The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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 placing all her hopes on her student.     

Evelyn had already grown deeply attached to the platinum 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 plan 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 collapses. 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. "Relax, 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 particular 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 time comes. 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 plan I have is sure to take down the Lord of Bones and accomplish 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 blankly. "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 plan?"     

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 glance at the platinum 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 for comfort.     

Gwendolyn smiled. "Don't be so depressed. Her death in my plan 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 ninety. The term 'awakened'… the last 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 blame 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 this later, 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 sure later. "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 accumulated growth, you might even be able to shoot straight to tier two. And that... will be enough."     

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