The Great Mother
The Great Mother
Evelyn still remembered how scared she had been of meeting Nadia's parents when she was first dragged to the depths of the lake, and also the relief she felt when she discovered there was no such thing.
Although she had already put it out of her mind then, at this moment, she couldn't help but wonder once more. What stopped a primordial creature from reproducing?
Even the people with spirit physiques could have children when their bodies were naturally unsuitable for the purpose, and their origins were also from non-living objects. So it was unlikely to be because of a lack of possibility.
Thinking so, the pink-haired girl couldn't help but ask her teacher about it.
Aurora frowned. "You think so? Can a primordial creature even reproduce?"
Evelyn blinked in surprise as she realized that her teacher really hadn't even considered that possibility.
In her previous world, reproduction was a core concept of life for all types of living creatures. After all, every creature could only live so long, and if it didn't reproduce, its species would stop existing sooner or later.
However, after her rebirth, she realized that this wasn't really the case once the world no longer consisted of only mortal beings.
The existence of spirit power made it possible for some to keep on increasing their lifespan, greatly reducing their motivation to reproduce, and it even became possible to produce a child through spirit eggs.
Although certain royal families and mortals placed great importance on marriage and producing heirs, that was far from the case for those who focused on their personal strength.
As they constantly sought ways to reach a higher realm of strength, having a child to care for was more a liability than anything else. Aurora, for example, was already thousands of years old, but had never taken a lover, and the same went for the old headmaster.
Although there were some couples among the strong, such as the two pillars — Kaling and Kaizen — they also generally chose not to have a child.
Perhaps it was because of this that the primordial creatures having a child never crossed anyone's mind, be it Aurora or Gwendolyn.
Evelyn sighed. "Even if they are born as a lone member of their species, aren't there many who don't need a partner to reproduce?"
Aurora seemed to consider her statement for a while before she shook her head in denial. "The issue isn't about physical possibilities, but what the primordial creatures are."
Looking at her student's confused look, the platinum blonde smiled. "Think about it this way… if we consider the world to be a living being, the realm or the planet itself being the body, then the primordial creature is its heart. When a realm comes into being, a primordial creature must exist somewhere, and once it perishes, the realm will either collapse or become unable to sustain life."
Evelyn bit her lip in thought after listening to her teacher's explanation. "That is just what people believe though, right? We don't know for sure?"
Aurora looked a little taken aback, but shortly after, she nodded. "That's… true."
Evelyn nodded quickly. "Right! Teacher, I believe what you said is correct in terms of 'there is no need for the primordial creatures to reproduce', but what if they fall in love?"
Aurora blinked. "With whom, themselves?"
The pink-haired girl couldn't help but pout. "Just like there can be twins in natural births, isn't it possible for there to be two of them in a plane? Also, wouldn't that mean that the world could, perhaps, not immediately collapse after its primordial being dies?"
The platinum blonde blinked in surprise before nodding. "There hasn't been a case so far that I know of among all the minor and major realms that have been explored, but… it's possible."
Evelyn grinned. "Right? And as for the reason why they would have a baby in the first place… can't a primordial creature just fall in love with someone? Even if they're from different species, how different would it be from the union of a mortal and a spirit physique?"
Seeing her teacher's doubtful look, Evelyn frowned. "You can't deny the possibility, teacher! Did you not see how Nadia cares about me? Primordial creatures also have feelings!"
Aurora could only sigh helplessly. "That's true, the poor child even got swindled by you."
"…"
Looking at her student's dumbfounded face, Aurora couldn't help but smile, feeling like her steps were much lighter as they went further down the tunnel.
Evelyn could only pout in her heart. She was really wronged! Had she not done what she did, wouldn't she have become just another one of Nadia's snacks?
Thankfully, the tunnel soon came to an end as the two of them arrived in front of a pair of double doors, washing Evelyn's gloomy mood away with excitement.
Aurora placed her palm in its center, her expression turning serious. "Once we're inside, make sure you don't touch anything without permission, okay?"
Evelyn nodded obediently. "Okay."
In front of her excited eyes, the double doors glowed gently under Aurora's palm before they started shimmering and turning translucent, and her teacher took her hand to walk right past them before they turned solid once more.
And what greeted her inside was… piles upon piles, no, mountains of artifacts!
Evelyn had already assumed that the academy must have quite a lot in its grand vault, given its history and position as one of the strongest forces on the continent even after its continuous decline, but even she hadn't dared imagine such a scene.
Compared to this, Nadia's little stash was really like comparing a little pile of sand to a mountain range!
Not to mention anything else, just looking at how vast the open space was, Evelyn believed that even if it didn't span the entirety of the region, it should still be the size of a city. In the dim light of the runes, she couldn't even spot the end of it.
Aside from hundreds of 'mountains' as far as she could see, there were only enormous pillars of stone that supported the ceiling, but they looked a little different from one another, with varying thickness and shapes, as if they had been randomly formed.
The tunnel that led them here was definitely created by experts, but this place gave her the feeling that it formed naturally. And recalling her teacher's words about the natural treasure, Evelyn soon realized it made some sense if this was its birthplace.
At first, Evelyn couldn't help but be ecstatic, but she soon realized a huge problem.
Her inventory, which had always felt infinite in her mind, suddenly appeared incredibly puny.
It didn't even come close to being able to contain even a single one of these mountains. And there was no way Evelyn could probe each and every one of them, even if she was given ten years to do so.
Biting her lip, the pink-haired girl couldn't help but wonder. 'Do I have to rely on luck to check random artifacts that look interesting? But… a vast majority of them must be grade one or two… wouldn't this be an enormous waste of time?'
But just as she thought so, Aurora smiled as she led her forward by hand. "There is no way to organize things here, but there is a place where you're a little more likely to find what you're looking for than rest. Come."
The platinum blonde led her right past a few mountains, and as they got further, the 'valleys' devoid of artifacts also ceased to exist, and Evelyn could only feel a buzz in her mind as they started actually stepping on artifacts to move forward.
In her absentminded state, she almost ended up slamming into Aurora's back when she abruptly stopped, and as her gaze turned to the direction in which her teacher was pointing, Evelyn felt her mind turn completely blank.
A few feet in front of her sat a small crystal statue of a naked adolescent girl, and shockingly, her face was exactly the same as Aurora's!
Moreover, the area between her breasts had a little cavity that seemed to have had a gem in it at some point, but had been dug out.
Evelyn couldn't help but frown. Had she not been holding Aurora's palm, she would surely have burst into rage just thinking about some pervert imagining her teacher's bare form and creating something like this.
But thinking about it now, since Aurora had brought her to this place herself, this statue was far from being just that.
She could only look at the platinum blonde in confusion. "Teacher, what is this supposed to be?"
Aurora's expression remained stiff, but Evelyn could still see that her ears had gone completely red from shame. "This… is our academy's treasure. It's called 'The Great Mother', and it is the source of all the artifacts here. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that had our ancestors not found her here, the academy wouldn't exist."
Although she thought her teacher's embarrassed expression was cute, the pink-haired girl was still left scratching her head in confusion as her sight flitted between the little statue and Aurora's face. "Why does it look… exactly like you?"
The platinum blonde sighed. "It's… complicated. Let's just say that my mother used a part of the statue to make me stronger before I was born, so I ended up being in its image, okay?"
Recalling a few snippets of conversation from the scene of Aurora's birth in the memories of her cultivation technique, Evelyn could more or less figure out what was going on.
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