your mind to see what I remember. Anyway, no matter what, I''m always here."


    Bree looked a little relieved after hearing her words, and didn''t protest when Evelyn took out a silk sheet from her inventory and spread it on the ground before making the girly down and rest.


    Shortly after she fell asleep.


    Evelyn and Aurora stared at each other for a while before the tinum blonde sighed. "Just say it."


    The pink haired girl coughed. "D-Do you, um, know some way I can get to the Spirit Forest without attracting any attention?"


    Aurora remained silent for a while before shaking her head in denial. "It''s impossible. Even if I had taken you over personally, it would still take a long time to make a round trip. Now that the Lord of Bones is here it''s even more difficult."


    Evelyn had expected as much, and could only sigh in disappointment. "I guess the matter of her recovery will have to depend on luck, then."


    Aurora frowned. "What did you need from the spirit forest? The academy has a lot of things, maybe I can help you take a look."


    Evelyn''s eyes shone immediately as she nodded. "Well, you know how Bree was actually hurt quite badly before, I found out that she actually had her soul fractured. Incidentally, that the energy from the Lord of Bones'' attack actually ended up helping her heal a little."


    Aurora nodded. "I could tell it was much denser than spirit power and even soul power, so it''s possible that it had the effect of stimting her soul to point that it started mending."


    The pink haired girl smiled. "Actually, even before that, when I first arrived at the academy"


    Aurora listened to her student''s spection about the effect of what she called ''chaos energy'' as well as the possibility that there could be a minor source of it in the residence of the spirit beasts far away.


    She could tell that the thing had great importance to Evelyn, but still, the fact remained that there was no way to take her there right now.


    But Aurora knew that the situation was dire, and even if she had no way to help, she had to figure out some alternative. Otherwise, they would really be leaving everything in the hands of the blue moon throne, and it just didn''t sit right with her at all.


    Aurora nodded. "How about this, then, I''ll arrange a way for you to enter the academy''s vault in three days. At that time, you can see for yourself if we have anything that might be able to help. Meanwhile, you can consolidate your strength."


    Aurora didn''t stay with her any longer, and immediately left after a brief farewell.


    Evelyn assumed that the academy''s vault must not be a ce that could be essed so easily, or her teacher wouldn''t need so much time. But the reasons did not bother her too much, as she had many other things to worry about.


    The first thing she had to do now that she had already taken a look at Bree was figure out the situation with Nadia, and take care of revamping her arsenal while at it.


    After all, the stronger she was and the better artifacts that she had, the less likely it was that something could go wrong. Moreover, only if she had enough strength would she have the ability to assert her will.


    The road ahead was bound to be arduous, and Evelyn knew better than anyone that although Gwendolyn had not said so openly, the trials that awaited her would be anything but safe.


    Since she was also going to have to take her friends along, it was all the more important that she increase her strength andbat ability to the highest point that she could.


    The artifacts that Nadia had quite a few exceptional items, even with a casual nce. And using her probe skill, Evelyn was soon able to confirm her thoughts.


    The people who dove into the Siren''s call were usually those with exceptional strength and ability. They either had the spirit of adventure, or simply wanted to force a breakthrough when they were stuck.


    In such cases, these people obviously prepared to the best of their ability before diving into theke. Evelyn had no doubt that some could have even borrowed or stolen things that they could never have had the ability to afford otherwise.


    As these things had been umting for thousands of years already, and Nadia had collected mostly the shiniest of them into her cave, her selection was really nothing to scoff at.


    Of course, there were also some who gambled with their lives before they were ready, so there was a healthy mix ofmon goods among Nadia''s toys. Evelyn still used her probe skill on these lower grade items, just to be thorough.


    Obviously, Evelyn didn''t really have the intention to take away all of Nadia''s treasures. She had already determined that the girl either couldn''t or didn''t want to leave theke, so how could she take away all the toys of such a lonely child?


    That being said, she still intended to look through all of them to find what would be the best for her. Evelyn knew Nadia wouldn''t mind, and she could always rece them with ''newer toys'' anyway.


    It''s not like Nadia would use any of them, after all.


    The more she looked through the pile, however, the more Evelyn realized that Nadia had already given her the best and most suitable artifacts when she had been ''decorating'' her earlier.


    Evelyn, who had previously believed that Nadia had no idea what these things were except ''shiny'', could only refresh her cognition in shock.


    One or two items could be a coincidence, but all of them?


    No, not only did Nadia have the ability to perceive the quality of these items, she should also be able to more or less tell which ones were the mostpatible with Evelyn!


    If this was all purely based on intuition, it was really too terrifying.

 Chapter 199: Entering The Vault

    Chapter 199: Entering The Vault


    The situation at the academy had already calmed down after the Chaos Bone Spear was taken care of, and even people who had previously been despairing at the arrival of the Lord of Bones in the Old World felt as if they had been overthinking things.


    After all, the Lord of Bones had been around for thousands of years, and the academy still existed. Even if he had now decided to spread his influence to the Old World as well, it didn''t necessarily mean that he could simply wipe the academy off the map.


    In such a time of turmoil, the academy and its forbidden cities were still much safer than the outside world.


    Of course, even if these people had left, the academy wouldn''t cease functioning, but Evelyn knew that the fewer people there were in the academy, the lower the power the main defensive formation would possess.


    The reason that the Lord of Bones couldn''t just break through the main defensive formation of the academy was because it perfectly utilized everything that the academy had at its disposal, and was also almost impossible to destroy.


    The Chaos Bone Spear may have seemed like a carelessly executed taunt from the Lord of Bones, but Evelyn knew very well that it was something that he had used after careful consideration.


    Its main purpose had always been to corrode the underlying structure of the academy to weaken and destroy the array itself instead of having to break through it by force, which showed that the Lord of Bones had no confidence in being able to do such a thing in a short time.


    As for going all out against the academy Evelyn didn''t think the Lord of Bones would do such a thing yet, when he was still wary of Gwendolyn''s presence in the Old World.


    Evelyn didn''t know what the Lord of Bones nned to do now that his first attack had failed, but she didn''t want to wait and see anyway.


    The next time Evelyn saw Aurora was three dayster, when she was taken to an underground tunnel hidden inside the tower of solitude by the female pir Kaling.


    The woman didn''t follow her in, however, and had it not been for Aurora''s handwritten note injected with the familiar spirit power, Evelyn would have surely assumed this to be some trap.


    Thankfully, she soon encountered her teacher standing in front of an intricate circr gate.


    Looking at her state, however, Evelyn couldn''t help but frown. "What''s wrong?"


    Not only was Aurora''s face noticeably paler than before, with how familiar the two were with each other, Evelyn could clearly see that her whole body was far more slender.


    For people like them, consuming food waspletely optional, and they relied on spirit power to sustain their lives. Needless to say, there was no such thing as losing weight due to not eating properly.


    Although Aurora had always been petite and appeared harmless, she had never looked so sickly before.


    As far as Evelyn knew, there could only be three reasons for a sudden change in Aurora''s form - some kind of technique, damage to her soul, or damage to her vitality.


    Aurora didn''t answer her doubts, however, and simply gave her a nod before cing her palm at the center of the circr door. "This path leads to the academy''s grand vault. I''ll exin everything to you along the way."


    Evelyn had no other choice but to follow her teacher in, staring worriedly at the tinum blonde''s sickly appearance.


    The path that opened up beyond the gate was lined with intricate white tiles, and the roof of the square tunnel seemed to be filled with indecipherable runes that glowed faintly.


    The width of the passage widened the further along they went, and Aurora paused from time to time to ce her palm on a rune along the way. "Normally, it is impossible to enter the academy''s vault in person, but when necessary, one has to be careful to remember all the keys inside. If you miss one, the vault will close."


    Evelyn nodded. As for what will happen once the vault closed there was no need for her to think about it. Not long after they had started descending down this path, she had already started feeling a faint suppression of both her spirit and soul power.


    Although it couldn''t bepared to theplete immobilization she felt when in Nadia''s presence under the Siren''s Call, it was definitely simr to what people experienced in theke itself, minus the continuous corrosion of their spirit power.


    Aurora smiled. "I''m sure you''ve noticed the effects by now. This was one of the reasons why I believed that there could be a great treasure in the depths of theke."


    Evelyn blinked in surprise. "You mean this effect is not from some intricate arrayid on this tunnel, but some artifact?"


    Aurora shook her head with a smile. "It''s not some artifact, but a natural born treasure of this world. Do you remember the Etherium Heart I told you about before?"


    Evelyn nodded.


    The tinum blonde sighed. "I can tell you''re distressed, so I''ll tell you. The reason I look weakened now is only because I activated the Etherium Heart to open this vault."


    Aurora went on to exin how although the Etherium Heart served as a key to the vault, the array was constructed in such a way that in case someone managed to capture the holder of the Etherium Heart, it would still be impossible to force them to open the vault.


    There were already provisions inside the vault to ensure that a certain amount of treasures and resources will be sent out to the holders of certain ''tokens'', which would then be distributed ording to the academy''s rules, so the vault normally remained closed for thousands of years at a time.


    The treasures and resources sent out remained random, however, so only in cases such as these where they had to look for something particr, was there ever a need to open the grand vault.


    Of course, Etherium Heart wasn''t just a key, but also a weapon.


    To enable its functionality of serving as a key, the Etherium Heart had to first be filled with all the energy that its holder had, three times over, and only then would the key be ''ready''.


    However, after each full ''rotation'', the Etherium Heart could also be used to attack. Needless to say, if someone captured and tried to use the holder if the Etherium Heart, there was no way to do so unless they could survive an attack that was probably hundreds of times stronger than what the wielder would normally be capable of.


    Of course, such power came at a price, and each time the Etherium Heart was used, the user''s vitality would suffer greatly.


    Aurora smiled. "Don''t worry, once we''re done here, I''ll be able to restore it using some elixirs. The damage isn''t permanent."


    Evelyn couldn''t help but sigh. "Okay. So this natural treasure suppresses everyone who enters here, just like the water in Siren''s Call, right?"


    Aurora shook her head with a smile. "No, that is just its side effect. Now that we''ve met Nadia, do you understand why the Siren''s Call is able to suppress everyone like that?"


    Evelyn pursed her lips in thought. "I guess maybe the special properties of the water? Or it could be a special ability of Nadia?"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "No. The reason is because Nadia is a primordial creature."


    Seeing Evelyn''s confusion, Aurora patiently exined to her what she knew.


    In some of therger mystic realms, one could sometimese across ''primordial creatures''. These beings were born with that realm itself, and in their own domain, their power superseded that of even those who had mastery over the said domain.


    For example, if a primordial sea creature were to fight someone with mastery over the element of water, the element would refuse to obey even its ''master''.


    Moreover, the lifespan of these creatures was the same as that of the realm. That is to say, if the primordial creature perished, the realm would copse, and vice-versa.


    Of course, the primordial creatures weren''t invincible. Their domains were generally limited to where they were born. Whatever mountain,ke, or in it was, as long as they left that domain, their strength would be greatly reduced.


    Moreover, the base strength of these creatures depended on the realm as well. For a minor realm, the primordial creature could be weak enough to perish under the hands of a freshly awakened individual.


    Meanwhile, a major realm''s primordial creature, in its own domain, would probably be able to sneer even at a throne.


    Evelyn gulped. "So Nadia"


    Aurora frowned. "That''s the strange thing even the major realms are puny ifpared to our world, so Nadia should be able to effortlessly crush the thrones with but a thought. But that''s clearly not the case, is it?"


    Gwendolyn''s statement of Nadia being a ''fake'' thus held some more validity, but Evelyn believed that evenpared to Gwendolyn, her own system was still more urate.


    After all, while whether Chronos couldpare with Gwendolyn in terms of strength remained unknown, it was certain that when it came to knowledge, it far exceeded the level of this world. Otherwise, there was no way for her true origin to remain unknown.


    And based on all the prompts so far, there had been no indication of Nadia being a fake in her system messages at all. Even though her status itself remained unknown, every single prompt that had been rted to her clearly stated her existence as that of a ''Primordial Naiad'', and nothing else.


    Suddenly, Evelyn couldn''t help but have a strange thought. ''But what if a primordial creature had a baby?''

 Chapter 200: The Great Mother

    Chapter 200: The Great Mother


    Evelyn still remembered how scared she had been of meeting Nadia''s parents when she was first dragged to the depths of theke, and also the relief she felt when she discovered there was no such thing.


    Although she had already put it out of her mind then, at this moment, she couldn''t help but wonder once more. What stopped a primordial creature from reproducing?


    Even the people with spirit physiques could have children when their bodies were naturally unsuitable for the purpose, and their origins were also from non-living objects. So it was unlikely to be because of ack of possibility.


    Thinking so, the pink-haired girl couldn''t help but ask her teacher about it.


    Aurora frowned. "You think so? Can a primordial creature even reproduce?"


    Evelyn blinked in surprise as she realized that her teacher really hadn''t even considered that possibility.


    In her previous world, reproduction was a core concept of life for all types of living creatures. After all, every creature could only live so long, and if it didn''t reproduce, its species would stop existing sooner orter.


    However, after her rebirth, she realized that this wasn''t really the case once the world no longer consisted of only mortal beings.


    The existence of spirit power made it possible for some to keep on increasing their lifespan, greatly reducing their motivation to reproduce, and it even became possible to produce a child through spirit eggs.


    Although certain royal families and mortals ced great importance on marriage and producing heirs, that was far from the case for those who focused on their personal strength.


    As they constantly sought ways to reach a higher realm of strength, having a child to care for was more a liability than anything else. Aurora, for example, was already thousands of years old, but had never taken a lover, and the same went for the old headmaster.


    Although there were some couples among the strong, such as the two pirs  Kaling and Kaizen  they also generally chose not to have a child.


    Perhaps it was because of this that the primordial creatures having a child never crossed anyone''s mind, be it Aurora or Gwendolyn.


    Evelyn sighed. "Even if they are born as a lone member of their species, aren''t there many who don''t need a partner to reproduce?"


    Aurora seemed to consider her statement for a while before she shook her head in denial. "The issue isn''t about physical possibilities, but what the primordial creatures are."


    Looking at her student''s confused look, the tinum blonde smiled. "Think about it this way if we consider the world to be a living being, the realm or the itself being the body, then the primordial creature is its heart. When a realmes into being, a primordial creature must exist somewhere, and once it perishes, the realm will either copse or be unable to sustain life."


    Evelyn bit her lip in thought after listening to her teacher''s exnation. "That is just what people believe though, right? We don''t know for sure?"


    Aurora looked a little taken aback, but shortly after, she nodded. "That''s true."


    Evelyn nodded quickly. "Right! Teacher, I believe what you said is correct in terms of ''there is no need for the primordial creatures to reproduce'', but what if they fall in love?"


    Aurora blinked. "With whom, themselves?"


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but pout. "Just like there can be twins in natural births, isn''t it possible for there to be two of them in a ne? Also, wouldn''t that mean that the world could, perhaps, not immediately copse after its primordial being dies?"


    The tinum blonde blinked in surprise before nodding. "There hasn''t been a case so far that I know of among all the minor and major realms that have been explored, but it''s possible."


    Evelyn grinned. "Right? And as for the reason why they would have a baby in the first ce can''t a primordial creature just fall in love with someone? Even if they''re from different species, how different would it be from the union of a mortal and a spirit physique?"


    Seeing her teacher''s doubtful look, Evelyn frowned. "You can''t deny the possibility, teacher! Did you not see how Nadia cares about me? Primordial creatures also have feelings!"


    Aurora could only sigh helplessly. "That''s true, the poor child even got swindled by you."


    ""


    Looking at her student''s dumbfounded face, Aurora couldn''t help but smile, feeling like her steps were much lighter as they went further down the tunnel.


