The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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Aurora had told her she should be able to figure the situation out within a week, but it had already been almost ten days since then, and it didn't look like her regular lessons with her teacher would be able to resume any time soon, let alone being taken to the wonderland of doom.

The only consolation was that Aurora would still come back to meet her every night, to 'see if she had been bullied again'. Evelyn thought it was quite cute, but unfortunately, her teacher didn't like head pats.

Amber, on the other hand, liked them very much, and Evelyn provided them generously to the girl whenever she managed to get things right.

Although Madam Augury had been a complete douche, her affinity stones hadn't been faulty. However, there was a reason why those things were just a tool, and why the academy didn't segregate students based on their affinities or physiques, but relied on assessments instead.

In contrast to what Augury had implied, even with her abysmal affinity, Amber was actually quite good at manipulating fire.

Amber jumped in joy as she finally managed to coat herself in a red aura. "Evelyn, look, I did it!"

The pink haired girl couldn't help but give her an approving nod as she patted the girl's head. "Good job."

Amber grinned. "Ehehehe…"

It seemed like although she couldn't do whatever she wanted with it, but whatever she managed to do, she did well.

Evelyn thought that some part of it had to be the credit of her cultivation technique, which also seemed to be fire related, and some part may be Amber's own innate talent.

Currently, the girl had already learned to do a few things, one of which was her own idea, and one came from Evelyn.

Of course, since she also had an affinity for fire, Evelyn also tried to imitate her skill, but the results weren't as good as she imagined. Although Amber openly told her the entire process, the exact circuit in which she needed to make the spirit power flow was still a little vague using just words.

The imitation she managed to create was perhaps only a tenth as efficient as the original, and at that point, she might as well not use it. After all, the original only consumed spirit power to enhance strength, and if it took her ten times the spirit power to do the same, it would just be a waste. Especially on her.

But if someone relied primarily on physical attacks, the original skill was quite good.

This was, of course, the 'Strengthen' skill that she had seen in Amber's status.

And the second skill was the one Evelyn had helped her figure out. 

Amber had only known the spirit circuit of the technique from her cultivation array, and had been stuck understanding it halfway through.

On her own, it might have taken her much longer, and normally this would be where a professor's guidance would come in.

But with Evelyn's ability to view status, along with Amber not hiding anything from her, it became too easy for her to spot the issue.

Amber knew of only two techniques from her cultivation method, out of which she was only able to use [Strengthen]. Given that the only other technique she knew of was [Encourage], the likelihood of her half-understood technique being [Taunt] was quite high.

Of course, had it been something more convoluted, Evelyn might not have been able to help much either.

As for the skill itself, it was quite strange. With a flare of spirit power, a heatwave of sorts spread out in all directions from the user, and whatever it touched would feel a minor 'burnt' feeling. For most living beings, this would definitely 'aggro' them into the user.

However, it couldn't differentiate between enemies and allies, or Amber's version couldn't, at least. On the plus side, it only cost a single point of spirit power, and was effective for ten meters.

And the strength of the effect itself was really good, because just moments after Amber cast her taunt, a group of ten students rushed over to the two of them in a rage.

Well, when it came to this particular group, Amber's taunt was probably only an excuse.

"How dare you disturb us like this, piece of trash?!"

Although they only dared to direct their anger at the auburn haired girl, Evelyn was well aware of who the real target of their hate was.

After all, she was the one who had got their 'benefactor' expelled.

Amber immediately cowered as she looked at the ten of them coming at her together, most of them taller than both herself and her friend. "I-I didn't mean to, sorry! I won't do it again!"

These were, of course, the so-called 'Champion's Club' students. Evelyn had already seen their status, and aside from the fact that they were level fifteen at the age of eight without a special physique, which was quite impressive, there was nothing else of note.

'Well, if Augury really managed to get them from level one to fifteen in a year, with that mortal physique… maybe they could have deserved the name in a few years, but she's not here anymore, is she? And they still have the guts to bully my friend in front of me?'

Evelyn didn't bother arguing with them, and simply made the 'spirit sphere' revolve around herself and Amber.

Of course, it ended up hitting the boy who had come the closest to them, sending him flying with a yelp.

"Y-You hit me?!"

Needless to say, assaulting fellow students out of the duel arena or sanctioned fights was against the academy rules, but the rules were subject to enforcement by the teachers, and the junior professor responsible for this class had been busy on the other corner of the room.

The professor grimaced as he stared at the boy yelling and crying on the floor while clutching his arm. "What happened here?"

Two weeks ago, he had finally managed to get the permit to enter an expedition team to hunt in the wonderland, but just as he was about to leave, he got called back and told they were short-staffed.

Although annoyed, he tried his best not to take out his irritation on these little kids, but they were making it really hard not to right now.

"She hit him!"

"Professor, that girl tried to kill us!"

"SILENCE! Was I talking to you? I only want to hear two people speak here, the one who got hit, and the one who hit him. Now, you boy, speak up. What happened?"

"P-Professor, I was just minding my own business, practicing the elemental channels you showed earlier, when I was attacked by this red haired girl's spell. When I came to confront them about it, this pink haired girl tried to kill me!"

The professor frowned as he turned to Evelyn, assuming that she was the pink haired girl that the boy had accused of trying to murder him. "And you, what happened according to you?"

Evelyn gave him a sheepish look. "Well, I was practicing my spirit sphere to see if I could infuse it with an element, and my friend was trying out her new fire spell. This boy just rushed over and got hit by my sphere. I-I can't control it too well yet."

The junior professor frowned as he looked around, and indeed, the two girls were standing right at the spot he allotted them, while the boy was at least six meters away from where he should be. 'These kids… sure like to exaggerate unimportant things, and ignore the important ones!'

"Didn't I tell you guys to stay away from each other if you're practicing? And if you try something dangerous, call me over first? Do you all think this is a joke?! No artifact or elixir can revive you from death, and while this accident is nothing, you can very well die easily in an accidental skill splash!"

He grabbed the boy by the collar, inspecting the wound closely. Noting that it was just a bruise, he put him down unceremoniously. "This will heal on its own. Let the pain be a lesson. Especially those of you below level twenty, pay attention! If you don't listen to my instructions, don't expect me to fix up your mess!"

With a glare from the professor, the champion's club quickly scurried away.

The professor glared at Evelyn as well. "And you too, pay attention! You can't be oblivious to your surroundings while practicing. With your spirit sphere, restrict its float area to one meter unless you're in an open space alone, and you, red girl, further apart!"

As the professor stomped away, Amber sheepishly distanced herself from Evelyn before being pulled back by the winking girl. "Don't worry, I can control it well enough to never hit you."

The auburn haired girl blinked in shock. "E-Eh? T-Then did you hit him intentionally?"

Evelyn tilted her head. "Obviously? How else would he get what he deserved for yelling at you?"

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~ To be continued ~

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