The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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 'pillars' to activate, the array itself was not engraved on a disc, but the land 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. In comparison, 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 'pillar'. Even if the other three were twice or even thrice as strong, they couldn't compensate for the fourth pillar's weakness.      

Plus, not just anyone could become a pillar and activate the array. Using it required all four pillars 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's last 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 explanation. 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 formulas like that."     

Aurora nodded. Knowing how greedy her student was, she would never have told her about it in the first place if she didn't intend to hand it over. "The original array is carved deep underneath the academy grounds. Even I have never laid 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 platinum 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 moments later, faint patches of light started shining from between Aurora's shoulder blades 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 it completely, but she knew that this wasn't the right method to use on Evelyn. Had she been able to become 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 platinum 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 was completely pristine and flawless. 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 splat on the wall or something. I really need to be more thoughtful from now on.'     

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