    Evelyn could only pout in her heart. She was really wronged! Had she not done what she did, wouldn''t she have be just another one of Nadia''s snacks?


    Thankfully, the tunnel soon came to an end as the two of them arrived in front of a pair of double doors, washing Evelyn''s gloomy mood away with excitement.


    Aurora ced her palm in its center, her expression turning serious. "Once we''re inside, make sure you don''t touch anything without permission, okay?"


    Evelyn nodded obediently. "Okay."


    In front of her excited eyes, the double doors glowed gently under Aurora''s palm before they started shimmering and turning translucent, and her teacher took her hand to walk right past them before they turned solid once more.


    And what greeted her inside was piles upon piles, no, mountains of artifacts!


    Evelyn had already assumed that the academy must have quite a lot in its grand vault, given its history and position as one of the strongest forces on the continent even after its continuous decline, but even she hadn''t dared imagine such a scene.


    Compared to this, Nadia''s little stash was really likeparing a little pile of sand to a mountain range!


    Not to mention anything else, just looking at how vast the open space was, Evelyn believed that even if it didn''t span the entirety of the region, it should still be the size of a city. In the dim light of the runes, she couldn''t even spot the end of it.


    Aside from hundreds of ''mountains'' as far as she could see, there were only enormous pirs of stone that supported the ceiling, but they looked a little different from one another, with varying thickness and shapes, as if they had been randomly formed.


    The tunnel that led them here was definitely created by experts, but this ce gave her the feeling that it formed naturally. And recalling her teacher''s words about the natural treasure, Evelyn soon realized it made some sense if this was its birthce.


    At first, Evelyn couldn''t help but be ecstatic, but she soon realized a huge problem.


    Her inventory, which had always felt infinite in her mind, suddenly appeared incredibly puny.


    It didn''t evene close to being able to contain even a single one of these mountains. And there was no way Evelyn could probe each and every one of them, even if she was given ten years to do so.


    Biting her lip, the pink-haired girl couldn''t help but wonder. ''Do I have to rely on luck to check random artifacts that look interesting? But a vast majority of them must be grade one or two wouldn''t this be an enormous waste of time?''


    But just as she thought so, Aurora smiled as she led her forward by hand. "There is no way to organize things here, but there is a ce where you''re a little more likely to find what you''re looking for than rest. Come."


    The tinum blonde led her right past a few mountains, and as they got further, the ''valleys'' devoid of artifacts also ceased to exist, and Evelyn could only feel a buzz in her mind as they started actually stepping on artifacts to move forward.


    In her absentminded state, she almost ended up mming into Aurora''s back when she abruptly stopped, and as her gaze turned to the direction in which her teacher was pointing, Evelyn felt her mind turnpletely nk.


    A few feet in front of her sat a small crystal statue of a naked adolescent girl, and shockingly, her face was exactly the same as Aurora''s!


    Moreover, the area between her breasts had a little cavity that seemed to have had a gem in it at some point, but had been dug out.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but frown. Had she not been holding Aurora''s palm, she would surely have burst into rage just thinking about some pervert imagining her teacher''s bare form and creating something like this.


    But thinking about it now, since Aurora had brought her to this ce herself, this statue was far from being just that.


    She could only look at the tinum blonde in confusion. "Teacher, what is this supposed to be?"


    Aurora''s expression remained stiff, but Evelyn could still see that her ears had gonepletely red from shame. "This is our academy''s treasure. It''s called ''The Great Mother'', and it is the source of all the artifacts here. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that had our ancestors not found her here, the academy wouldn''t exist."


    Although she thought her teacher''s embarrassed expression was cute, the pink-haired girl was still left scratching her head in confusion as her sight flitted between the little statue and Aurora''s face. "Why does it look exactly like you?"


    The tinum blonde sighed. "It''splicated. Let''s just say that my mother used a part of the statue to make me stronger before I was born, so I ended up being in its image, okay?"


    Recalling a few snippets of conversation from the scene of Aurora''s birth in the memories of her cultivation technique, Evelyn could more or less figure out what was going on.

 Chapter 201: Endless Riches

    Chapter 201: Endless Riches


    Although she already had a guess in her heart, Evelyn didn''t mention it anymore as she just nodded. If her teacher didn''t like it, then it was fine for her to keep it a secret. "Teacher said that the ''Great Mother'' is the source of most of the academy''s artifacts, but I don''t really understand?"


    Aurora breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Evelyn didn''t intend to probe her further on the topic of her simrity to the ''Great Mother''. As for the other things, she was more than happy to exin them.


    Evelyn had always found it a little strong how the academy was able to give out such bountiful rewards while expecting little in return. Even if she wasn''t an expert economist, she still understood that if the losses each year exceeded the gains, it would only be a matter of time for that system to fail.


    Although it was possible for certain people to be able to gain far more than they contributed from certain organizations, Evelyn knew that it would alwayse at the cost of someone else.


    For example, if the academy was giving out ten times what it earned from the junior professors, it would have to make up for that loss from either the students, the senior professors, or the pirs. Of course, every organization had to struggle with maintaining a bnce between such things, and Evelyn hadn''t been too concerned about it, as she was more focused on her growth.


    After hearing Aurora''s exnation of the abilities of the ''Great Mother'', however, Evelyn finally realized how the academy was able to maintain itself while rewarding everyone with far more than they contributed.


    With an infinite source of wealth at hand, was there any need to worry about running out of money?


    Just like some governments were able to pay public servants in specific positions far more than they would realistically be able to generate, as they could always make more money from taxing the citizens, the rtionship between the ''Great Mother'' and the academy was about the same.


    As a natural artifact, it didn''t have an owner of its own, and didn''t allow anyone to mark it either. Even today, after having served the academy for so long, the ''Great Mother'' remained an ''ownerless'' artifact.


    To the academy, however, that wasn''t a major concern.


    After all, the ''Great Mother'' already brought them all the advantages that they hoped for, and not to mention Aurora, her ancestors didn''t wish to kill the goose thaty the golden egg out of greed either.


    Apparently, the ''Great Mother'' had the ability to create little avatars that could travel around the world in search of ''treasures'', and whenever they found something of interest, they would merge with it, and the ''treasure'' would be sent back here.


    Evelyn found it a little amusing that Aurora called these avatars ''little mothers''.


    When these little mothers were looking for treasures, not only were they invisible to the naked eye, they couldn''t be detected through any spirit power based detection technique either.


    The only way to vaguely sense them would be through the use of soul energy, but that in itself was of little use.


    After all, whether or not one knew it was there would be of little concern if there was nothing they could do to stop it.


    Listening to how the thing worked, Evelyn couldn''t help but blink in surprise. "So it just takes whatever it can find? So in a way, all of these artifacts here could be considered ''stolen''?"


    Aurora shook her head in denial. "Although we have determined that the ''Great Mother'' can indeed do that, she is usually benevolent, and only takes the ownerless artifacts that she finds abandoned. Even those that are kept in old vaults for thousands of years are usually left alone."


    "But are there really so many abandoned artifacts in this world?"


    As far as Evelyn was concerned, even if someone lost their life, the artifacts in their possession wouldn''t necessarily turn ''ownerless''.


    After all, the person who killed them would surely not let go of the fruits of theirbor, or in case of a benign death, unless they werepletely alone, wouldn''t their possessions be taken over by their closestpanion?


    Aurora shook her head with a smile when she saw her student''s confusion. "The world is big, and it has many ces where people can lose their life. Moreover, when someone perishes in a way that their spatial artifact is destroyed, the contents are generally warped through space all over the world."


    Evelyn thought about it for a while, and she realized that her teacher''s words made sense. Just like there was endless treasure at the bottom of the ocean, there was actually nock of ownerless artifacts in this world.


    The only problem was that finding them would actually take far more effort than it would take to acquire them through other means. Unless it was some priceless, irreceable, and extremely enticing treasure, no one would be willing to squander their whole life in such a futile search without assurances.


    In a way, what the ''Great Mother'' did was equivalent to continuously pouring the treasures beneath the ocean into a single vault.


    However, as Aurora went on with her exnation, Evelyn soon discovered why this ce was so extravagantly full of artifacts.


    It wasn''t that the academy couldn''t think of any use of so many artifacts, but that it simply couldn''t take out too many at once.


    Just like her little avatars, the ''Great Mother'' was also able to leave as it pleased, and no one in the academy would be able to stop it if that is what it wished.


    However, the spirituality that it had wasn''t very advanced, and as long as its basic needs were satisfied, there was no reason for it to leave.


    What the ''Great Mother'' wanted was nothing more than a great big space where it could keep storing its ''treasures'' without any disturbance.


    Without the academy''s protection, it was likely that the ''Great Mother'' would have to escape every time it was discovered, and it would lose most of its treasures as well.


    Although it could all be snatched back, how could losing thousands of years of umtion be something that can be made up for in an instant? There was a limit to how many avatars the Great Mother could make at once, after all.


    In exchange for the academy''s hospitality, the Great Mother allowed them to set up formations that would take away a certain number of artifacts every month.


    Of course, since the process of entering the grand vault was so troublesome, it was impossible to assess which artifacts would be taken away. These formations were all triggered autonomously, and each month, what was taken from the grand vault waspletely random.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but sigh in her heart. ''I guess even if my inventory was big enough, I wouldn''t be able to take the whole vault with me.''


    Aurora mentioned that this month''s share had already been taken away, and while the Great Mother was unlikely to get angry at a minor transgression, Evelyn mustn''t be too greedy today, and make do with only one artifact of her choice.


    Although she found it a bit regretful, Evelyn understood there was nothing they could do about it. Anyway, what she needed from here wasn''t an arsenal of great artifacts, but something that would allow her to further mend a fractured soul.


    Whether it was a specialized artifact, or something that contained chaos energy, Evelyn wouldn''tin. As long as Bree could recover fully, any price was worth it.


    This wasn''t just because she cared for her little aunt, although that was true, but also because Evelyn believed that Bree''s recovery would help increase the survivability of both herself and her friends.


    Opportunity and danger went hand in hand, and Evelyn knew that if there was something that could greatly boost her growth where she was going, it might also have an equivalent level of danger.


    The smallest of differences in strength could sometimes change one''s fate from living to dead, and Evelyn was determined to minimize the danger that she and her friends would be facing in the future.


    And Evelyn knew better than anyone that the difference between Bree''s strength with and without her memories would be like heaven and earth.


    No matter what, if there was something here that could help her recover, Evelyn had to find it!


    Aurora had already told her everything she needed to keep in mind, and Evelyn set her mind to using her probe skill in the central area around the ''Great Mother'', where the most valuable artifacts generally were.


    One after another, dazzling descriptions that stirred her greed kept popping out on her panel, and each time Evelyn found it harder and harder to turn her head away and look for something else.


    She could only take one thing, and unless it was something that could shoot the Lord of Bones to death in one hit, Evelyn only had one goal in mind.


    Unfortunately, although Aurora''s statement of the artifacts in this region being the most precious seemed to be true, there was no hint of any special soul mending capability or chaos energy in any of their descriptions.


    As she was looking for the next target to probe, inadvertently, Evelyn''s sight once again fell on the ''Great Mother''. Suddenly, the pink-haired girl couldn''t help have some doubts. The little cavity in the otherwise wless crystalline statue looked particrly dazzling.


    Since it was so independent, how could it have let someone dig out a part of it just like that?

 Chapter 202: Etherium Hearts Origin

    Chapter 202: Etherium Heart''s Origin


    Listening to her doubt, Aurora smiled. "That was something the Great Mother gave out on her own. That cavity was where the Etherium Heart used to be."


    Evelyn blinked.


    This wasn''t the first time she was hearing the name of this object.


    The first time Aurora mentioned it wasn''t a pleasant memory, but Evelyn still clearly recalled that her teacher seemed to intend handing this ''Etherium Heart'' to her as an inheritance.


    At that time, she had vehemently refused, since there was no way she could ept losing Aurora.


    With her teacher''s attitude, there was no way to be sure if she was really nning on giving up on life after she was done ''taking care'' of herself, and Evelyn didn''t dare to take any chances.


    Later, when they were just entering the grand vault, Aurora also mentioned that the Etherium Heart was the key through which the vault was unlocked, and Evelyn couldn''t help but make a vague guess in her heart.


    But Evelyn didn''t want to make a wild guess, and instead gave her teacher an imploring gaze.


    Aurora just sighed. "I can tell you, but you must remember that most of these are all my own guesses."


    Evelyn nodded, and the tinum blonde started telling her about the conjectures she had made for herself.


    The Etherium Heart was indeed a part of the ''Great Mother'', and in addition to its other properties, it also served as the key through which this passage could be opened. These two facts were told to Aurora long ago.


    However, something she hadn''t been able to figure out at that time, was the fact that the Etherium Heart had always been on her.


    Since it was the key to the grand vault, Aurora didn''t believe that the previous headmistress would be careless enough to hand it over to a small child before she could even take care of herself properly.


    That was too careless, and not her style at all.


    As she grew up and became more independent, Aurora also visited the grand vault herself, half out of curiousity, and half out of dread.


    The first time she saw the natural treasure, the ''Great Mother'', she already knew the worst of her guesses was correct.


    Evelyn''s expression turned grim as she looked at the crystalline statue in front of them. "So from the older records, the ''Great Mother'' used to be different before it parted with the Etherium Heart?"


    Aurora nodded. "I believe that that part of it was what contained most of its spirituality. Once these two were separated, the current ''Great Mother'' operates mostly based on old memories and instinct, and has little ''thoughts'' of her own."


    As for why such a thing happened Evelyn could only sigh in her heart.


    If her teacher''s guess was right, back when the ''Great Mother'' had still retained its spirituality, it must have wanted to change from what it was, though the reasons were anyone''s guess.


    Whether it made the suggestion on its own, or if it was someone else''s idea, the decision was made in the end to use the Etherium Heart on a spirit egg.


    The Etherium Heart wasn''t able tomunicate with others, and didn''t seem capable of thoughts either, so the old headmistress birthed the idea of using it on her own child - in vain hopes that whatever enhancement it would bring could finally lead to the birth of a throne.


    But while the child thus born had abilities that greatly exceeded her peers, a throne she was not.


    Moreover, the striking resemnce she had with the ''Great Mother'' also led the old headmistress to believe that maybe what ended up happening was that the artifact spirit really took over the body of her child.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but sigh. ''Even if it was true, it wasn''t a decision made by Aurora, so why should she be treated like this?''


    But although she thought so, the pink haired girl knew that saying so would only make her teacher more sad.


    Aurora didn''t seem to care about it too much as she smiled. "Don''t worry, these are all things from the past, and none of it matters anymore. The only thing you need to know is that the ''Great Mother'' has a simple set of rules that I told you before, and I''m still me, and always will be."


    Evelyn nodded seriously. "Don''t worry, teacher. I understand."


    Previously, she had still been a little scared of trying to use her probe skill on the ''Great Mother'', especially after learning that it wasn''t a bound artifact of the academy, but now she no longer had such scruples.


    After all, since it had limited spirituality, as long as she didn''t try to attack it, it shouldn''t be rmed. The only thing she couldn''t do was try to bind it to herself, as that was likely to make it run away.


    Firming her determination, Evelyn finally used her probe skill on the ''Great Mother''.


    [ The Great Mother, Grade 9 (Iplete) ]


    A naturally formed artifact that was birthed at the center of the world.


    Great Avatar Formation: Allows the Great Mother to produce multiple images of itself to scout and explore on their own.


    Great Retrieval: Allows the Great Mother to recall any avatars within a certain range back to its own location, along with anything that they are in contact with.


    Etherium Heart (Unavable): The will of the ''Great Mother'' is formed after countless eons of longing, and wishes to be reborn as aplete individual, no longer a ve to its primitive desire of seeking treasures.


    Etherium Strike (Unavable): Using all the energy stored up within the main body, a deadly beam of power can be fired in a specific direction.


