The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

The sound of a bowstring being released was followed by a small whoosh, and a loud thwack of wood being penetrated echoed shortly after.

A tiny redhead dashed towards the tree that was struck by the metal arrow. Despite only being half as tall, she easily reached the arrow lodged almost six feet up the trunk.

After a few short grunts, she managed to dislodge the arrow from the tree using her leg strength, but was sent bouncing back to the ground once the arrow was no longer holding her to the tree.

Vivian only made a small 'Bweh!' sound before bouncing back up and running back to the garden, where Evelyn took back the arrow with a smile.

Patting the young girl on the head fondly, she once again nocked the arrow on her bow. Using almost the entirety of her strength, she barely made a full draw before letting it loose with another 'twang!'. Unfortunately, the slight shakiness at the end made her shot go off-target.

Despite the small size of the bow, it required a shockingly high amount of strength to use. With her stats, Evelyn could already be considered multiple times stronger than even the strongest men in her previous life. But even she felt that making a full draw with this bow took too much effort.

The arrows were equally absurd. Of the thirty arrows in the box, half of them had arrowheads, while the other half only had their ends pointed. All of them were heavy arrows made purely from metal, except for the fletching part, which was made of some sort of strange bird feather.

Without a ridiculous amount of force propelling them, these arrows would never be able to fly far or with any amount of accuracy. So it was no wonder that the bow that shot them required so much strength.

Since they didn't look cheap, at first Evelyn decided to just use a few for practice. But with Vivian's overly enthusiastic help, she ended up using just one.

"Ugh, my hands hurt from just ten shots."

Of course, with her advanced regeneration skill, she would be perfectly fine within moments of making the shot no matter how much it hurt.

The stalwart tree, on the other hand, suffered considerable damage by being her practice target.

Amara smiled as her little sister once more ran back with the arrow. The tiny redhead probably didn't realize she wasn't helping much by bolting off after every shot. After all, it made each shot take longer as she ran back and forth.

At first Evelyn was thinking that using fewer arrows for practice would keep more of them in a pristine condition for when she really needed it. With only one of them becoming a practice arrow, it was even better.

Of course, after shooting a few times, it looks like the arrows were quite a bit sturdier than she thought. It didn't seem to have sustained any damage so far.

But Evelyn still didn't think Vivian's help was unwelcome, as it gave her time to restore herself after every shot, and she could also evaluate herself before making the next shot if needed.

Her goal wasn't just to become a master archer. What she wanted was to become better at judging the distance of the target, as well as the trajectory and force required to hit it depending on what it was that she was aiming with, whether it be a stone in her hand or an arrow in her bow.

Amara looked much more relaxed after watching Evelyn shoot for some time than when she had arrived from the market.

"It's good that you're so enthusiastic. Your first ceremony will definitely be worth watching."

Evelyn had already heard of the fight in the market from her while the tinier redhead was off fetching one of her arrows. Of course, even Amara only knew there was a fight, and not much else.

There was no pointing in asking the adults, as since they didn't even explain it to Amara, who was older and was there in person, there was no way they were going to explain anything to her.

And since there was nothing she could do about it, Evelyn could only shrug and move on. With her aunt Bree being here, there should be absolutely nothing to worry about for now.

What she was curious about, however, were these 'ceremonies' that she had been hearing about more and more recently as she got older. Her mother didn't explain much even when asked, only telling her it was like her birthday party, but with a lot more people. But Evelyn was certain there must be more to it than that.

Well, she knew at least one person who knew a lot more than her, and was also willing to treat her as an equal.

"What do you know about these ceremonies, Amara? What happened during yours?"

The redhead frowned. "Ugh… don't remind me. Our family had already shrunk in both size and influence at that time. So few people showed up that mine was just cancelled."

Evelyn bit her lip, feeling a little bad for reminding her of such a thing. "Oh…"

Of course, Amara didn't really mind it so much, after all this time.

Instead, she analyzed the situation quite objectively. "But the situation now is a little different from then. At that time, the other families were all relatively unscathed and looked down on the ones suffering, but now everyone is suffering more or less. Their arrogance has been ground to dust. In your ceremony, I guess most of those who remain will show up."

The pink haired girl tilted her head as she watched her 'arrow' coming back. "Hmm… so it's really like a birthday party?"

Their conversation paused as Vivian hopped back to them, and Evelyn once more shot into the woods.

Amara shook her head once her little sister went off again. "Not at all… if anything, it's like an exhibition."

There was a glint of interest in the pink haired girl's eyes now. She didn't really care if a bunch of strangers showed up to celebrate her birthday or something, but she definitely had to care if something else was going on that involved her.

"And what is being shown off…?"

The redhead looked a little uncomfortable. "I guess… you? Well, what part of you is being exhibited depends on the ceremony. From what I know, there are three. The first one is when a child that a family thinks shows great promise reaches five years of age. At that time, if they manage to invite five or more family heads, then the 'test' can be carried out."

"The 'test'?"

There was a gleam in Evelyn's eyes, because a test must also have a reward, right?

Amara nodded. "Mhm… I don't know what exactly it entails. I was only told that if I passed, I would get the title of a 'princess'."

Evelyn looked confused. "Oh… as in, you become a part of the royal family?"

The older girl shook her head. "No. It's just an empty title. A privilege that the ancient families have held onto before the royal family, or even the empire ever existed."

It would be wrong to say she wasn't disappointed. If it was only an ego boost, she didn't really care about it. "So what exactly is the point of being this so-called 'princess'?"

Amara was already familiar with her mindset by now, and knew that she was disappointed. It was possible she wouldn't perform as well in her tests because of her, but she certainly hoped that wasn't the case.

"I suppose… glory for the family? And if you go to the academy, you may get preferential treatment, but that's about it I guess. Passing the first ceremony is also needed to go through the next two. Don't intentionally do poorly on the test later, okay?"

Evelyn nodded. Even if she didn't care for the title, there was no reason she should be disappointing her family's expectation either. Especially not after they have done so much for her. Besides, who is to say there wouldn't be another reward for passing the test?

"Don't worry, I'll do my best as always. Speaking of which, have you thought about going to the academy?"

Vivian once more ran back with an arrow in hand at this time, and Amara watched her run off again with a smile.

"No… If I went back then, who would have taken care of little Vivian? I'll be happy just knowing she can go with you later."

Evelyn had already given this much thought before speaking up. She could tell that Amara was quite talented, though her growth in many areas had been stunted due to having to take care of many things after her parent's passing.

Since she already held Amara dear to her, she wished to realize some of her talents if possible. Moreover, it was always a good thing if people she could rely on became stronger or attained a higher standing. It could never be a bad thing, at least.

"And what will you do here alone when we're gone?"

Amara's expression was blank for a while before she shook her head. "I don't know."

The pink haired girl smiled. She had already asked her parents about it, although it wasn't easy. They had been worried that she wanted to delay going to the academy herself at first. But once she assured them that she wasn't thinking of going late herself, they did let her know some details.

The academy had a minimum age of entry, but there was no 'maximum'. That being the case, how could she leave one of her only friends to wallow in misery while she and Vivian grow by leaps and bounds?

"How about you come with us?"