The Fake?
The Fake?
Aurora's anxiety was palpable as she waited at the edge of the lake, 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 platinum blonde almost immediately jumped into the lake, 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 the lake."
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 the lake. The fake."
The platinum blonde furrowed her brows. "The… fake?"
Gwendolyn nodded, though she didn't explain the term. "Hold on, I'll try to communicate 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 to communicate with her through her domain was probably being used once more, only to communicate with whatever beast was inside the lake.
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 explain the lake'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.
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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 this lake? 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't completely 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 only lament that there was no way for her to even hold her aching head.
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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 platinum 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!
Nonetheless, 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 the lake? Of course, I shall compensate 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 blank.
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 turned completely 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 volatile. 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.'
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