    The Hunt Begins: Allows the Great Mother to find anything that it finds ''desirable'' within a certain range of either its main body or its avatars. This ability is limited to non-living objects only.


    Possession Cleanse: Innate ability to remove the ownership from any object or artifact as long as it is within a certain range.


    Will of Resistance: As a natural artifact, it has existed before most living beings in this world, and disdains ''serving'' anyone as an owner. Due to its damaged spirituality, this will is weakened, but not removed.


    This artifact''s spirituality is greatly damaged, and its intelligence is limited.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but take a deep breath after looking through its description.


    Combined with what Aurora had already told her, she could pretty much confirm that her teacher''s thoughts mustn''t be far from the truth.


    Now that she knew that the missing piece from the ''Great Mother'' was the Etherium Heart, which was already a vital part of her teacher, she no longer had any thoughts about it.


    But although she now knew about it, Evelyn decided not to share it with Aurora. After all, it was one thing to consider it to be true in her heart, and another thing entirely to have it confirmed by someone else.


    Whether the tinum blonde was the child of the old headmistress who took on the form of ''Great Mother'' due to the influence of the Etherium Heart, or if she was the personification of the Great Mother who simply used the spirit egg to grow a body of her own As far as she was concerned, regardless of her origins, Aurora would always be Aurora.


    It may be that she was biased because her own origins were strange, but Evelyn still wanted to believe that it didn''t matter how she came to be, and the only thing that should matter was what she was now.


    After all, although she was sent here with an unknown purpose, and she knew that many would instinctively take her as an enemy if they discovered she wasn''t an original person of this, Evelyn had already given up her previous identity in her heart.


    Now that she was at this point, however, Evelyn knew she could no longer stick to her original n of trying to find a way to mend Bree''s soul from the grand vault. Given that she hadn''t found anything in the central area, and even the natural artifact couldn''t solve the issue, there was no need to keep looking for what wasn''t there.


    She could only sigh in her heart. ''I guess the best I can do is just try to find something that will help me out the most in the journey ahead, and then look for an alternative to solve Bree''s problemter.''

 Chapter 203: Champions Chariot

    Chapter 203: Champion''s Chariot


    Although Evelyn had already made up her mind in that regard, she still took some time to try her probe skill on random objects that looked interesting, just in case she got lucky.


    Unfortunately, however, Aurora turned out to be right when she said that all the most precious objects would be around the ''Great Mother'', and Evelyn soon found herself debating between a few grade eight artifacts to take back.


    One of them was an offensive-type artifact in the form of an urn, called the ''Dawn''. It could take in all the spirit and soul power that was poured into it, keep it stored inside for at least a day, and then be ready to explode at a set time.


    The thing that attracted Evelyn the most was that while the energy couldn''t be stored in ''batches'' and had to be poured in all at once, there was no restriction on how many people could do it.


    Meaning hundreds or even thousands of people could pour their energy into this ''Dawn'', and the resulting explosion could take out someone that they had no hopes of matching at all!


    Unfortunately, this artifact had a set ''durability'', which would be reduced whenever the explosion was more powerful than what it could physically handle. If it was strong enough, even a single explosion could destroy the artifact.


    If used moderately, however, it could continue to be used long term, since the durability would slowly be restored over time, as long as the artifact didn''t run out of energy.


    Whenpared to some of the other outstanding alternatives, the ''Dawn'' wasn''t anything special at first nce, and could even be considered mediocre. But what attracted Evelyn was the fact that it had the possibility to be used against a throne.


    Discussing it with Aurora, however, quickly made Evelyn change her mind.


    "Even if you can''t tell there is a limit to how much energy it can store and how powerful the explosion can be, would it really be so? You must know that not all techniques scale linearly with how much energy is poured into them, as I''ve told you before"


    Evelyn recalled when Aurora taught her how the most basic techniques usually had the greatest potential when being used with a tremendous amount of spirit power, while the ones that were moreplex generally didn''t scale so well.


    Of course, aplex technique that required a hundred spirit power would be much more effective than a basic one using the same amount, but if that spirit power was increased to ten, or even a hundred times the limit, theplex technique would only be marginally better than its ''optimal'' energy consumption.


    Since they didn''t know what kind of underlying principle was used in the artifact for the explosion, there was no way to tell how strong it would be at its limit.


    Would that be enough to take out a throne? Neither of them knew.


    Her teacher didn''tment on the fact that she could so urately determine what the artifact could be used for and its properties when she had clearly seen it for the first time, and Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief.


    Considering she already had a strong offensive artifact thanks to Mantis, Evelyn decided that it really might not be worth it to waste such an opportunity on what would be a single-use consumable that wasn''t guaranteed to work.


    The pink-haired girl hesitated for a while before nodding. "In that case, I''ll let this be for now, but if you get the chance, please take this out of the vault at ater time, okay?"


    Aurora didn''t deny her request. "If our luck is good, there is always a chance that it cane out with the next batch. If not, I will make another trip to take it out."


    Her mind moved to the other item she had been tempted by, which was in the form of a small toy chariot that fit perfectly in her palm.


    [ Champion''s Chariot, Grade 8 ]


    Champion''s Charge: Once the Champion''s Chariot


    Can be supplied with either spirit or soul power to move at great speed across any medium.


    The form of the chariot can be modified ording to the owner''s wishes, changing from ornate to ordinary in an instant.


    The beasts that pull the chariot forward can appear in the form of either [Horses], [Pegasi], [Sea Drakes], and [Void Crawlers].


    Whenever the chariot is assaulted by external energy, it can negate the attack using the energy that is being supplied to it, provided it does not exceed the limit. If so, the chariot will revert back to its original form due to running out of energy, and eject all upants.


    The internal structure of the chariot can be modified at will using energy, and will not revert back to its original form each time, unless modified once more.


    The consumption of energy varies depending on the speed at which the chariot is run and its form.


    If the Champion''s Chariot is damaged in any way, it can be repaired using energy as long as its internal core is not destroyed. The amount of energy consumed depends on the damage sustained. This function cannot be used while the chariot is running.


    If run while still damaged, the Champion''s Chariot will continue to sustain further damage, so it is always rmended to repair it fully before running.


    Once the Champion''s Chariot runs out of energy, it will revert back to its original form.


    Evelyn could only sigh after looking through the description.


    Although in terms of grade and capability, it could never match up with the Helion Chain that had been lost by the academy, it wasn''t necessarily any worse in terms of usage.


    In fact, for her purpose, it was much better.


    The Helion Chain''s defensive capability was much better, but it was alsorge, cumbersome, and required a separate strong enough beast to pull. It also had a lot more space inside, but was that really something she needed?


    As for its offensive capabilities Evelyn didn''t even know if it had any. And most importantly the Helion Chain was nowhere to be found, while the Champion''s Chariot was still in her hand, ready to be taken away.


    Although she could always travel using various other means, a carriage that was able to disguise itself and carry them forward would greatly facilitate their journey.


    With this thing at hand, she knew she would have no trouble moving through cities and wilderness alike, and even the matter of disguising their identity would be much easier.


    Moreover, it would also be a source of shelter when facing adverse situations, and Evelyn knew she would feel much more confident in ensuring herpanions'' safety if she had something like this at hand.


    Its ability to traverse any surface could alsoe in handy, because although there were certain techniques that allowed flight, they were generally quite slow and inflexible, not to mention much more taxing.


    Andstly, it could also serve as a means of escape. Even though she already had thest resort of being able to teleport to a random location, it always had a certain risk involved, since the location was ''random''.


    Given the choice, Evelyn would always prefer a safer route.


    Evelyn didn''t hesitate anymore as she picked the Champion''s Chariot for herself, and Aurora didn''t question her much on her choice as she led the girl out of the grand vault.


    As she was leaving, Evelyn took onest look at the ''Great Mother'', and in her heart, she couldn''t help but have a strange feeling. ''Why is it that it seems like I overlooked something?''


    Even though she had clearly used her probe ability to check, and also had everything confirmed by her teacher, Evelyn couldn''t help but frown at the ufortable feeling.


    In the end, however, she could only shrug it off, since there was no way to look into it further than she already had.


    After returning from the grand vault, her next few days were spent in front of the ''Siren''s Call'' as usual.


    Due to the importance of Nadia''s identity, Aurora already had the area around theke and her tower sealed, as none of them wanted the matter to be leaked to people who must never know.


    After all, if even Gwendolyn was somewhat wary of Nadia, it went without saying that the Lord of Bones wouldn''t sit so still if he knew about her existence. Moreover, the existence of a primordial creature was sure to cause a big fuss if leaked out.


    The matter of the area around Aurora''s tower being sealed did not arouse too much suspicion.


    Most considered it the result of Aurora going into a retreat after facing the attack from Lord of Bones, perhaps having some form of enlightenment, while others just thought her ideas must be beyond their understanding.


    Of course, those who were a little more familiar found it a little strange, but the only ones in that category were the two other pirs and the previous headmaster.

 Chapter 204: Departure

    Chapter 204: Departure


    It didn''t take long for the day of their departure to arrive, and Evelyn couldn''t help but feel a little mncholic as she threw the blue metal ball into theke, watching Nadia shoot off to catch it before it could touch the surface.


    Although it may not be as good as some of the specialized artifacts that she could have found if she looked for them, probably, Evelyn still wanted to give Nadia something she had made herself.


    It wasn''t particrly difficult to make, as she simply had to reshape the blue metal into a big hollow ball, and the whole process took barely a minute. The only thing precious about this ball was probably the material it was made from, but that was also something she obtained from Aurora.


    Nevertheless, Evelyn was happy to discover that Nadia liked to y ''fetch the ball'' in theke, chasing after the ball ''leisurely'' before bringing it back. Of course, for everyone but herself, Nadia''s leisurely speed was already like a bolt of lightning, and the fact that it didn''t even seem to disturb the water''s surface only made it more eerie.


    Thankfully, her friends soon got used to Nadia pretty quickly, and while the mermaid seemed to not pay them much attention, Evelyn could tell that she was quite proud to receive all the attention.


    The only thing Evelyn found unfortunate was that none of them would be able to stay behind with Nadia to keep herpany, except for Aurora.


    As for her teacher although she seemed to get along with Nadia too, Evelyn noticed that they never really tried tomunicate. Compared to the little mermaid''s excited appearance whenever she saw Evelyn, and the smug look when meeting her other friends, her interactions with Aurora were almost confusing.


    Whenever the two of them were left alone, Evelyn noticed that Aurora only dipped her feet in water and stared at the sky, while Nadia just saw around leisurely, not paying her any attention at all.


    Of course, the fact that Nadia didn''t retreat to the bottom of theke was already an ''acknowledgment'' of some level, and Evelyn couldn''t find it in her heart to push her further.


    Anyway, she hoped that the two of them would be able to keep each otherpany, and neither her teacher nor Nadia would be so lonely without her.


    Evelyn could only sigh in her heart. She didn''t even know how long it would take her to return, so she couldn''t even make a promise with either of them. Instead, she could only selfishly ask for a promise from her teacher, making her swear to take care of herself.


    As for Nadia, she could only leave her with a goodbye hug, and hope that the little baby wasn''t too distressedter, and she was able to convey what she wanted from their soul link.


    After obtaining the ''Champion''s Chariot'', Evelyn had already modified its interior to her liking. After all, she and her friends would be traveling in this thing for quite a while, and there was no need to make themselves ufortable.


    The default size of the chariot''s interior was only five feet wide and ten feet long, but at the cost of using an extra point of spirit power every hour, Evelyn was able to change it to twice that size.


    Of course, this was still far from enough to be luxurious for long journeys, but she believed that it would be sufficient for the few of them to be able to restfortably.


    The requirements for a team entering Lumenzarha''s ''Trial By Fire'' were strict, and Evelyn obviously preferred to have her friends follow her rather than having to recruit some strangers.


    Although there hadn''t been any ''great opportunities'' in the trial so far, Evelyn believed that Gwendolyn wouldn''t make such a joke with her at this time.


    Therefore, either she would enter a ce that waspletely different from the rest of the trial takers, or the trial itself would be different this time.


    In either case, Evelyn wanted to let her friends decide for themselves whether they wanted to take this opportunity to grow alongside her, or let some strangers take it instead.


    Of course, even if Evelyn had to recruit strangers in the end, she would have parted ways with them shortly after the trial. As for what they doter it was none of her concern.


    But none of her friends refused her invitation, despite her repeated warnings of the possible danger ahead.


    It wasn''t that she didn''t want them to follow, of course, but Evelyn believed they must at least know what they were getting into.


    Of course, this included her status as a throne.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but shake her head with a smile as she recalled their reactions, orck thereof. Aside from the shock and admiration from Amber, the others either didn''t really understand or seemed to have expected it.


    She still remembered Cecilia patting her head with a smug grin, saying ''as expected of my wifey'', but for the first time that day, Evelyn felt like her words weren''t teasing at all.


    In the case of the Gilmore sisters, Amara and Vivian, they had already followed her all the way in everything, and Evelyn could only ept theirpany with gratitude.


    As for Ruru and Bree needless to say, even if Evelyn tried to separate from them, they wouldn''t agree. Although Bree''s mentality had recovered to an extent, she was still somewhat of a ''child'', and her dependence on Evelyn wasn''t reduced at all.


    The only change that the pink-haired girl noticed was that her words were more concise, and her thoughts were also more borate than before.


    Evelyn thought that just like her body, her mind should have already recovered to her early teens, or maybe it was evenpletely restored.


    What was keeping her frompletely ''healing'', however, was the remaining fragmentation in her soul, which was probably blocking her from essing her full memory. Evelyn already had a few ideas in mind to get through that issue, though none of them could be implemented immediately.


    In the end, the one who surprised her the most was Amber. Although they had already established some ''friendship'', Evelyn didn''t believe that the little redhead should be able to give everything up to follow her to Lumenzarha.


    In fact, she had already been reluctant to tell her about it in the first ce, but considering how her enemies probably already knew her status, Evelyn decided to do so anyway. The only thing she didn''t tell the girl was where they were going, except that it would be extremely dangerous, and she was very likely to die.


    Shockingly, though, the more Evelyn persuaded her otherwise, the more determined Amber became, and the pink-haired girl finally realized the feeling of hitting a wall.


    Amber assured her that her reasons for following her really weren''t just out of attachment, but also because she had a desire to grow. She didn''t want to be so weak and helpless in the future, and hoped to stand shoulder to shoulder with the strongest.


    Evelyn didn''t have anything more to say after that, and decided to let her follow. Anyway, in her heart, she had already considered Amber to be a candidate for a position on her team, or she wouldn''t have mentioned the matter to her at all. The only reason she had been reluctant was the girl was still too young, and too weak.


    With the seven of them, normally the space would be quite congested, but Evelyn didn''t decide to expand it further.


    After all, although Bree''s body had changed to be slightly older now, she was still able to revert back to her puppy form at will, and Ruru barely took up any space, whether it was in her fox form or the thumbelina form. In fact, had it not been for their bond, she would be worried about the little thing getting lost between the cushions.


    So technically, there were only five girls in the carriage, and two little plushy toys.


    Cecilia couldn''t help but gasp in amazement as she entered the chariot. She had been prepared to squeeze in with everyone else for a long, ufortable ride, but this was far from what she was expecting. "Wow, these sofas are big enough for us to sleep?!"


    Evelyn smiled. "Of course, this is where we would be sleeping whenever there is a need to do so, after all. So you better get used to it."

 Chapter 205: The Three Tiers

    Chapter 205: The Three Tiers


    Cecilia couldn''t help but sigh emotionally as she snuggled into the soft cushioning. "I was ready to face arduous obstacles with you, but the start of this journey makes me feel like we''re going on a vacation."


