Chapter 113: Runa and Olken

Hearing this new voice Evin realized that it was exactly the same as the stray thoughts that the Dark World Sprites would occasionally send to Evin's head. This newborn skinshifter's thoughts even seemed a bit more complex compared to the other small thoughts.

Evin then checked through his shadow and started counting the World Sprites. Sure enough, there were only 97 of them, one less than the 98 total that went inside Evin's shadow at the guidance of the Vulpine Mother.

"Seems like one of the World Sprites had taken over the part that split up from you," Evin concluded.

'I suppose the World Sprites think of me as their mother, huh? Wait, Karan literally just gave birth, so he's also the mother, isn't he? I don't like this where this is going…' Evin thought with dread. 

Shaking his head, Evin then started playing around with the newborn skinshifter. He instructed it to turn into different shapes and he also asked if it could see the things around Evin like Karan could.

It was a bit clumsy and stiff at first, but the newborn skinshifter's effectiveness was getting better at a phenomenal speed. Since it was born inside Evin (technically), it seemed like it possessed the ability to read Evin's thoughts. Anything that Evin wanted it to do, it would perform it immediately to the best of its capabilities.

An hour of training later, its synergy with Evin had gotten better than even Karan.

There was another thing that was very special about the black metal. When Karan's shape shifted into something fundamentally different, he would turn into countless little shards and then regather. After transforming, he could stretch a bit to either block attacks or surprise enemies, but the man definitely had a stretching limit. If he reached that limit, he would have to regather.

But the new skinshifter was naturally very fluid. It didn't need to turn into countless shards to change its general appearance, its shape-shifting abilities were top notch from birth. It could also take on non-weapon shapes as well, so that meant that it could move about without the support of a host.

One more thing that Evin and the others noticed was that the World Sprite was beginning to learn how to talk and understand words just like a normal newborn would. 

[What do next, mother?] a little girl's voice sounded inside Evin's mind, a hint of enthusiasm and innocence in her tone of voice. Evin tried to make the skinshifter stop calling him Mother, but wasn't really finding success.

'I suppose I should keep calling it "it" all the time… I should give her a name,' Evin decided and named the newborn metal skinshifter "Runa", in honor of the shape-shifting sword of Indian mythology.

[We'll take a break for now, and also, your name will be Runa, okay?] Evin answered back.

[What's name, mother?] the voice asked back, confused.

Evin explained the concept of names to the newborn and then realized that he will most likely explain a lot of things to the newborn.

'Wait, aren't I training a literal baby to become my meat shield?' This act of teaching made Evin realize something horrible.

"Karan do you feel pain?" Evin asked in a panicked voice.

[Not really, though I do feel vibrations through my body when something strikes me, but I got used to it pretty soon]

"Yeah? Well, alright," Evin answered and asked the three to get inside his shadow again. After he was left alone, he disabled his Shadow zone after making sure that there was no one nearby.

[Back home… Sisters…] Runa's thoughts started echoing through Evin's head.

[This place is heavenly…]

[Damn right…] the other two's thoughts appeared next.

"What a day… And it's not even evening yet," Evin said with a deep sigh.

"Fuck it, I'm just going to go to sleep when I get to that mansion," Evin decided.

After stretching and then yawning loudly, he began flying towards the Tribe Grounds. 

Reaching the Tribe, Evin decided to walk through the front gates. 

The guard outside couldn't quite recognize Evin since he flew out of the Tribe grounds, so it took Evin almost an hour to finally convince him that he was a student there. He had to prove that he could fly and when asked why he suddenly flew out of the city, Evin just said that he was trying out a spell and it seemed like it was going to explode. Hearing this, the guard asked to demonstrate the spell. Evin was pissed off and tired, so he threw a fireball at the guard's face, but stopped it right before it hit the man.

Obviously the problem escalated, which lead to Evin being questioned even more and when asked who his instructor was, Evin just said it was Nasst. Hearing the name being tossed around so casually, the guard's face went cold. Calmly, he allowed the boy inside. But asked him not to fly around in the Tribe Grounds.

…

After 20 more minutes of walking, Evin arrived outside Zakhlo's mansion. Waddling tiredly, he saw with a woman who was sitting on a makeshift bench made out of the earth, silently staring at blank space. There was some luggage next to her seat, tightly packed into one small package. The woman had a slightly brownish hair, with no horns on her head. She also didn't seem to be a mage. 

Evin wondered who she was, before realizing that Zakhlo came out of his mansion in the morning smelling like sex. 

'Oh shit,' Evin thought, as he prepared his state of being.

'What the fuck am I supposed to say to her? I'm sorry I killed your lover, it was an accident?! Oh and also, I will be living in your old house alongside some bigshot, who very obviously influenced the decision of my verdict?'

If Evin was completely honest, he would much rather not face the woman, or even Zakhlo's family for that matter. But since he gave his word, and since he also felt bad about the whole ordeal, he decided to stay true to his promises. Even though Zakhlo acted like an idiot, he did not deserve death, that was for sure.

[Help,] Evin asked inwardly, to which only Runa answered.

[Mother?] the child's inquiring voice sounded.

'Fucking Cosmic professionalism!' Evin cursed in his head.

[Nothing, Runa, sorry for calling you. And also, if you have something you don't understand, ask Karan and Rith, alright? If they're not answering, you can ask me] Evin told the child.

Evin then walked towards the woman and sat next to her. 

"Are you alright?" Evin asked. He felt bad for deceiving the woman, but he just couldn't force himself to start the conversation by stating that he was the culprit behind her situation.

The woman looked towards Evin, a weary expression on her face. Her brown eyes filled with confusion and disbelief.

"Oh, nothing. Go along, child," the woman waved her hands weakly.

'Well, I can't just go and waltz into the mansion…' Evin thought.

"I've heard that instructor Zakhlo died in an accident… Are you his wife?" Evin asked unsurely.

"Do all the children know about this?" the woman asked, suddenly.

"I don't believe so, I happened to see the half-core children carrying an adult's body out of the Beast's den… And I also saw some unknown people entering instructor Zakhlo's mansion," Evin articulated. He tried to speak softly and without condescension, so the woman might be more willing to talk. 

Evin even debated using the World of Emotions, but decided against it. 

'If the woman doesn't wish to talk, I'll just have to tell her the truth and apologize politely, even if it makes me look like an absolute asshole,' he thought.

"How are you so calm after you've seen one of your instructors die?" the woman asked suddenly.

"It wasn't my first time seeing someone die… and to tell you the truth, I've killed people before," Evin blurted out.

"But you're only six? What happened in your life?" the woman gasped.

"Do you know about the Children of the Empress?" Evin asked.

"Yes… Zakhlo once told me about them. Reincarnated children with memories of their past life," the woman muttered and then looked at Evin with shock.

"I happen to have had a rather tumultuous past life… I'm Evin, by the way," Evin said.

"Ah, my name is Olken. Why are you telling me this, though?" she asked.

"I'm not sure… I kinda started wondering how the families of the people I've killed felt about it all after seeing you," Evin said wistfully. Obviously these were all lies. But although he lied about the killings, he knew exactly how people's families felt when their close one died at someone's hands. 

The woman stared at Evin with a blank face and spoke.

"He wasn't my husband… I was just a lover… a passing lover, most likely," the woman answered. 

"How long have you been together for?" Evin asked.

"About two months now… He sweet-talked me into his bed and I've stayed with him since then," Olken explained.

Evin just sat there and listened as the woman narrated her story. It was the least he could do.