The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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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 in laughter, 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 calamity. Anyone who knew her could tell how happy she was when compared 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 classes 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 you compare 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 explain herself. After all, Bree in her current state wouldn't understand anything too complex. "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 petulant 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 backlash, along with her strength.

Even when a considerable portion of her strength had been restored, the level of her intelligence still seemed to be quite lacking, and Evelyn attributed it to her lack 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, compared 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 better comprehension 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 'class' with Aurora if she did so now. Only once she returned after the classes would she be able to test it out.

Aurora's tower was actually not that far from her White Lily Palace, and Evelyn found herself facing the platinum 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 the lake 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 blankly.

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 classes, and once she returned to the White Lily Palace, 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 blankly 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 plans 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 moments later, however, because the previously lethargic Aurora went on a long, detailed diatribe about how profound the endless depths of the lake 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 platinum 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 this lake."

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 the lake, 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 blankly at the perfectly still, beautiful blue lake in front of her. Given how much interest Aurora showed in the lake, it was impossible for her to not have tried exploring it. And from her words, she had certainly not succeeded 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?!"