    Evelyn smiled, running her hand over the dozing Ruru''s silky pink fur. "It''s okay to rx now while you can. Once Aurora is no longer there to protect us, we''ll need to be ready to face anything at any time, okay?"


    Although the Champion''s Chariot provided them with an addedyer of security, and Evelyn''s level was already high enough to be able to fight against some of the stronger beasts in the forest, the ''Wondend of Doom'' was still a dangerous obstacle to cross.


    Compared to exploring slowly on their own and looking for chances, it was impossible for Evelyn to scout ahead using the Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple. The area required to be covered was just too great, and it would be a waste of both time and spirit power.


    Instead, Aurora had decided to personally escort them till they reached the edges of the Wondend of Doom first, and then return back to the academy.


    Of course, there was the chance of being discovered by any informants that the lord of bones had left behind, but they had already taken all the precautions that they could while sneaking out.


    Although the Champion''s Chariot didn''t have a ''driver'', it naturally wasn''t difficult to form one since the outer form of the carriage can be changed to Evelyn''s will.


    The only issue would be that if anyone tried tomunicate with the driver, it would be impossible to continue disguising it as a person, but Evelyn didn''t think that would be too much of an issue as long as they were a little careful.


    Aurora arrived at the edge of the forest first to lead them through, and Evelyn''s team took the carriage all the way from the White Lily Pce to the tinum blonde''s location, forgoing the use of any teleportation arrays, and also changing the chariot''s outer appearance in the empty stretches between the forbidden cities.


    From there, Aurora had been protecting them from high in the sky. Naturally, none of the hegemons of the Wondend would dare to pick a fight with her for such a tiny morsel, and a subtle re of her aura was more than enough for the lower-level denizens as well.


    As such, their journey through the forest had been even more leisurely than when they had been in the Helion Chain and led by the Thousand Eyed God.


    Naturally, Aurora''s intent was to scare the beasts off right away, while the Thousand Eyed God suppressed its presence to trap the dumb idiots who couldn''t recognize what it was, so such a difference wasn''t too shocking.


    Cecilia groaned as she turned over to the other side, almost kicking Vivian in the face. Unfortunately, the redhead ended up biting her calf, making the older girl screech in pain.


    Maybe the ash-blonde had already gotten used to being chewed on by Vivian''s shark-like teeth, however, because even while Amara was still trying to dislodge her little sister''s jaw from the girl''s calf, she was already back to talking with Evelyncently. "By the way, do you think any of us also have a chance to ''awaken''? Also how big is the gap in power between a rank S ranger and an awakened, anyway?"


    Of course, before leaving, Evelyn had already discussed this matter with Aurora to get a better understanding, and had also disseminated the information to her friends.


    After all, their growth path was also the same, and maybe knowing what was ahead would help push them forward.


    But although Aurora had clearly told her about the difference between the different tiers of awakening, she hadn''t made it clear exactly how great the difference was between two people of the same level in case only one of them was awakened.


    The pink-haired girl couldn''t help but frown as she considered Cecilia''s question. "Well since we know that you need to be level hundred to even attempt awakening, I would guess even a tier three awakened would be much stronger than a rank S ranger, right?"


    Cecilia had only asked the question out of curiosity, and listening to her friend''s answer, she just nodded before moving on to y around with her newly acquired artifact - a golden bell that was tied to her wrist with a red string.


    Of course, everyone in the chariot had received some new artifacts from both Aurora and Evelyn, and they were still familiarizing themselves with their new ''loot''. Obviously, the pink-haired girl herself had the biggest haul, thanks to Nadia''s gifts.


    But although Cecilia no longer cared, since she was far from level hundred anyway, Evelyn continued contemting the topic of awakening.


    ording to Aurora, awakening wasn''t something one could control, and depended on both luck and talent. However, the tier to which one awakened to depended on how much spirit power they had at the time of awakening.


    At the time of awakening, all the spirit power in the body, which was generally in the form of ''drops'' in a pool, would be condensed into a soft core about six inches below the heart.


    Of course, awakening also removed the limitations on their growth that had been shackling them before, and as they continued to grow, their tier would also naturally increase, from the lower tier three, to the highest tier one.


    Once a person had umted enough spirit power, this soft core would slowly turn into hard, and once it fully finished hardening, that person''s awakening would enter tier two.


    ording to Aurora, generally, an awakened would need over two thousand points of spirit power in order to enter tier two of awakening, and over twelve thousand to enter tier one.


    From there, a tier one awakened could continue growing to the point where their body could hold upwards of a hundred and ten thousand points of spirit power, but eventually, they would stop growing as well.


    This was the point where Aurora stopped, and was the wall that separated her from reaching the level of the likes of Gwendolyn and the Lord of Bones.

 Chapter 206: The First Stop

    Chapter 206: The First Stop


    Out of a sense of caution, Aurora left immediately after making sure that their carriage had reached the edge of the ''Wondend of Doom'', and Evelyn could only watch her form disappear with a forlorn sigh.


    She didn''t know when she would be able to meet her teacher or Nadia again, but she also knew that avoiding this adventure now would only make it more dangerouster.


    Although Gwendolyn had told her that she would be able to keep the Lord of Bones upied for a while, Evelyn couldn''t be sure how long this ''while'' could be. She just hoped that it was long enough for her to grow up.


    Of course, even if the Lord of Bones himself could be entangled by Gwendolyn, his forces would probably still be able to operate freely. After all, this was not the ''New World'', where Gwendolyn''s influence prated every street and corner of the continent.


    Even if the influence of the Lord of Bones in the old world couldn''t bepared to what he had in his own continent, the development of Temple of Shinra was still far more advanced than Gwendolyn''s forces.


    Evelyn still recalled how her teacher had warned her to never visit the ''Golden House'', which was an auctioning hall set up and operated by the Temple of Shinra, and this was far from being the only force that was under the indirect control of the Lord of Bones.


    If they were all ordered to keep an eye out for her, Evelyn expected that she really couldn''t show her face anywhere in this world except maybe for the most remote of regions.


    Of course, this wasn''t really too much of an issue since Evelyn still had the concealment cloak that Aurora gave her, which allowed her to hide her identity even from people at a much higher level than herself.


    The ''Wondend of Doom'' was a vast zone connected to three different countries bynd - Gwyntere, Lavinia, and Terrazyme.


    Although Evelyn''s final destination this time was in Lumenzarha, which could only be essed by going through Terrazyme first, there was still quite some time till the ''Trial by Fire'' actually started, so she decided to arrange a few things in her home country first.


    This was why the route they took while exiting the Wondend of Doom was one that led them to the outskirts of the Lavinian Empire.


    Evelyn knew that Aurora was unable to leave the academy and take care of these things for her, and Gwendolyn couldn''t be expected to care for such ''minor matters'', which left only herself to care for the Knox family.


    Even though she hadn''t shown much affection for them, Evelyn didn''t want to leave the fate of her ''parents'' to fate. It was only a matter of time before someone small-minded enough decided to use their existence to threaten her - regardless of whether it was effective or not.


    The existence of the Lavinian Princess under hermand was able to assure her before, but that wasn''t the case anymore once the Temple of Shinra got involved.


    After all, even the Emperor was careful while dealing with the Temple''s forces.


    They could put up resistance to try maintaining their independence, but not to the point of offending the Lord of Bones. Under such circumstances, if one little princess tried to protect a family that the Temple of Shinra wanted to persecute, it was unlikely to have any good effects at all.


    Moreover, their bond didn''t allow Evelyn to convey anything but the most basic of feelings across, making her unable to pass on anyplex instructions.


    Had Bree fully recovered her intelligence, it would still be possible to delegate this kind of task to her, but unfortunately, that was not so.


    Of course, Evelyn knew that she would have to be careful not to expose herself, or it might just bring a bigger disaster down upon the Knox family.


    But she never nned to directly visit the mansion anyway, so if there was someone keeping watch over there, they were bound to be disappointed.


    ording to the scroll handed over by Gwendolyn before she left, Evelyn knew that she still had around seven months before the Trial by Fire started, and she nned to get there around thirty days in advance to meet up with ''Bonnie'', the descendant that the Blue Moon Throne seemed to care about so much.


    In these few months, Evelyn knew that she had to prepare as much as she could, not just for herself, but also for everyone who cared for her. Settling the matter of the Knox family was only one of the things she nned to deal with during this time.


    Their first destination after exiting the Wondend of Doom was a small border town of the Lavinian Empire.


    Evelyn had already started sending the signal to call the Lavinian princess towards herself before she had even left the Wondend of Doom, and she expected that the girl should be able to reach the town by tomorrow, if she wasn''t here already.


    As for what excuse she would use to get here, Evelyn had no idea.


    Of course, the matter of entering the town also had to be handled carefully, as Evelyn didn''t want to expose her identity to the Temple of Shinra, so she ced a few small illusions on Cecilia''s face before making her take care of all the conversations.


    The identities of Amara, Vivian, and Bree were easy enough to look into for anyone who bothered, and Amber was also well known to be her friend in the academy.


    In contrast, although Cecilia had shown off quite a bit during the ride to the academy, their involvement outside the White Lily Pce hadn''t been much after the first few days.


    In the eyes of outsiders, they could be considered acquaintances at most, and their rtionship could easily be exined by their ''ancient family'' origins.


    Cecilia couldn''t feel the ''illusions'' that had modified her facial features just slightly, but knew that Evelyn had sharpened her eyebrows and slimmed down her chin to make her look more beautiful than cute.


    Of course, as someone who considered herself extremely charming, Cecilia couldn''t help but feel greatly offended. "Am I not beautiful enough?!"

 Chapter 207: The Border Town

    Chapter 207: The Border Town


    With the abilities of the ''Champion''s Chariot'', it would be easy for the few of them to fool a loose check by careless guards, and even if the inspections were more thorough and included a spirit wave to dispel illusions, it would only appear as if Cecilia had tried to make herself look prettier, which wouldn''t be very strange at all.


    But the entry of Evelyn and her friends into the Lavinian border town was much easier than expected. In sharp contrast to the rigorous inspections they had expected, the only guard at the gate didn''t even bother taking a second nce at the ordinary-looking carriage that passed by.


    Although they were relieved to be able to avoid trouble, there was also a faint unease in Evelyn''s heart, wondering if perhaps there was something strange going on.


    Cecilia blinked in surprise after looking at the pink-haired girl''s expression. "Do you think this might be a trap?"


    Evelyn shrugged. "It''s possible but hopefully not."


    None of them spotted any wanted posters or the like on the sides of the road, nor was there are sort of panic among the popce that indicated any sort of turmoil.


    Of course, this wasn''t much of a surprise considering that the war with Terrazyme had never reached this remote corner of the empire, and even that had been put on hold after the Temple of Shinra made its move.


    Evelyn silently breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. ''At the very least, there aren''t people hunting for me in every single town of the continent as I was dreading but I still have to be careful.''


    Spotting an honest and helpful-looking young man carrying logs of wood on his back, Evelyn nudged Cecilia. "Can you go check if he knows a good ce for us to stay?"


    The carriage stopped by the side of the road as Cecilia jumped off, and the man almost dropped everything in shock when a young girl called him out of nowhere.


    The ash blonde gave him a charming smile. "Hi, mister! Do you know a good ce for me and my friends to stay? We''re a bit tired from our journey, and need to rest for a few days."


    The man tried his best to calm down his rapidly beating heart as he took a deep breath. "I almost thought I was attacked by a ghost! You''re really fast, aren''t you, youngdy?"


    Cecilia chuckled in embarrassment. "Ehehe, sorry Anyway, do you know any ce like that?"


    The young man adjusted the weight of the logs on his back as he frowned. "To be honest there used to be two, but the Bull''s Head has been full ever since all these nutjobs started roaming around everywhere, that''s where they stay. As for Riham''s Inn I guess that''s the only ce you can go, if you really have to."


    Cecilia blinked. "Is there anything wrong with this ''Riham''s Inn''?"


    The young man looked embarrassed as his eyes shifted back and forth. "W-Well, you go straight ahead on this road until you see the ck sign of the inn, can''t go wrong. I-I''ll take my leave, have to take these logs to their ce and all, you know."


    Without giving her a chance to speak, the young man dashed away in the opposite direction of where he had been headed to previously, making Cecilia frown in thought. ''Interesting''


    Returning to the carriage, the ash blonde quickly conveyed the information she had gathered to her ''wifeys''.


    Evelyn rubbed her smooth chin thoughtfully. "Seems like he didn''t want to tell you what was wrong with this Riham''s Inn, but since there are supposedly only two ces where we can stay at in this town, and one of them is full, I guess we''ll have to head there anyway."


    As for the ''nutjobs'' the man referred to, Evelyn wasn''t sure, but she expected them to be rted to the Temple of Shinra. Of course, she would avoid them if she could.


    Their carriage continued unimpeded towards the central part of the town before stopping in front of a rather prominent inn.


    Evelyn motioned for Cecilia to follow her while giving the rest of them a smile. "You girls stay here for the time being, alright? If something goes wrong, we''ll rush back and bolt out of here quickly."


    A few of the patrons at the inn turned to stare at the two young girls who approached the innkeeper curiously, but none of them greeted or moved towards them.


    Of course, this wasn''t much of a surprise considering that Cecilia was quite cute, and the fact that Evelyn''s appearance was hidden behind her cloak was bound to attract a few curious eyes, but none of that mattered as long as Evelyn''s real identity wasn''t exposed.


    As long as she had Aurora''s cloak equipped, all anyone would be able to see would be her rough height and petite figure, which wasn''t nearly enough to be able to infer much.


    The innkeeper was an olddy with slightly muddy eyes who dealt with them impatiently, as if reluctant to take their business. "We only have one room left, and it will cost you ten gold per night!"


    Considering that there was no way to be sure when the Lavinian princess will get here, Evelyn frowned as she hesitated. "I-Isn''t this too much?"


    Of course, ten gold was nothing to her, as she had more than enough to afford this price for years thanks to the fortune she obtained from Craig''s spatial artifact, and this without ever converting any of her spirit stones or digging into Cecilia''s Mister Chonkers.


    However, Evelyn wasn''t stupid enough to believe that a single night at this frankly cheap-looking inn was worth even a single gold coin for an entire month, let alone ten for a day. Exposing her inability to understand even this much would just attract malice and suspicion.


    After all, the ancient academy''s yearly fee was only a hundred gold coins, which was already considered a ''painful price'' for most mortal families. How could a regr cheap inn be more expensive than that?

 Chapter 208: Mysterious Fragment

    Chapter 208: Mysterious Fragment


    The charming voice from the hooded girl didn''t clear the gloom from the innkeeper''s face at all, but instead had her expression turn even more stinky. "If you don''t like the price or can''t afford it, don''t waste my time!"


    A burst of loud, boisterousughter from a ruffian-looking man at the table interrupted their conversation before she could speak. "Olddy, don''t try to gouge the little beauty here, we all know you hate them, but it''s only ten silvers a day for your best room, ain''t it? And that one is already taken, too."


    Evelyn frowned under her hood when she felt the man''s malicious gaze travel up and down her body, as if trying to gauge her worth.


    "Ten gold coins a day? Is she renting out the Emperor''s bedroom? Ahaha"


    "Hey, little beauty! Don''t haggle with the old husk,e with daddy, my ce has a spare bed for you! Of course, your friend is wee too!"


    Seeing the drunkards point and jeer at Cecilia, Evelyn could only hold the girl''s wrist tighter to prevent her from blowing their cover right away. She could pretty much tell that although these people weren''t faking being drunk, their words and actions were clearly well-practiced, and even looked staged.


    Of course, once a few other patrons at the inn echoed the boisterous man''s words, the olddy''s face turned even uglier as she pointed a finger at the cloaked girl indignantly. "Ten silvers a night, do you want it or not?!"


