The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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 collar 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 glare. "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.     

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-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 (available): Pyromaniac ]      

-Cultivation Method: Eternal Ember [Grade 9]     

-[ Skills ]     

—[Ashes to Ashes], [Burn], [Eternal Agony]     

-Passives: [Pyromaniac]      

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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 plan to deal with it.     

However, before they moved on, Evelyn found herself in a dilemma. As she had become 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 blankly as their de facto leader stored what was essentially over a hundred kilograms of worthless trash in her spatial storage.     

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While Evelyn wasn't too familiar with the wonderland 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 claim 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 theory later, Evelyn felt confident in her analysis. Anyway… there were plenty of test subjects around to help her confirm.     

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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 plan 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 black 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.     

How come 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 become prey in the core region of the wonderland of doom.     

But for this particular 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 becoming 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.     

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