The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

Cecilia couldn't help but sigh emotionally as she snuggled into the soft cushioning. "I was ready to face arduous obstacles with you, but the start of this journey makes me feel like we're going on a vacation."

Evelyn smiled, running her hand over the dozing Ruru's silky pink fur. "It's okay to relax now while you can. Once Aurora is no longer there to protect us, we'll need to be ready to face anything at any time, okay?"

Although the Champion's Chariot provided them with an added layer of security, and Evelyn's level was already high enough to be able to fight against some of the stronger beasts in the forest, the 'Wonderland of Doom' was still a dangerous obstacle to cross.

Compared to exploring slowly on their own and looking for chances, it was impossible for Evelyn to scout ahead using the Lotus Throne's Eternal Ripple. The area required to be covered was just too great, and it would be a waste of both time and spirit power.

Instead, Aurora had decided to personally escort them till they reached the edges of the Wonderland of Doom first, and then return back to the academy.

Of course, there was the chance of being discovered by any informants that the lord of bones had left behind, but they had already taken all the precautions that they could while sneaking out.

Although the Champion's Chariot didn't have a 'driver', it naturally wasn't difficult to form one since the outer form of the carriage can be changed to Evelyn's will.

The only issue would be that if anyone tried to communicate with the driver, it would be impossible to continue disguising it as a person, but Evelyn didn't think that would be too much of an issue as long as they were a little careful.

Aurora arrived at the edge of the forest first to lead them through, and Evelyn's team took the carriage all the way from the White Lily Palace to the platinum blonde's location, forgoing the use of any teleportation arrays, and also changing the chariot's outer appearance in the empty stretches between the forbidden cities.

From there, Aurora had been protecting them from high in the sky. Naturally, none of the hegemons of the Wonderland would dare to pick a fight with her for such a tiny morsel, and a subtle flare of her aura was more than enough for the lower-level denizens as well.

As such, their journey through the forest had been even more leisurely than when they had been in the Helion Chain and led by the Thousand Eyed God. 

Naturally, Aurora's intent was to scare the beasts off right away, while the Thousand Eyed God suppressed its presence to trap the dumb idiots who couldn't recognize what it was, so such a difference wasn't too shocking.

Cecilia groaned as she turned over to the other side, almost kicking Vivian in the face. Unfortunately, the redhead ended up biting her calf, making the older girl screech in pain.

Maybe the ash-blonde had already gotten used to being chewed on by Vivian's shark-like teeth, however, because even while Amara was still trying to dislodge her little sister's jaw from the girl's calf, she was already back to talking with Evelyn complacently. "By the way, do you think any of us also have a chance to 'awaken'? Also… how big is the gap in power between a rank S ranger and an awakened, anyway?"

Of course, before leaving, Evelyn had already discussed this matter with Aurora to get a better understanding, and had also disseminated the information to her friends.

After all, their growth path was also the same, and maybe knowing what was ahead would help push them forward.

But although Aurora had clearly told her about the difference between the different tiers of awakening, she hadn't made it clear exactly how great the difference was between two people of the same level in case only one of them was awakened.

The pink-haired girl couldn't help but frown as she considered Cecilia's question. "Well… since we know that you need to be level hundred to even attempt awakening, I would guess even a tier three awakened would be much stronger than a rank S ranger, right?"

Cecilia had only asked the question out of curiosity, and listening to her friend's answer, she just nodded before moving on to play around with her newly acquired artifact - a golden bell that was tied to her wrist with a red string.

Of course, everyone in the chariot had received some new artifacts from both Aurora and Evelyn, and they were still familiarizing themselves with their new 'loot'. Obviously, the pink-haired girl herself had the biggest haul, thanks to Nadia's gifts.

But although Cecilia no longer cared, since she was far from level hundred anyway, Evelyn continued contemplating the topic of awakening.

According to Aurora, awakening wasn't something one could control, and depended on both luck and talent. However, the tier to which one awakened to depended on how much spirit power they had at the time of awakening.

At the time of awakening, all the spirit power in the body, which was generally in the form of 'drops' in a pool, would be condensed into a soft core about six inches below the heart.

Of course, awakening also removed the limitations on their growth that had been shackling them before, and as they continued to grow, their tier would also naturally increase, from the lower tier three, to the highest tier one.

Once a person had accumulated enough spirit power, this soft core would slowly turn into hard, and once it fully finished hardening, that person's awakening would enter tier two.

According to Aurora, generally, an awakened would need over two thousand points of spirit power in order to enter tier two of awakening, and over twelve thousand to enter tier one.

From there, a tier one awakened could continue growing to the point where their body could hold upwards of a hundred and ten thousand points of spirit power, but eventually, they would stop growing as well.

This was the point where Aurora stopped, and was the wall that separated her from reaching the level of the likes of Gwendolyn and the Lord of Bones.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━