    Evelyn could tell that Cecilia was right on the verge of flipping out, so she quickly reached into her robe, extracted the required amount from her inventory, and took out exactly twenty silver coins in her palm. "We will take it for two days, then."


    The olddy snatched the coins from her hand as if afraid she will regret it before dashing off to fetch the key, which she threw over with a hideous grin. "Don''t forget to inform me in advance if you wish to extend your stay. The price of the room may not be the same at that time, after all."


    Evelyn didn''t bother responding to the old woman as she caught the key before heading back out of the inn along with Cecilia.


    The moment she stepped out of the inn''s door, the boisterous man who had helped her before nodded to hispanion to chase after the two girls before heading over to the old innkeeper with a grin. "Yo, olddy, looks like we hit the jackpot this time! Shit, who knew these littledies were so rich. Even without themission of handing them over, just the loot from their bodies will be a nice bonus, right?"


    Of course, had the olddy stuck to not letting them have the room, it would have been easier to arrange their ''disappearance'' from whatever street corner they took refuge in, but it also came with its risks.


    Although usually the residents of the town were quite wary, the ash blonde little girl had been a little too pretty, which increased the likelihood of them being able to take shelter in someone else''s home. Had that happened, it would make things even harder.


    In contrast, although it wasn''t a good idea to have guests disappearing from their inn all the time, every once in a while shouldn''t hurt as long as no one found out.


    The innkeeper sneered as she looked around to make sure that all the people around were her own before waving him off in annoyance. "Don''t forget what you can and cannot reveal in front of others, Clint. And this is just a normal transaction, yourmission will be the same."


    The boisterous man rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Don''t try to fool me. Tell me, did the stone shine real bright? I don''t believe your face would look like that otherwise!"


    The olddy''s lips twitched a few times before she begrudgingly nodded. This man was a little too cunning, but that was exactly why she had to work with him anyway. "Like the sun at noon, almost blinded my damn eyes, barely managed to keep it from being discovered."


    Clint pped his thigh in excitement. "Yes! We really hit the jackpot, then! The man said the brighter it shines, the more he''ll pay, right?"


    The olddy grimaced. "Yes. We just need to make sure the person is not too old. Regardless of boy or girl, as long as they''re not old enough to have children, and the stone shines brighter than a firefly, we can cash in."


    Clint nodded thoughtfully. "Well, it must be disciples with light affinity But you know all the ones we picked seemed to be the ones with the best appearance among the ones we encountered, isn''t that strange?"


    The olddy''s hand shook briefly before she went back behind the counter. "Don''t care about irrelevant details. Just make money."


    Clint clearly didn''t take her words to heart as he grinned. "What do you think those perverts do?"


    The old innkeeper refused to respond to his question as she sneered derisively.


    Clint coughed. "Olddy, this time we''re bound to get two for the price of one, so you won''t mind if I take the cloaked girl for myself, right?"


    The olddy sneered. "What do you want to do?"


    The boisterous man pretended to adjust his crotch, grinning at the olddy''s disgusted look. "Rx, I''m not after your dusty old cunt."


    Of course, although he was usually vulgar, the man''s actions were only to mislead the old woman. As they were both equally treacherous people that knew each other well, how could they possibly reveal their own ns?


    He had a feeling that the ones picked by the stone probably had special physiques, and the perverts were probably doing something like plundering them to enhance their own, though their methods were unknown.


    But what no one knew was that he, Clint, was no normal man. He had recently obtained a part of a broken array disk that shockingly still functioned, and not only that, it also allowed him to plunder talent from others!


    Although he couldn''t imagine what kind of function the original array disk served if just a part of it was so heaven-defying, Clint knew that he had what it took to use just this small part to soar directly to the skies in one step!

 Chapter 209: Subversion

    Chapter 209: Subversion


    Evelyn and Cecilia naturally noticed that someone was following them the moment they left the inn''s door, but that was only to be expected when considering the strange situation inside.


    Since the person trailing them was just a single, ill-intentioned mortal, neither of them took the threat seriously. The only real ''issue'' he could bring would be if he managed to find out something he shouldn''t, but Evelyn would naturally never give him such a chance.


    This was as good an opportunity as any to find out exactly what was going on, and Evelyn wasn''t one to keep herself in the dark if she could help it.


    After all, although the threat level of this town was overall quite low under normal circumstances, she still couldn''t afford to expose her whereabouts due to a moment of carelessness.


    Cloud''s beardedpanion sneakily followed the two girls all the way to their carriage. Seeing them get inside, he hesitated for a few moments, looked around to confirm there was no threat, and slowly crept up from behind the carriage to see if he could listen in on their conversation.


    Usually, he was quite cautious and never got this close to the ''target'' before they really struck, but this time his ''boss'' had assured him that if they seed, thepensation he would be handing out would be twice as much as usual, and there might even be additional benefits! It was well worth the risk.


    Of course, even if the targets tried to flee, it would only be a little more troublesome to catch them than it would be if they had been caught off guard. After all, the City Lord''s mansion had already agreed to turn a blind eye to them thanks to their employer.


    As long as they didn''t create too much of a scene, that is.


    Although it looked quite normal from the outside, the man realized that the quality of the carriage wasn''t bad at all. At least, the sound istion was quite good, and it was impossible to hear what the upants inside were talking about unless they started shouting.


    cing his ear against the back of the carriage, all he managed to make out was the giggle and gaggle of young girls, at least four or five in number, and the bearded man couldn''t help but have his eyes light up.


    ording to Cloud, two of the girls were already fitmodities for their employer given the light stone''s reaction, and any ''witnesses'' that came along with them to the town would naturally have to be ''silenced''.


    That is to say, all the people inside were not only ''icing on the cake'', but could also be considered their personal ''bonus'' for the job! Even if none of the other girls inside reacted to the stone of light, the bearded man knew that Cloud would be able to arrange their sale in the town''s premium brothel.


    Just thinking about all the money rolling in had the man''s heart beating wildly, and he could already count how many days he would be able to party and y around with this haul.


    Unfortunately, his happiness came to an abrupt end as he heard the carriage door creak open, and the man swiftly ducked underneath it in an attempt to hide.


    With the continuous cking of heels on stone, six pairs of girly shoes entered his sight one after another, and the man couldn''t help but gulp. ''J-Jackpot! We''ve hit the jackpot!''


    Not only was there no man around to protect them, but there wasn''t even an adult woman around! Going by the size of their shoes, perhaps the oldest one was still a young girl that could barely be considered ''marriageable''.


    How could he not be delighted to see so much of his weakest and most rewarding prey bunched up together? For a moment, he even had the impulse to go out and take control of them all by himself so he could increase his contribution and demand a bigger share, but he quickly calmed himself down.


    If one of the customer''s real targets managed to run away because of him, he would be skinned alive!


    Thankfully, the girls who came out didn''t act out of the norm, and he inwardly heaved a sigh of relief as he saw them walk away, stuck the ''bug'' under the carriage, and slowly sneaked away back to the Riham''s inn.


    At least, that is what he believed was happening.


    For Evelyn and her friends, however, what actually happened was that the man climbed out from under the carriage, a nk look in his eyes.


    Evelyn hadn''t yet had the chance to use her ''Soul Dominion'' properly, since she rarely had to deal with individuals with greatly inferior soul strength, but this was as good an opportunity as any.


    The pink-haired girl first probed the man''s status, and after confirming that he was just a moderately strong mortal at level sixteen, she frowned. "What did you n to do with us?"


    The man continued staring nkly ahead, but answered honestly. "Sell to the customer."


    Evelyn pursed her lips in thought. "Who is the ''customer''?"


    "Big man from the temple, very rich, very strong."


    Her eyes chilled. If the matter involved the Temple of Shinra she would really have to decide if it was better to just cancel everything and run away before things could spiral out of control. "How strong is your strongestpanion? Tell me everything you know about him. And also when and how you nned to strike."


    Although she had been quite prudent in the inn and hadn''t thrown her probe around recklessly, she had already confirmed that the olddy innkeeper was just level twenty-nine, while the boisterous man who had tried to provoke her was level forty-five.


    This was already exceptional for mortals in a border town, but Evelyn''s couldn''t rule out the possibility that there were stronger opponents hiding and keeping an eye out on her from afar, even with her ''eternal ripple''. As long as they acted normal, looking for them would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.


    Thankfully, the man''s subsequent words quickly calmed some of her panic.


    "Boss Cloud is the strongest among us, and can even beat official rangers all by himself. Now that he even has a mysterious artifact, he is like a dragon soaring into the sky, and his true strength is unfathomable!"

 Chapter 210: Reverse Trap

    Chapter 210: Reverse Trap


    Even though he was under the effect of ''Soul Dominion'' the admiration in the man''s voice couldn''t be masked at all. Clearly, it came from deep within his soul, showing that the impression this man left on his subordinate''s soul was as deep as it could be.


    Of course, the entry level of ''official rangers'' was only level thirty, and for Evelyn and her friends, it wasn''t a threat at all.


    However, the man''s next words caught her attention.


    "Boss Cloud has even obtained a mysterious treasure that will allow him to soar into the sky as long as he finds people with enough talent, and he''ll take us brothers with him!"


    But although she was slightly curious, Evelyn didn''t pay it much attention after confirming that the man knew nothing more about the ''mysterious treasure''.


    After all, what could be a mysterious treasure to a level thirty may not necessarily be anything ''decent'' in her eyes. She would pick it up if she got the chance, since Evelyn never said no to more treasure, but she wouldn''t go chasing after it needlessly.


    Evelyn tapped her chin in thought. "What else do you know about this ''big man from the temple''? Tell me everything."


    "Big man wears baggy red robes and a lot of gold. He normally stays in the city lord''s manor, and meets with his twelve disciples every morning in the town square, but no one knows why."


    The pink-haired girl frowned. "What do you know about these ''disciples''?"


    The man''s face turned nk for a moment as he seemed to go through the depths of his memory. "They seem to wander around the town aimlessly, and boast about being ''initiates'', and the tallest one oftenes to the inn to drink, but never talks."


    This low-level thug didn''t seem to know much more about the man from the temple, but simply knowing that he was the leader of twelve ''initiates'' who came to the town was enough for Evelyn to confirm his status.


    Initiate was the lowest ranking among the temple''s members, above which was the rank of a Deacon.


    From what Evelyn had learned while preparing for her journey, the ''Deacons'' were considerably weaker than a ''Judge'', which was the lowest rank that she really needed to be wary of.


    ording to Aurora, the strength of a typical judge shouldn''t be much lower than that of a senior professor, and could even greatly exceed it depending on the individual.


    Since this man from the temple was likely to be of ''Deacon'' rank, Evelyn was no longer so worried about him. Even in the highly unlikely scenario that her identity was exposed to him, she believed it would still be well within her capabilities to silence him and his subordinates.


    Of course, she would rather not take the risk without reason, as it was possible for the temple to have a secret method ofmunication that would let him inform the Lord of Bones or his superiors at the temple about her, which would greatly affect her ns.


    As for this man and his ''boss'' Evelyn already had an idea in mind.


    While the younger girls hadn''t liked the ''intruder'' from the start and were happy to see him being chased away, Cecilia and Amara couldn''t help but stare at each other in confusion when Evelyn allowed the man to walk away unscathed.


    They could barely have believed it if he had just been caught peeping or eavesdropping, but how could Evelyn possibly let him off after knowing about the ns he and his boss were making against them?


    In the end, Cecilia proved herself to be the less patient of the two. "Why would you let him go?"


    Evelyn smiled. "Well If I got rid of him now, his boss is likely to be rmed, which could lead to unexpected situations. And since we already know what trap they''re setting for us might as well catch them all at once and solve the problem for the root?"


    Evelyn didn''t n to expose her whole team to others, and the man only retained the memory of Cecilia and the ''cloaked girl'', which made both Cloud and the old innkeeper happy.


    After all,pared to having a few small bonuses, it was better if this ''big meal'' was as easy to swallow as possible. Had there been more people with the two girls, it would have been more troublesome for them to cover everything up seamlessly.


    The old innkeeper maintained her previous personality in front of the two girls when they came back, and only grinned hideously once they entered the small room.


    Naturally, the ce they had managed to rent wasn''t evenparable to what the ''Champion''s Chariot'' had, which was why Evelyn had everyone else stay there to ''guard it'' with the exception of Ruru and Cecilia.


    Not to mention how it should be impossible for anyone to break into the carriage unless it was opened from the inside, but with Bree''s connection with herself, even if something really went wrong, Evelyn would be able to feel it and rush to their aid within moments.


    Ruru had changed into her ''thumbelina'' form to hide inside Evelyn''s cloak, but quickly climbed out and onto her shoulder once she detected they were ''safe'', and the pink-haired girl rubbed her little cheek with her index finger with a fond smile on her face.


    Naturally, the reason with her trusty little fox by her side, Evelyn would be able to monitor the situation of her surroundings with ease using the Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple.


    This would not only ensure that she would know the exact situation of the Lavinian princess when she arrived, but would also prevent any ''mishaps'' or unexpected situations from happening.


    After all, even if the people plotting against her were much weaker, Evelyn wasn''t one to be careless. Even if she knew their ns in advance, she would still keep an eye on them until they werepletely dealt with.


    Of course, Evelyn wouldn''t wrong herself or her friend while waiting, so she quickly threw the musty old bed from the inn into her inventory and took out a much more luxurious one, along with a sofa and a ss table.


    Needless to say, one of the rooms in the White Lily Pce was missing all its furnishings.

 Chapter 211: Greed

    Chapter 211: Greed


    The news of the third princess arriving at their tiny border town spread like wildfire among the people, and the huge ruckus was enough to alert Evelyn even if she hadn''t had the Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple to watch out for the situation outside.


    The guards at the tiny border town who had been used to lounging around abruptly sprang to action in a panic as they haphazardly tried to make sure nothing strange happened in front of the princess, and the rotund mayor almost fell all the way down his mansion''s staircase when he heard the news.


    Thankfully, his build was quite sturdy, allowing him to survive the ''disaster'' unscathed.


    With Evelyn''s ''Eternal Ripple'', it was a trivial matter to keep track of the nearby princess, and the princess could naturally feel the source of her bond from such a close range, and it was no trouble to find each other at all.


    Evelyn had already conveyed her intentions of staying hidden clearly through their link, but she wasn''t quite sure how the third princess nned on doing that.


    There was no way for her to know how clearly the other side could understand her intentions, after all, and this was one of the biggest drawbacks of their link.


    Thankfully, the third princess seemed to have got her point as she epted the hospitality of the City Lord first instead of marching straight to her inn, and Evelyn finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    Although the people of the ''Temple of Shinra'' in this town were likely significantly weaker than herself, she still had to be wary not to expose her whereabouts carelessly, or it would only be a matter of time before she would be swarmed with stronger opponents and be renderedpletely passive.


    Since the City Lord''s mansion wasn''t far from Riham''s inn, Evelyn was able to closely observe all the movements inside using the Lotus Throne''s Eternal Ripple without wasting too much energy.


    Not long after she arrived, the Lavinian princess informed the mayor that she would be out touring the townter, almost giving the man another heart attack.


    Evelyn wasn''t sure why he was panicking, though she believed it must either be due to the third princess having a reputation of causing trouble, or because he feared some of his nefarious schemes being exposed to the royal family.


    Aside from the third princess and the city lord, the mansion also seemed to be housing another ''distinguished guest'' of a simr status, though it seemed that he was being kept hidden from the third princess by the host.


    Naturally, this person could only be the leader of the initiates from the Temple of Shinra, and after the third princess dismissed him, the city lord could currently be found rubbing his hands nervously in front of this ''distinguished guest''.


    "Shit! What do I do now?! I thought she was only stopping by on the way, but if she spots anything suspicious while touring the town, we!"


