The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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Craig had never thought that a day like this would come in his life.

As the crown prince of Terrazyme, a kingdom that had now grown strong enough to even attack the Lavinian Empire, which had previously been the undisputed strongest power in the continent, to say that he was 'privileged' would be an understatement.

The education he received and the resources he enjoyed were far beyond what most could imagine. Even if he was to compare himself to the princes of other major powers, he would still be far superior, simply because he had no brothers or sisters, and was the only heir to the throne.

Even when his father had given him this extremely dangerous mission that had landed him in some trouble, the number of precious artifacts he had been given might cause even a senior professor like Dane to faint in shock if he knew. Of course, Craig wouldn't be stupid enough to reveal such a thing openly.

But today, he had truly felt powerless for the first time in his life. If not for his father's closest aide coming in along with the great guardian of earth at the last moment, he truly would have died.

No, it wasn't even that. Craig knew, deep down in his heart, that he wasn't far from spilling the beans.

A true Terran does not fear death. Given the choice between death and betraying their kingdom, Terrans laughed in the face of death.

He had preached about it often: to soldiers, to peers, and even to his juniors. But today, when the time came to apply it to himself, Craig knew he had failed.

Even if Aurora hadn't immobilized his spirit power, he did not have the courage to end himself, and he knew it.

Thankfully, the moment hadn't truly come to pass.

But the price was too great.

When he heard the unholy shriek of the beast, he knew better than anyone how grim things were.

Professor Dane panted in exhaustion as he finally found another secluded cave. "W-We should be fine for now…"

Prince Craig continued to stare blankly at the opposite wall. "The Guardian Beast… dead. The aide father sent, he's probably dead too. Heh… hehehehe… hahaha!"

The red-haired professor couldn't help but snort in annoyance. "What the hell is that attitude, Craig? As the smartest student in the past thousand years, are you giving up just like that?"

The brown-haired boy went silent as he turned his lost gaze to the man. "I-I'm already Crippled. She ruined me! With just one leg, I can't do the quantum leap! My main technique, professor! It's useless now!"

Dane sighed. "Don't be an idiot, Craig. Although she crushed your leg, it's not impossible to restore. Even if your kingdom doesn't have anything, I know for a fact that Aurora is a healer capable of doing exactly that!"

"What a joke! She's the one who—"

The red-haired professor scoffed. "So? Isn't it just right for her to fix what she messed up? I'm sure that if we can reach your father safely, he can somehow get it done. And anyway, there might also be other ways, you can't lose hope."

Although Craig realized that the professor was only motivating him for his own interests, whether it was to seek revenge on Aurora or to cozy up with his father later, Craig did feel his mood improve just a little.

He wasn't stupid enough to believe that his father had the ability to pressure Aurora to do anything, but maybe it wasn't hopeless to find something to fix his leg.

That was only a small reprieve, however. "But there's no mistaking that the Guardian Beast is dead, and I guess my father's aide who saved me earlier should be dead too, along with most of his subordinates. Even that third guy is gone, huh?"

Dane nodded. "If he wasn't crushed by the beast, he couldn't have survived the battle later."

Of course, Craig realized what he was trying to imply, and nodded gratefully. "Thank you, professor. If not for you, I would also be dead."

The red-haired man grinned. "No big deal. But you better remember that Aurora almost killed the Terran Crown Prince. She can't get away with this, you understand?!"

The brown-haired boy nodded, his confidence restored. 'I know no one else can do it, and those who can... they won't care about me… But one day, when I'm strong enough, I will tear off her throat myself!'

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Meanwhile, Evelyn poked the mountain-like, motionless carapace of the giant beetle with her foot, unable to believe it had died so cleanly. Even after it was dead, both Ruru and Bree still shivered in fear in her arms, as if they knew they stood no chance of facing the beast at all.

Even poking its dead body proved to be a bad idea, however, as all of a sudden, thousands of tiny beetles burst out of its dead body, almost scaring her out of her wits. "I-It's dividing?!"

Aurora chuckled. "No… those are its children."

Looking at the sheer quantity, Evelyn couldn't help but gape. "D-Don't tell me each one of those will grow up to be like that? Wait, didn't you say it was a 'him' earlier, how come it was pregnant?!"

The platinum blonde gave her a weird look. "These are all ungraded little beasts, all level zero. Why would it being male matter? And, um, they're pretty weak, look…"

And as if to demonstrate, she made one of the fist-sized beetles float over to Evelyn, who held the struggling little thing curiously as she used her probe skill.

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[Checking Status…]

[Great Earth Beetle (infant): Level 1]

Experience: 0 / 10

Physique: Insectoid (Regular)

—Physique: 13

—Spirit Power: 2

—Soul Value: 1

—Vitality: 17

-[ Abilities ]

—[Devour, Unlocks at Level 10]: Consuming the same species, it is able to combine a majority of the two's stats together, greatly increasing its own attributes. Consuming other species results in a lower stat gain.

—[Evolve, Unlocks at Level 30]: Upon reaching future milestones, it is able to evolve to better adapt to its surroundings and to better face the challenges it usually faces.

—[Dissolve, Unlocks at Level 50]: Upon death, all the remaining soul power can be consumed to leave behind descendants to continue the bloodline.

—[Great Earth Spear, Unlocks at Level 70]: ???

—[Wrath of Terra, Unlocks at Level 90]: ???

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"D-Do you mind if I keep it?"

Aurora gave her student a weird look. "It may look harmless now, but it has the ability to evolve into a spirit beast later, you know. And you already have a spirit beast pet, one that is far superior to this one. The one I killed earlier was already almost six hundred years old, at least. Their growth rate is too slow for you."

The pink-haired girl sighed, wondering if Aurora would think she was crazy if she told her she wanted to 'feed' the beetle to her puppy. "Alright, I guess I'll let it go then…"

Since its status didn't show 'contaminated' or anything similar, Bree's purification was unlikely to trigger anyway.

Evelyn didn't mind letting that little beast go too much, but what she found truly regretful was that she didn't get any 'experience' from killing the giant beast. The pink-haired girl wondered if it was because it was her teacher's ability that had ended up killing it, and not her arrow.

Aurora seemed to know what she was thinking about. "Are you surprised? You wanted to 'channel' it to yourself, right?"

Evelyn blinked in shock. "E-Eh?"

The platinum blonde smiled. "Well, your growth rate is shockingly high, so you must know a little about spirit absorption and the throne channel, right?"

"T-Throne channel?"

Aurora sighed. "Well, don't worry about it too much. Just think of it like this… there are two ways people can get 'rewarded' for their accomplishments, and the paths through which these rewards are obtained are called 'channels'. Are you listening? No one will tell you about this at the academy, very few people know."

Although Evelyn had been staring blankly at Aurora in shock, she hadn't missed a single word from her. She had just never expected anyone to really be familiar with the whole 'experience' system. "I-I'm listening."

"Mhm. So, for most people, there is actually only the 'World Channel', which means they are rewarded by the world for their accomplishments. Whenever they kill an opponent, for example, a part of its power is channeled to them by the world."

Evelyn couldn't help but be worried. "H-How are these 'accomplishments' judged, though? Can the world 'think'?"

Aurora nodded. "In simple terms, yes. Its thoughts are not complex, as it is more on the level of a tree than a beast. Don't overthink it."

Evelyn nodded, a little relieved and worried at the same time. If the 'world' really could think, then the chances of it being hostile to her, if it ever managed to discover her origins, were extremely high. 'Hopefully, no one will ever know that I'm an alien.'

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