The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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Listening to her doubt, Aurora smiled. "That was something the Great Mother gave out on her own. That cavity… was where the Etherium Heart used to be."

Evelyn blinked.

This wasn't the first time she was hearing the name of this object.

The first time Aurora mentioned it wasn't a pleasant memory, but Evelyn still clearly recalled that her teacher seemed to intend handing this 'Etherium Heart' to her as an inheritance.

At that time, she had vehemently refused, since there was no way she could accept losing Aurora. 

With her teacher's attitude, there was no way to be sure if she was really planning on giving up on life after she was done 'taking care' of herself, and Evelyn didn't dare to take any chances.

Later, when they were just entering the grand vault, Aurora also mentioned that the Etherium Heart was the key through which the vault was unlocked, and Evelyn couldn't help but make a vague guess in her heart.

But Evelyn didn't want to make a wild guess, and instead gave her teacher an imploring gaze.

Aurora just sighed. "I can tell you, but you must remember that most of these are all my own guesses."

Evelyn nodded, and the platinum blonde started telling her about the conjectures she had made for herself.

The Etherium Heart was indeed a part of the 'Great Mother', and in addition to its other properties, it also served as the key through which this passage could be opened. These two facts were told to Aurora long ago.

However, something she hadn't been able to figure out at that time, was the fact that the Etherium Heart had always been on her.

Since it was the key to the grand vault, Aurora didn't believe that the previous headmistress would be careless enough to hand it over to a small child before she could even take care of herself properly.

That was too careless, and not her style at all.

As she grew up and became more independent, Aurora also visited the grand vault herself, half out of curiousity, and half out of dread.

The first time she saw the natural treasure, the 'Great Mother', she already knew the worst of her guesses was correct.

Evelyn's expression turned grim as she looked at the crystalline statue in front of them. "So from the older records, the 'Great Mother' used to be different before it parted with the Etherium Heart?"

Aurora nodded. "I believe that that part of it was what contained most of its spirituality. Once these two were separated, the current 'Great Mother' operates mostly based on old memories and instinct, and has little 'thoughts' of her own."

As for why such a thing happened… Evelyn could only sigh in her heart.

If her teacher's guess was right, back when the 'Great Mother' had still retained its spirituality, it must have wanted to change from what it was, though the reasons were anyone's guess.

Whether it made the suggestion on its own, or if it was someone else's idea, the decision was made in the end to use the Etherium Heart on a spirit egg.

The Etherium Heart wasn't able to communicate with others, and didn't seem capable of thoughts either, so the old headmistress birthed the idea of using it on her own child - in vain hopes that whatever enhancement it would bring could finally lead to the birth of a throne.

But while the child thus born had abilities that greatly exceeded her peers, a throne she was not.

Moreover, the striking resemblance she had with the 'Great Mother' also led the old headmistress to believe that maybe what ended up happening was that the artifact spirit really took over the body of her child.

Evelyn couldn't help but sigh. 'Even if it was true, it wasn't a decision made by Aurora, so why should she be treated like this?'

But although she thought so, the pink haired girl knew that saying so would only make her teacher more sad.

Aurora didn't seem to care about it too much as she smiled. "Don't worry, these are all things from the past, and none of it matters anymore. The only thing you need to know is that the 'Great Mother' has a simple set of rules that I told you before, and I'm still me, and always will be."

Evelyn nodded seriously. "Don't worry, teacher. I understand."

Previously, she had still been a little scared of trying to use her probe skill on the 'Great Mother', especially after learning that it wasn't a bound artifact of the academy, but now she no longer had such scruples.

After all, since it had limited spirituality, as long as she didn't try to attack it, it shouldn't be alarmed. The only thing she couldn't do was try to bind it to herself, as that was likely to make it run away.

Firming her determination, Evelyn finally used her probe skill on the 'Great Mother'.

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[ The Great Mother, Grade 9 (Incomplete) ]

—A naturally formed artifact that was birthed at the center of the world.

—Great Avatar Formation: Allows the Great Mother to produce multiple images of itself to scout and explore on their own.

—Great Retrieval: Allows the Great Mother to recall any avatars within a certain range back to its own location, along with anything that they are in contact with.

—Etherium Heart (Unavailable): The will of the 'Great Mother' is formed after countless eons of longing, and wishes to be reborn as a complete individual, no longer a slave to its primitive desire of seeking treasures.

—Etherium Strike (Unavailable): Using all the energy stored up within the main body, a deadly beam of power can be fired in a specific direction.

—The Hunt Begins: Allows the Great Mother to find anything that it finds 'desirable' within a certain range of either its main body or its avatars. This ability is limited to non-living objects only.

—Possession Cleanse: Innate ability to remove the ownership from any object or artifact as long as it is within a certain range.

—Will of Resistance: As a natural artifact, it has existed before most living beings in this world, and disdains 'serving' anyone as an owner. Due to its damaged spirituality, this will is weakened, but not removed.

—This artifact's spirituality is greatly damaged, and its intelligence is limited.

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Evelyn couldn't help but take a deep breath after looking through its description.

Combined with what Aurora had already told her, she could pretty much confirm that her teacher's thoughts mustn't be far from the truth.

Now that she knew that the missing piece from the 'Great Mother' was the Etherium Heart, which was already a vital part of her teacher, she no longer had any thoughts about it.

But although she now knew about it, Evelyn decided not to share it with Aurora. After all, it was one thing to consider it to be true in her heart, and another thing entirely to have it confirmed by someone else.

Whether the platinum blonde was the child of the old headmistress who took on the form of 'Great Mother' due to the influence of the Etherium Heart, or if she was the personification of the Great Mother who simply used the spirit egg to grow a body of her own… As far as she was concerned, regardless of her origins, Aurora would always be Aurora.

It may be that she was biased because her own origins were strange, but Evelyn still wanted to believe that it didn't matter how she came to be, and the only thing that should matter was what she was now.

After all, although she was sent here with an unknown purpose, and she knew that many would instinctively take her as an enemy if they discovered she wasn't an original person of this planet, Evelyn had already given up her previous identity in her heart.

Now that she was at this point, however, Evelyn knew she could no longer stick to her original plan of trying to find a way to mend Bree's soul from the grand vault. Given that she hadn't found anything in the central area, and even the natural artifact couldn't solve the issue, there was no need to keep looking for what wasn't there.

She could only sigh in her heart. 'I guess the best I can do is just try to find something that will help me out the most in the journey ahead, and then look for an alternative to solve Bree's problem later.'

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