    The white-robed man snorted, interrupting the panicking man with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Heh, just a backwater ''princess'' of this shitty, backward empire. She''s only here to unt her superiority over themoners of this remote town, since the people back in the pce probably don''t give her any value, her being the third princess and all."


    The city lord couldn''t help but be stunned, but after calming down a little from the robed man''s words, he immediately panicked again. "N-No way, how can that be?! I-I heard that the third princess was the most favored and domineering out of all the Emperor''s children, you know? Aside from the crown prince, she''s the one everyone in the capital fears the most!"


    Clutching at his already sparse dark hair almost painfully, the rotund city lord paced around the room while shaking his head in denial. "No no no, Lord Deacon, I really can''t listen to you on this! The emperor will have my head if they find any sign of our collusion!"


    The white-robed man frowned impatiently. "Stop panicking! Do you think our Temple of Shinra can''t even handle a tiny little third princess of this shitty empire? If I wanted to, I could even walk right up to the emperor and smack the shit out of him, and no one would dare to speak a word."


    The city lord finally calmed down after hearing his words. "T-That''s right,pared to the Temple of Shinra, the Lavinian Empire is really nothing. What am I even worried about?!"


    Although his words seemed more to reassure himself than anything else, the deacon also nodded in satisfaction. "As long as you keep your side of the deal, we will naturally protect you as well."


    The ecstatic expression on the city lord''s face immediately froze. "E-Eh? C-Can''t we wait for the third princess to leave first? I-It''s not like we''d be missing out on much if you didn''t get new products for a few more days, r-right?"


    The white-robed man narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "If you want to go back on the deal, forget it, I''ll do things on my own, and you deal with the third princess by yourself."


    Of course, while such a ''down time'' would be no different from ack of outsiders visiting the town for a few days, the deacon couldn''t ept ying low'' due to the presence of the third princess, as that would be admitting that he needed to fear what he considered as a backwater empire.


    The city lord naturally didn''t dare offend this person who was already superior to the emperor in his mind. "N-No no, don''t misunderstand, Lord Deacon! O-Our deal is still up!"


    Meanwhile, the third princess stared forlornly in the direction of the inn from the window. She could clearly feel the presence of the one she had been longing so long for, and couldn''t help but be a little upset that she was unable to seek the girl out immediately.


    Holding the royal family''s insignia in hand, the purple-haired girl couldn''t help but sigh. "One day, I''ll definitely get what I want definitely."

 Chapter 212: Cecilia The Actress

    Chapter 212: Cecilia The Actress


    Evelyn already knew that the leader of the initiates was behind some of the shady things going on in this ce, and it wasn''t much of a surprise that the city lord was involved, either.


    Of course, with the arrival of the third princess, the previously restless people at the inn quickly calmed down and decided to stay low until the ''coast was clear''. Evelyn didn''t really mind, since this would only make it easier for her to take care of them without causing a fuss.


    The third princess didn''t stay at the city lord''s mansion for long, and used the excuse of touring the town to seek Evelyn out.


    Naturally, it was impossible for the third princess to travel low key. With her personality being as it was, that kind of behavior would only make everyone suspicious if she was an imposter.


    If not for Evelyn''s orders, it was inconceivable for the callous princess to go through such a roundabout route to find her.


    Evelyn remained calm as she waited in the inn with Cecilia, quietly observing the moring townsfolk rushed about in both excitement and terror. Some hoped to luck into being favored by the whimsical princess, while the others feared her poor reputation.


    When Evelyn felt she was getting closer and closer, she knew it was time for her to go out. After all, if the third princess came directly to her room, even an idiot wouldn''t believe it to be a coincidence, let alone the Deacon from the Temple of Shinra.


    The olddy at the inn seemed to have had aplete personality change after learning that the third princess hade to her town, her attitude turning abruptly warm towards all the guests, though it was unlikely tost long.


    She didn''t even sneer at the two beautiful girls when they came out of their rooms, even though previously they had been the most hated existence in her eyes.


    The old innkeeper thought that she was being cautious enough, and this ''malignant star'' that hade into their territory would soon pass. But when the mighty princess walked into their inn, the olddy''s soul almost flew right out of her body in terror.


    "T-Th-Third P-Princess?!"


    Even if someone could ignore the obviously ''oundish'' regal clothing of the beautiful purple-haired girl, and be idiotic enough to not notice the lightning streaks in her hair, there was no way they could ignore the armored guards following behind her.


    Normally, the third princess preferred keeping just a single,petent guard around her, but it was impossible for her to meet Evelyn under the eyes of a royal guardian without risk. Of course, she couldn''t go out without protection either, so she had casually taken a few royal guards to follow her instead.


    Naturally, the aura and demeanor of the royal guards from the pce wasn''t something that ordinary townsfolk could handle.


    The old innkeeper hurriedly kneeled down in front of the princess, and the rest of the guests followed suit in a panic. Most of them hoped that the third princess would lose interest and move on quickly, but to their horror, the clicking of heels moved in their direction instead.


    None of them dared to look up to see the expression on the face of the third princess, for fear of attracting her attention, and it was only when she moved past them all that a few dared to sneak a nce.


    Only then did they realize that at a corner table, a pair of young girls seemed to have remainedpletely oblivious to the disaster they were about to face, and were happily chatting away with each other.


    As expected, the third princess wasn''t pleased with being ignored.


    Emilia was wearing Aurora''s cloak to avoid attracting attention, and the third princess tapped the ''dazzling'' ash blonde''s head with her fan, an ''amused'' smile on her face. "What a bunch of cute girls. I didn''t know this remote town could raise such ''well behaved'' daughters."


    The sarcasm in her voice was obvious, and the people hearing it couldn''t help but shiver. ''These ignorant littledies are doomed for sure! They really offended the princess this time!''


    Cecilia hadn''t known what to expect when Evelyn told her to ''y along'' when the princess sought her out, but she decided to just go with her instincts.


    With her identity as the heir to the Fullbright family, she didn''t actually need to fear someone like the third princess too much. After all, unlike the other ancient families in the Lavinian Empire, their strength was still nothing to scoff at, thanks to her grandmother''s existence.


    However, no one here knew who she was, and even her appearance was slightly disguised using Evelyn''s strange illusion technique.


    In that case, she should react like an ordinary girl from a decent family, right?


    Cecilia ''shivered in fright''. "A-A-Ahhh! S-Sorry, princess! W-We didn''t notice your illustrious presence! Forgive us!"


    Evelyn cooperated with her fully in pretending to be terrified and struck dumb, but only she knew in her heart how dumbfounded she really was. ''Cecilia''s acting skills are really amazing. Is wiggling her butt like that supposed to be her ''shivering in fear''?!''


    The ash blonde didn''t even get up from her chair!


    Naturally, the third princess wasn''t here to criticize her acting skills, and just sneered disdainfully. "Where is your home? Let this princess see which house raised this little beauty."


    At this point, anyone could tell that the princess intended to teach this girl a lesson. They had already noticed that the girl''s looks stood out before, and seemed to have attracted the envy of the princess!


    Some of the kneeling men couldn''t help butment her fate in their hearts. Maybe even if they hadn''t failed to bow before, she would still have suffered.


    If the third princess ruined her face, what a waste it would be!


    Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do but keep silent and hope that they didn''t attract the ire of the princess themselves.


    There were no heroes here to save the beauty.

 Chapter 213: The Daring Third Princess

    Chapter 213: The Daring Third Princess


    When the third princess questioned the girl about her home, some of the kneeling people couldn''t help but shudder with fright.


    Not only were these two going to be ruined for being insolent, but the third princess didn''t even n to let their families go! It looked like the domineering and unreasonable reputation of the third princess wasn''t exaggerated at all.


    Cecilia gulped ''nervously'' as she stared at the purple-haired girl. "W-We''re from the southern forbidden city, princess."


    The third princess didn''t look too surprised. "Ah No wonder you are so insolent. A bunch of foreign barbarians, huh? Just lead me to the ce you''re staying at, this princess shall give you the opportunity to serve her today."


    Cecilia bit her lip ''indignantly'' but looked like she didn''t dare to retort.


    Of course, to Evelyn, it looked like she was trying to appear coquettish. She almost rolled her eyes. ''Miss, are you wronged, or trying to hook people?!''


    The two of them could only helplessly get up and lead the princess up to their room.


    Fortunately, no one around dared to observe the situation too closely, for fear of offending the princess, otherwise their ws would have been easily exposed.


    The third princess motioned for the royal guards to stay outside, and had the ''scared and reluctant'' Cecilia close the door.


    The patrons of the inn finally heaved a sigh of relief once the princess disappeared from their sights.


    Although most of them thought that the two girls who were bound to be humiliated by the third princess were unlikely to survive the ordeal, they neither had the strength nor will to affect the situation. After all, trying to save the beauty couldn''t be considered worth it at all if they couldn''t even reap the rewards afterwards. This wasn''t some ruffian they could fight and scare away!


    "Luckily, I survived"


    Of course, although none of them had the guts to go up and meddle in the disaster that the beauty was going through, some of them still couldn''t help but gossip. "Why did the third princess not take any guards with her inside? Those two are from that ce, so they can''t be weak, right?"


    "Idiot, don''t you know how strong the royal family is?"


    Not to mention people from the outer cities, even students from the academy itself couldn''t bepared to a young princess of the empire in the people''s mind.


    After all, the royal family was strong enough to not even bother sending their descendants there, so the difference in their strengths should be obvious.


    One of the young men couldn''t help but scratch his head. "But still, if she wanted to punish them, why not just do it right here?"


    Although it would be a bit distressing to watch a young beauty be tortured right in front of their eyes, suffering from not knowing what was happening was even worse.


    Although the royal guards didn''t believe the same, they felt confident that even if the two girls were hiding their strength, how could they be stronger than the princess at such a young age?


    Moreover, even if they had some tricks up their sleeves, there was no need to risk disobeying the orders from the princess. As long as there were any strange or unfamiliar fluctuations of spirit power, they could always barge in to check.


    Seeing the dark re from some of the royal guards, the old innkeeper quickly interrupted the gossiping patrons before things got worse. "Hush! Do you want to invite a disaster to our heads?! Go back to your ce and finish your orders, or leave if you''re done!"


    Of course, the one that the old innkeeper wanted to be gone the most was someone else entirely. As long as that domineering third princess was gone quickly, she didn''t even mind if these two ''products'' were lost as well!


    Meanwhile, the domineering third princess immediately ced an istion artifact on the ground before kneeling in front of Evelyn, her eyes full of love and obsession. "I-I''ve missed you, my Queen."


    Cecilia felt goosebumps all over her body as she watched the creepy look in her eyes, and quickly turned her head away with a shudder.


    Compared to the arrogant and aloof third princess she saw in Evelyn''s ceremony all those years ago, this looked like apletely different person!


    The pink-haired girl felt her lips twitch in both helplessness and amusement, but decided not to correct her addressing term, it didn''t matter much to her anyway.


    After using the eternal ripple to confirm that no one was spying on them, she nodded. "Why did youe here alone? Where''s the puppet prince?"


    Of course, it wasn''t that she cared about him, but with his brain-dead state, it was far too risky to leave him unsupervised. If the royal family discovered his abnormality, it wouldn''t bode well for either of them.


    The third princess shivered, but she had no choice but to admit the truth under the pink-haired girl''s imploring gaze. "I-I had to dispose of him, my Queen. That pompous brother of mine would never have missed the fencing trials in the pce, but the puppet could no longer boast or show off his talents m-my father was bound to get suspicious."


    Evelyn frowned as she thought about it. "And how did you dispose of him? No one got suspicious?"


    Whether he was favored or not, how could the death of a prince be considered a trivial matter? With the Emperor''s control over the pce, Evelyn didn''t believe it would be easy to fool him at all.


    The purple-haired girl shuddered as she bowed her head lower, almost kowtowing in front of the younger girl. "F-Forgive me for making the decision on my own, my Queen!"


    Evelyn sighed. "Just tell me how you did it first."


    There was an audible gulping sound as the third princess looked up at her nervously. "I-I separated from him and informed father emperor that he had been very gloomy recently, and seemed to be plotting something, a-and then"


    Her hands clenched at the hem of her ornate green dress as the purple-haired girl bit her lip. "L-Later... I-I had him sneak into the Emperor''s bedchamber, a-and try to kill him!"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but take a deep breath in surprise. ''She really has the guts!''

 Chapter 214: No Room For Mistakes

    Chapter 214: No Room For Mistakes


    Although the life and death of the second prince didn''t matter much to Evelyn, she hadn''t expected the third princess to be so ruthless against her own brother.


    After all, although her soul had been bound to Evelyn, the third princess still remained the same girl she used to be. Her feelings for everyone but the pink-haired girl should not have changed much.


    Moreover, this move from the third princess wasn''t just ruthless, but also put herself in a very precarious position!


    Not to mention what would happen if the emperor found out she was the one behind it all, as long as he wasn''t in the right mood, it wouldn''t be strange for this girl to fall into a perilous situation without warning.


    Things wouldn''t be as simple as just ''losing a pawn'' at that point, as even Evelyn''s family might have been implicated if the third princess was ''thoroughly investigated''.


    As if aware of her thoughts, the third princess gave her a pitiful look. "Father emperor had him turned to dust on the spot, and also covered up his death as a voluntary retreat to hone himself from the others. I-I really made sure no one would suspect anything strange with me, my Queen, please believe me!"


    No matter how displeased she was, with the purple-haired girl looking at her so pitifully, Evelyn could only sigh and pat the kneeling girl''s head in assurance. "Alright. I understand that you had no choice."


    The third princess immediately sighed, a relieved smile lighting up her face. "T-Thank you, my Queen."


    But although Evelyn seemed to have epted what happened on the surface, only she knew her own thoughts. ''She may have be bound to my soul, but her level of freedom is still a lot greater than I expected!''


    Not to mention that the purple-haired girl still remained as cunning as before, but technically, there was also nothing stopping her from ''convincing herself'' that something was for ''Evelyn''s own good'' when it really wasn''t.


    Although the life and death of the purple-haired girl remained in her hands, Evelyn didn''t believe it would be worth it to kill her after the girl had already caused her damage.


    But discarding someone already ''on her side'' wasn''t her style either. After thinking about it some more, Evelyn finally made up her mind. ''Alright it may be a little tiring, but it''s worth it to eliminate the risk!''


    The soul power around the pink-haired girl suddenly fluctuated, and a thread of pure, pinkish-purple energy slowly formed in Evelyn''s soul scape, intermittently shing with more and more restrictions being imprinted on its previously nk length.


    Although neither Cecilia nor the third princess could tell what was happening, it was impossible to miss Evelyn''s previously rosy cheeks suddenly turning pale. Butpared to the ash-blonde, the purple-haired girl''s reaction was obviously much more intense.


    "M-My Queen! Are you alright?!"


    If not for Evelyn''s stern look keeping her in ce, there was no doubt that she would have started attacking Cecilia, probably under the guise of ''protecting her Queen from the suspect''.


    Of course, while some of it might have been her true intention, Evelyn could still tell that most of this action would have been motivated by her jealousy. This only made her decision more firm, and the pink-haired girl resolutely went ahead with cing the restrictions on the soul of the third princess.


    "Lorraine Leslie Lavinia, even though you are the third princess of the Lavinian Empire, do you ept submitting to me, from the depths of your soul,pletely and eternally?"


    The third princess gazed up at her ''Queen'' in disbelief and shock.


    Before that moment, Evelyn had never mentioned the girl''s name out loud. Of course, no one else would find this strange, since the royal family of Lavinia dictated that all but the royals themselves must only refer to the royalty with their titles, not names.


    But in the mind of the third princess, Evelyn''s refusal to acknowledge her name even in private was her Queen''s way of showing that she wasn''t yet worthy of being remembered.


    Naturally, now that she was being ''promoted'' like this, the third princess was more than just a little ecstatic. "Yes! Thank you, my Queen!"


    The feeling of her soul being wrapped up by a gentle soul power only made the third princess happier, but only Evelyn knew the changes taking ce in the girl''s soul.


    The obsession in the eyes of the purple-haired girl intensified, and Cecilia shifted ufortably as she saw her gaze heatedly at her friend. She never thought that even a cute girl could look so creepily at someone, but today, her worldview seems to have been flipped on its head.


    Evelyn sighed in both relief and exhaustion after she was done. "Okay, Lorraine, no need to keep kneeling. Come."


    The third princess naturally followed the pink-haired girl to the sofa, but instead of taking the empty space on the girl''s right, she squeezed in between Evelyn and Cecilia instead.


    In her mind, not only did it allow her to keep her Queen more safe, it also allowed her a valid reason to be ''closer''!


    Evelyn naturally wasn''t in a mood to overthink about such minor things, though, so she only shifted slightly to be morefortable before smiling. "As you know, my family is still stuck in a tight spot in Moreen City, and with things bing more and more unstable"


    The third princess immediately shot up straight, her brows furrowed in displeasure. "Don''t worry, my Queen! I''ll get them out of there immediately, and have them shifted over to t-to ahh...!"


    Seeing the purple-haired girl clutch at her head in confusion, Evelyn coughed. "Don''t worry about that so much. I know better than anyone else how difficult it is to move them to a safer ce without alerting the royal family, or worse, the temple itself. But you don''t need to do much, just follow my instructions."


    The third princess nodded like a little chicken. "Y-Yes!"


    Evelyn smiled as she sorted through her inventory to look for the required items. "Remember, no matter what happens, you must do exactly what I tell you. There''s no room for mistakes!"

 Chapter 215: The Bait

    Chapter 215: The Bait


    Although Cecilia knew that both Nadia and Aurora had given Evelyn a lot of mysterious artifacts, aside from the ones that the pink-haired girl handed over to them, the ash blonde wasn''t exactly sure what effects the rest of them had.


    So when Evelyn gave the third princess what appeared to be a big bunch of white dough balls and about a dozen long boxes that looked like miniaturized coffins, Cecilia still had no idea what their purpose was at all until Evelyn exined everything to the other girl.


    Naturally, there was no need to hide such a thing from Cecilia. Not only were the two of them close friends, but the ash blonde had also voluntarily tied herself to this ''sinking ship'' despite being aware of all the risks. Aside from her ''true origin'', Evelyn would tell her anything as long as she asked.


    If Cecilia was shocked when she heard what the ''dough balls'' could do, then the function of the miniature coffins could be said to have left the ash blondepletely dumbfounded.


    Of course, no matter how amazing their effects were, when she thought about the abilities of the royal family and the ''Lord of Bones'', Cecilia still felt worried for her friend''s family. "Should I contact my grandma to help?"


    Evelyn gave the ash-blonde girl a smile. "No need. They''re in a much safer position right now, and it''s better for your family if they don''t get involved at all. This matter as long as Princess Lorraine can do it right, should be easy to settle."


    The third princess didn''t dare to dy as she took everything that her ''Queen'' had handed over into her spatial ring. "Rest assured, my Queen, even if I end up losing my life, I will do everything I can to carry out your will to myst breath!"


    Cecilia felt a little embarrassed listening to her speech, but looking at Evelyn''s satisfied expression, she could only purse her lips in thought. ''I have to say, although she looks so adorable most of the time, little Eve sure likes to act domineering every chance she gets, huh?''


    Fortunately, Evelyn wasn''t paying much attention to Cecilia''s expression, and continued instructing her ''subordinate'' diligently. "There are some people here who are targeting us, and I want you to help me turn the situation around without exposing myself. Understand?"


    The third princess continued to nod obediently as she noted down every word of her ''Queen'' in her heart, all the while cursing at the people who dared to covet her.


    Unfortunately, she couldn''t enjoy basking in her Queen''s presence for too long, and Evelyn dismissed her soon after she was done telling her everything she needed to get done.


    Lorraine didn''t dare to let her forlorn expression show on her face as she exited their room. The royal guards naturally wouldn''t question their master, and only bowed and followed after her as per their duty.


    The old innkeeper finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the star of misfortune leave, and quickly gave her ''partner in crime'' a sharp look. "Go check if those bitches are still alive!"


    Although things took an unexpected turn, if the princess didn''t damage the goods too much while ying around, there was a chance they might even be able to take the reward home without any effort!


    Thinking about it this way, maybe this could even be considered a fortune amidst misfortune!


    Looking at the dough ball in her hand, Cecilia could only follow Evelyn''s example and put it in her mouth to chew.


    "Make sure to weave your spirit power into the Spirit Mould, or it won''t take good shape. Although they may not be very familiar with us, we can''t be careless."


    The ash blonde could only nod and do as she was told, wondering why this ''Spirit Mould'' dough ball couldn''t taste better. It was like chewing on rubber!


    Fortunately, Evelyn soon motioned for her to spit it out, and while embarrassed, Cecilia did as she was told.


    The pink-haired girl stared darkly at the spit-covered and chewed-up doughball in her hand, and threw it on the ground. "Why would you spit it out in my hand?!"


    Cecilia coughed, feeling even more embarrassed than before when she realized she had misunderstood. "W-Wasn''t that what you were asking for?"


    Evelyn couldn''t help but roll her eyes. "No! I just told you to spit it out Oh whatever, forget it. We don''t have the time. Come here."


    The ash blonde pouted as she stepped closer to the pink-haired girl. "Y-You didn''t say I couldn''t, either!"


    Evelyn didn''t bother responding as she pulled her into a tight embrace, and Cecilia finally shut up when she felt a tight, almost suffocating film of spirit power start forming around them.


    She knew this must be one of Evelyn''s most mysterious abilities. The one that allowed her topletely vanish from all types of perception.


    Although the pink-haired girl had already told her about it before, hearing about it and seeing it for herself were still twopletely different things. After all, Evelyn didn''t go into too much detail.


    When Cecilia realized that they could still observe the surroundings even in ''istion'', she couldn''t help but gasp in surprise. "A-Amazing! This is like the ultimate ability for perverts!"


    Seeing Evelyn''s judgmental look, the ash blonde coughed. "N-Not that I would ever do such a thing if I could By the way, you didn''t rub my spit on my dress, right?"


    Evelyn pursed her lips in a tight smile. "Do you think I would do such a thing?"


    "O-Of course not!"


    Fortunately, the transformation of the dough balls on the ground ended up turning her attention away.


    From the size of a small child''s fist, they slowly swelled up till they were so big that even an adult man would be dwarfed inparison. Soon, however, the white material started shrinking and taking the shape of the two girls, even including the clothes they were wearing.


    Cecilia couldn''t help but be shocked.


    The only difference she could see was that their eyes were somewhat vacant, and their neutral expressions looked extremely unnatural.


    Of course, given that these were just ''imitations'' that couldn''t really ''think'' or ''feel'', Cecilia felt that this was already quite impressive.


    It didn''t take long before the door mmed open, just as Evelyn expected, and a group of cloaked men burst into their room domineeringly.

 Chapter 216: Captured

    Chapter 216: ''Captured''


    The men who burst into their room were all covered in dark clothing from head to toe, and it was hard for anyone to be able to distinguish their identity with just a nce.


    Of course, even though she couldn''t use her probe skill from within her spatial istion, Evelyn knew they must be rted to the old innkeeper and the deacon from the Temple of Shinra, though she wasn''t sure if the ''leader'' of these thugs were among them or not.


    The two fake girls, who appeared so lost just moments before, were just about to scream when they were knocked out by the light from a strange artifact in one of the cloaked figure''s hands.


    "Fuck, what a waste! That would have been so much more useful to catch a high-level beast!"


    Cloud frowned as he chided his subordinate. "Shut up! Carry them out. "


    His buddies rushed forward and flung the two girls over their shoulders with ease, but one of them couldn''t help but be worried. "W-What if the princesses back to bully them and finds out they''re missing, though? Won''t we be in trouble?"


    Cloud sneered. "Bah, she''ll just think they ran away or something. At worst, the innkeeper will be in trouble, but don''t remind that senile bitch. It doesn''t have anything to do with us anyway, heh. Let''s go, let''s go, our fate changes from this day!"


    Naturally, he didn''t find anything strange about the expressions of the two girls when he entered the room. Not to mention that he wasn''t very familiar with them, who knows what that crazy princess had done to them before?


    Evelyn didn''te out of hiding until long after the group of men had already left, and quickly helped the unsteady ash blonde keep her bnce. "Are you alright?"


    "Y-Yes!"


    She didn''t pay much attention to her friend''s embarrassed expression, and instead focused on observing the surroundings using Ruru''s eternal ripple skill.


    It didn''t take long for the mayor to hear the news of the third princess getting into a dispute with two foreigners in Riham''s Inn, terrifying him to the point that had it not been for the deacon being right next to him, he would have already abandoned his post and run away.


    "Calm down, mayor. No need to panic. No one said she discovered my arrangements. Didn''t you say she was a troublemaker before? This kind of thing is only natural."


    "B-But w-why at the Riham''s inn?!"


    The deacon frowned, but soon rxed. "It''s the busiest ce next to your mansion. It''s only natural for!"


    His words got caught in his throat when one of his initiates came rushing in, his expression full of panic and terror. "M-My lord, t-the princess, t-the princess!"


    The deacon frowned. "Speak clearly!"


    The initiate shivered, and took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. "T-The princess has arrested our people!"


    The old innkeeper never expected that Lorraine, the third princess of Lavinia, would return to their inn so soon after she had already left. Unfortunately, before she could even bow down in terror, her royal guards had already stormed upstairs.


    The purple-haired girl sighed. "This town is so boring, I might as well make use of these toys for a little while more. No use throwing them away so soon."


    The innkeeper shook like a dry leaf, and when the royal guards who had stormed up returned in a hurry, she almost fainted from fright.


    "Princess, they seem to have escaped! The room is empty!"


    Lorraine''s expression turned dark. "Escaped? It''s impossible for them to have run away in their condition. That can only mean someone here helped them?"


    An oppressive aura assaulted the old innkeeper, pressing her knees down into the ground so hard that she could hear them creaking as they barely resisted being shattered.


    "Let me see for myself who is so daring as to take away toys from this princess."


    Cloud had no idea of the cmity that had befallen his ''partner'', but even if he knew, he wouldn''t care.


    He had long since made up his mind to use these ''excellent goods'' for himself, and never had any intention of handing them over to the ''client'' at all. Naturally, he wouldn''t return to Riham''s inn either.


    Although what he assumed to be the light affinity stone was still in the olddy''s hands, Cloud already knew that at least one of these two must be a top-tier talent based on what the innkeeper told him before, and that was good enough.


    The two girls had already been knocked out, and once they were safe in his hideout, the gruff man instructed his subordinates to throw them to the ground. "Tie them up."


    ''Evelyn'' and ''Cecilia'' were quickly tied to the wooden beam, and one of the thugs couldn''t help but flip the pink-haired girl''s hood. Naturally, since it wasn''t the original cloak from Aurora, it didn''t have any of its functions either.


    Even Cloud couldn''t help but be stunned when he saw the breathtaking face under the cloak, let alone his less culturedpanions.


    "Holy fuck, even the second one is a real beauty!"


    Naturally, although the two ''spirit moulds'' were missing the auras of the ones they were imitating, their appearance was still top-notch.


    "What a pity... I''d give an arm and a leg to see them in a few years."


    "Hey boss, are they gonna die after you''re done with them, or can we keep them?"


    Cloud frowned as he took out the broken array disc from the hiddenpartment in his hideout. "I don''t know if they''re going to die yet. Wait until I''m done, then you guys can have your fun. Don''t worry, since you have followed me so far, I''ll definitely take you with me to the top!"


    The men were clearly ecstatic, and felt that they had to be the luckiest bunch of ruffians in the world. Which boss didn''t use his subordinates as fodder?


    Not only did their boss not do that, he would even take them forward to the top after being blessed with an opportunity!


    Who knows, maybe he would even enhance their talents, and they too would be like fish soaring through the dragon gate, bing sons of heaven!


    Thinking of such a bright future, they couldn''t help but grin from ear to ear.

 Chapter 217: Theyre dead?

    Chapter 217: They''re dead?


    Cecilia couldn''t help but nudge her friend curiously as the pink-haired girl stealthily made her way over to the thug''s hiding spot. "Why are we following them now? Didn''t you tell the third princess to take care of it all?"


    Evelyn hummed. "This thug is actually quite courageous. He didn''t take ''us'' to his employer, and decided to desert at this time. If I don''t follow him now, how can I be sure he won''t escape?"


    Of course, the third princess should be able to catch up with them soon enough, but Evelyn didn''t like taking chances. It was better for her to keep a closer eye on the situation until the matter was dealt with.


    This was why she had followed them from a certain distance using Ruru''s eternal ripple, and weaved some minor illusions to hide their identity along the way.


    The only troublesome matter had been to jump out of their room''s window without being seen, but that was also easy to take care of with the eternal ripple''s observation ability and a little patience.


    It didn''t take them long to reach the ''abandoned'' warehouse that was being used as a hideout by these thugs, and the two of them could already hear most of their conversation without the need for any special abilities.


    Cecilia frowned as she leaned in to whisper in her friend''s ear. "You know, although I know they''re just dough balls, I still feel ufortable. I hope they don''t do anything strange."


    Evelyn smiled as she patted the ash blonde''s head. "Don''t worry. I won''t let you be wronged."


    Cecilia couldn''t help but pout. ''H-How can she treat me like this? I''m clearly the older one!''


    Back in the warehouse, Cloud suppressed the pride in his heart after seeing the moved reactions of his subordinates, and quickly activated the array with all his might.


    Although he knew very well that they might die after he plundered their talents, the thought of saving the two girls for himself didn''t even cross his mind.


    How could the future son of heaven who was going to change his fate be tempted by mere beauty?


    Although they were undoubtedly the most beautiful girls he had everid eyes upon, they clearly didn''t have identities matching his future status and potential.


    To be worthy of being kept by him, they at least had to be proud daughters of heaven, blessed with both status and talent.


    He didn''t hesitate at all while feeding the broken array all the spirit stones he had managed to gather so far, and even looked ecstatic at finally going bankrupt. "This is it, boys! Tonight, we change our fate!"


    His ''followers'' watched the glowing disk in their leader''s hand, full of both envy and expectation.


    They had listened to their boss boasting about this magical thing for so long that they didn''t doubt it at all. Anyway, the appraiser''s death couldn''t have been faked, and there was no reason for their leader to lie about such a thing for so long.


    "I hope that the two of them still survive after their talents are plundered."


    "Yeah, it would be nice to raise two beauties in our gang. At least we''ll have something good to look at while getting things done for the boss in the future, ahaha."


    "Who wants to raise them a talentless waste? These two are better off just used and thrown away."


    The man''spanions also seemed to realize that they had to change their way of thinking now that they were no longer ''just thugs'', and the thought brought another burst of happiness.


    Evelyn patted Cecilia''s hand when she felt her shudder in disgust. "Shh, they won''t be happy for long."


    As soon as the words left her lips, a dull wave of shock erupted from the array disk in Cloud''s hand, sending everyone in the hideout stumbling back in shock and excitement.


    But as they looked at their leader''s enraged and confused expression, their ecstatic shock dissolved like smoke in the wind.


    "What''s going on?"


    "Did it not work?!"


    Cloud frowned, but after checking that nothing seemed to be wrong on his side, he couldn''t help but step forward to check on the two girls he had captured.


    " They''re dead?"


    Even the residual warmth of their bodies seemed to have disappeared, leaving only a cold corpse with nk eyes that remained open nkly.


    The gruff leader of the thugs couldn''t help but clutch his head in desperation. "B-But I can''t feel any change in my body at all? What''s going on? Was the appraiser wrong?"


    The only reason he could think of if that wasn''t the case would be if the two girls didn''t have any talent in the first ce, but that was impossible.


    ording to the old innkeeper, at least one of them must have an extremely high light affinity, and there was no reason for her to lie to him about such a thing. Otherwise, it would make no sense for them to capture these girls for their client, either.


    Before he could consider the matter further, however, the door to the warehouse mmed open.


    "In the name of the Third Princess of Lavinia, kneel!"


    Evelyn smiled as she hid with Cecilia under the spatial istion once again, watching the royal guards quickly drag the thugs and corpses away. "She''s more efficient than I thought."


    Of course, given that this hideout was still inside the town, and it wasn''t veryrge to begin with, perhaps it was to be expected that they would find it quickly as long as they followed the clues Evelyn had intentionally left behind.


    The pink-haired girl didn''t wait for long before she headed back to the carriage, instructing only Ruru to stay out so she could use the eternal ripple to observe the situation inside the mayor''s mansion.


    After all, not only did she need to see how Lorraine would handle the situation, but Evelyn was also quite curious about what a ''Deacon'' of the Temple of Shinra would do when confronted by the Lavinian Empire''s Third Princess.

 Chapter 218: Exposure

    Chapter 218: Exposure


    When the royal guards took the ''criminals'' away, they ced a royal seal on the door that could only be opened by someone of sufficient authority.


    This seal wasn''t something that a normal person could break into without alerting the person who set it up, but it was far from being an obstruction to someone with sufficient knowledge of arrays.


    Of course, there was no need for Evelyn to decipher or break it when she had the ''key'' thanks to the third princess, and she easily walked in after making sure that all the guards had left.


    Evelyn only had a limited amount of this ''spirit mould'', and while it wasn''t reusable, she still wanted to keep these two ''samples'' in her inventory in case they could be usefulter.


    After all, the ones she had given to the third princess were unlikely to return back to her hands. Not to mention, she didn''t want to leave behind any clues for her enemies, no matter how small and unrted they might appear.


    She simply couldn''t take the chance before the matter of her family was dealt with.


    The spirit mould still remained in the ''state'' it had taken, and Evelyn quickly put away the two dead bodies into her inventory under Cecilia''s unsettled eyes.


    "Is it okay really to keep dead bodies in your space?"


    Evelyn paused, recalling all the dead bodies she had in her inventory. "T-There''s nothing wrong with it, right? Everyone keeps materials from monsters in their storage artifacts, after all."


    The ash blonde rubbed her nose in embarrassment. "Y-Yeah, but you also keep food in there, a-and we eat it, s-soo."


    Evelyn coughed. "Don''t worry, since everything is stored inplete stasis, there''s no way any of the food will be contaminated or anything."


    In fact, the pink-haired girl felt that she was quite wronged. After all, she kept the food and corpses in entirely different zones! Even if a corpse could move in her inventory, it would still take a long time for it to be able to reach the food.


    ''No way, what am I thinking?!''


    Evelyn quickly shook her head and picked up the discarded ''array disk'' from the floor.


    She hadn''t had any expectations of this thing when she first heard about it from that thug she caught near her carriage, nor did she feel anything strange when she heard their leader discuss how miraculous and wonderful it was.


    After all, for insignificant people like them, almost any minor item from her inventory could be considered worthy of being able to change their fate.


    When she really saw it in action, however, she realized that something wasn''t right.


    This wasn''t just an array disk, not even a broken one, but just a fragment!


    Although it had been embedded in a disk, and someone clearly tried toe up with the rest of the array to make it work, most of its core functionality still came from this tiny fragment.


    Evelyn didn''t even think about it as she turned the rest of the disk into powder with a wave of spirit power, leaving only a tiny piece of a broken array in her hand.


    Cecilia couldn''t help but tilt her head curiously. "What is this?"


    She could tell that Evelyn had applied the same amount of power to the whole disk, so how could one small part remain unscathed while the restpletely turned to powder?


    Evelyn smiled. "It''s part of a strange disk I found earlier in the hands of the Terran Prince."


    Looking at the ominous pattern on the fragment, how could she fail to recognize it?


    Cecilia blinked in surprise. "Ah!"


    Naturally, she understood that the prince must have died at her hands, though she wasn''t sure when it happened.


    Thinking about it this way her adorable little Eve was quite terrifying, wasn''t she?


    Meanwhile, the city lord''s mansion was in chaos.


    The rotund leader of the city almost tripped on his own stubby feet as he rushed into the luxurious chamber he had set aside for the ''honored guest''. "L-Lord Deacon, hurry, we have to get out of here!"


    The yellow-robed deacon was momentarily stunned as he saw the utter terror on the usually arrogant man''s face. "What''s going on?"


    The panting man used his already soaked silk handkerchief in a vain attempt to wipe his face, only to make it worse. Nothing seemed to go his way at all!


    "L-Leave! W-We have to leave!"


    The deacon frowned before he sent a wave of yellow spirit power into the anxious man''s body, and he soon calmed down, though his panic seemed ready to set in again within moments.


    "T-The princess! S-She just caught the old innkeeper at the Riham''s inn, and she''s headed our way! Y-You must have a way for us to get out of here, right? There''s no way someone like you doesn''t have a way out!"


    The words seemed to have taken all his willpower, and the exhausted man copsed on his knees. "P-Please! You have to take me with you too, or I''ll die!"


    Knowing the conflict between Lavinia''s royalty and the Temple of Shinra, as long as the association between the deacon and the leader of their tiny border town was discovered, he had no doubt at all that his head would be on a spike!


    The only question that remained was how much that perverse third princess would torture him before finally letting him die.


    Of course, the deacon naturally didn''t think the situation was quite so dire. Even if the Lavinian Empire was able to find out about what he was doing and make an usation, would they really darey their hands on a deacon of the Temple of Shinra?


    Just one nce from his Lord was enough topletely shatter their royal pce! Who would have the guts?! Even that arrogant ancient academy was almost down on its knees with just a casual wave of his Lord''s hand.


    And even if the third princess was utterly insane, the deacon still had to teach her a lesson for daring to threaten the dignity of his Lord.


    He chuckled. "Heh, do you think I need to run away from some backwater country''s third princess? Let here."

 Chapter 219: Confrontation

    Chapter 219: Confrontation


    Lorraine didn''t waste time after arresting the olddy from Riham''s inn, and quickly deployed the cruelest ''interrogation technique'' of the royal family on the woman.


    Simting the effect of thousands of bugs biting into the flesh and painfully eating a person from inside out, it inflicted an intense agony that few could imagine, and fewer could go through without special means.


    After all, even if one were to encounter thousands of flesh-eating bugs, the pain would cease once the nerves stopped functioning, and the loss of flesh and life could also be considered a relieving ''upper limit'' of their misfortune.


    With this technique, however, the body of the subject remainedpletely ''unharmed'', making it impossible for the torture to ever end. Moreover, not only would the pain not be reduced due to desensitization, the intensity of it would only continue to increase.


    Even the most heinous of traitors and criminals were said to be unable to resist it for more than a few minutes. The few that didst longer than that ended uppletely losing their minds, bing a crazed, paranoid shadow of their former selves.


    Naturally, someone like the old innkeeper had no means to face this type of technique with any form ofposure.


    From cooperating with the ''mysterious client from the temple'', to discovering how the ''goods'' they delivered were routed back to the city lord''s mansion, she confessed all the relevant details within a minute. All in the vain hope that the princess would cease her torment and just end her life.


    Princess Lorraine sneered as she waved her guards over. "Get this woman moved to Moreen. No need to make the journeyfortable, but don''t let her die, or you will take her ce."


    The people in front of her didn''t even dare to squeak, but those who were out of her sight couldn''t help but shiver. Having heard the miserable screams of the old innkeeper, how could they not feel terror in their hearts?


    The olddy might deserve to be punished for her crimes, but not like this. The empire''sws would only have her imprisoned, and even if she were to be given the death penalty, it wouldn''t be so inhumane.


    In the hands of this princess, there was no doubt that she was bound to have a miserable fate where she would be begging for death day after day.


    It was only now that everyone realized how lucky they were to not be able to witness the sight of the purple-haired princess dealing with the two little girls from before, or their hearts might just wither from pity.


    No wonder this princess had such a reputation for cruelty!


    "Heh, doing this kind of thing under the royal family''s eyes, and thinking that this princess wouldn''t be able to discover it does that bastard think I''m a fool?!"


    Of course, the olddy didn''t dare to lie, and had only told her that the real identity of the client was just her guess, and she couldn''t be sure.


    But just from looking at her furious expression, anyone could tell that this small town''s leader''s fate was going to be far from pleasant, regardless of whether he was involved in the incident or not.


    Evelyn was already watching over the situation closely when Lorraine stormed the city lord''s mansion. Of course, not to mention that she had the royal guards by her side, no one would dare to stop the third princess based on her identity alone.


    It wasn''t long before she kicked in the door of the deacon''s room, and also found the sweaty ''leader'' shivering behind him in terror, with only a few soldiers by his side.


    The red-robed man, however, was surprisingly calm. "Third Princess of Lavinia, to what do I owe the pleasure?"


    Further back in the room, twelve young men stood in a neat row with their heads down, hands sped, and eyes closed. The royal guards increased their vignce, and formed a loose circle around their princess.


    Lorraine sneered. "Cut the bullshit. Just tell me whether you confess to having people abducted from Lavinian territory, or should I get it out of you by force?"


    The deacon didn''t seem to care for her identity at all, and he didn''t give any weight to the re from the royal guards either as he continued to sip his tea. "Oh dear, oh dear. What an usation to make does the princess have any proof?"


    Just as she opened her mouth, however, the red-robed man clicked his tongue with a smile. "If you believe you do feel free to submit it to either a cardinal or a judge if you can. The temple takes our image very seriously, and they will surely preside over this case to either punish me or clear my name."


    Of course, going by his tone, he didn''t seem to believe she even had the ability to go meet his superiors, to say nothing about them favoring her over him. If she really dared to try doing so anyway who knows what her fate would be?


    Lorraine wasn''t stupid enough to not realize he was making a threat, and she couldn''t help butugh angrily. "Since when did this princess need to submit proof to others to judge someone within my own empire? Here, this princess is the judge, and unless it goes against the emperor''s will, my word is thew!"


    The town soldiers who had been by their leader''s side all this time unexpectedly moved at this time, and quickly rushed forward in an attempt to grab the red-robed man.


    Clearly, they didn''t intend to side with their ''leader'' at all, and were quite eager to ''prove their innocence'' in front of the third princess. Now that she had discovered such a thing, their leader was as good as dead, and they had no desire to follow the same fate.


    Before they could really touch the man''s robes, though, the previously docile ''initiates'' burst forward at once, their bodies glowing with a yellow light, and their punches and kicks sending the soldiers flying and smashing into the walls as if they weighed nothing.


    Within moments, all the soldiers by the dumfounded leader''s sidey there with their fates unknown, and the initiates returned to their previous state, as if they didn''t take anything that was happening in front of them seriously at all.

 Chapter 220: The Deacons Fury

    Chapter 220: The Deacon''s Fury


    Although she wasn''t surprised at all to see the soldiers defeated, the third princess still couldn''t help but frown. ''His henchmen are a little stronger than expected and going by his confident appearance, either he''s a fool, or the information about their strength was indeed correct.''


    Thinking about how her father, the emperor, and everyone else in the Lavinian royal family had refused to believe in the ''unfounded rumors'', the purple-haired girl couldn''t help but be a little worried.


    If the royal family was wiped out and their empire copsed, wouldn''t it mean she be of no more use to her queen?


    Lorraine quickly shook her head in denial. ''No, I can''t think like that. No matter what, I must aplish whatever my queen requires!''


    If those ''rumors'' were true, then the strength of these so-called initiates was much stronger than regr soldiers, and the toughest of them could even contend with royal guards. Meanwhile, a deacon could handle a royal guard with ease, and a judge would be able to destroy an entire retinue of royal guards without breaking a sweat.


    That wasn''t all, however. Aside from their individual strength, these people also had all sorts of strange and powerful artifacts and charms. Even under the siege of multiple higher-level opponents, it wasn''t easy to defeat them, let alone keep them from fleeing.


    Just thinking about it all was enough to send a shiver of trepidation down the purple-haired girl''s spine.


    Fortunately, her queen had already known about the deacon''s existence, and Lorraine had naturally prepared as thoroughly as she could.


    After all, failing her task would not only make her look ipetent in the eyes of her queen, but might also be a major setback to her ns!


    Even if she apologized with her life then, Lorraine felt that it still wouldn''t be enough. Even if her queen forgave her, she herself would never be able to ept it.


    The purple eyes of the third princess turned sharp, and a vicious glint shed through her pupils like lightning. ''Since this man dared to get in her way let me teach him the consequences!''


    "Tie him up and take him back to the pce for judgment!"


    The royal guards naturally didn''t hesitate as they rushed forward.


    While they knew the status of the man in front of him, they were already somewhat relieved that the princess didn''t give the orders for execution directly.


    If she did so, it was likely that things would escte way out of control. After all, the man looked like he could be a higher-up in the Temple of Shinra. And worst of all, they still couldn''t disobey her orders.


    The initiates naturally wouldn''t stand idly by, and they rushed to subdue the royal guards just as they had the soldiers before.


    With their master behind them, in this glorified vige of an empire, there was nothing they needed to fear at all.


    As long as they got the opportunity to prove their loyalty, they could continue growing and enjoying the glory under the temple''s light.


    The royal guards didn''t receive any particr instruction from their princess, but they still did what they were used to whenever someone got in the way of their target.


    The deacon hadn''t expected that the third princess would really dare to order an attack just like that, and before he snapped out of his disbelief, two of his weaker initiates had already been cleaved to death by the halberds of the royal guards.


    He didn''t care about the oppressively sharp edges and spikes pointed his way at all, and immediately burst into rage.


    "How dare you backward bastards touch my disciples?!"


    Even if he didn''t care about their lives, killing them in front of him was no different from pping him in the face! Moreover, they even dared to point their weapons at him! Him!


    A wave of yellow oppressive spirit power burst out of the deacon''s body, and immediately sent the royal guards reeling back in shock, heavily stepping back again and again till they were pressed up against the walls.


    As for the princess, she had already taken out some strange artifact to form a shield around herself, and lookedpletely undisturbed at the center of this storm.


    Looking at her indifferent face, however, the deacon just sneered and pulled out a ne iid with an amber gem from his red robes. "Are you so confident in your little toys in thugs, you uneducated fool? Let me show you what fear means, then! Cleansing Light!"


    Under the admiring eyes of his disciples, the deacon channeled his spirit power into the gem and turned to one of the royal guards who was still struggling to get up under the oppression of his spirit power.


    A bright beam of burning yellow burst from the gem and mmed into the royal guard, who hurriedly tried to block it with his halberd.


    The low-grade artifact was of little use, however, as it melted almost instantly in his hands, followed by the rest of his armor.


    As metal fused into his flesh, the man couldn''t help but cry out in terror and agony, but he was soon silenced when the beampletely tore through his body and took away his life, leaving behind only a molten mess of metal and flesh.


    While the rest of the royal guards were chilled by theirpanion''s dying screams, the initiates couldn''t help but ridicule. "Even as he turned to g, the fool still tried to stand up under the aura of the lord. Does he not know that only those pure of heart can withstand our lord''s cleansing light?"


    The expression of the third princess had long since turned ugly, but only she knew her heart was as still as a frozenke.


    Not to mention these guards, even if it was herself who was to be burned to a g, she wouldn''t flinch under the eyes of this bastard. Of course, as long as her life was still of value to her queen, she wouldn''t allow herself to die so easily.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!