8 The First Milestone

-Status-

[Evelyn Knox: Level 9]

Exp: 30/50

This wasn't the first time that her cousin Tristan had done this kind of thing.

"Even when I was a little baby, he clearly hated me.... I don't know what kind of weird things his parents are teaching him, but I don't think I've ever done anything bad to him before!"

Evelyn clenched the stone that Tristan had used and slowly made her way towards the first lord's mansion.

The Knox estate wasn't small, and there were eight individual mansions inside the high walls, each with their own garden space. One of these was dedicated to serving guests, and one was for housing any hired help of the Knox family.

Out of these eight mansions, Evelyn had only seen her own home from the inside. Amara was probably more familiar with the situation, but this was clearly not a matter she would help with.

"Well, this should be the right direction, at least. Tristan always runs this way after his shenanigans."

The chances of being able to complete her mission today were quite low, and she initially intended to look around nap time every day till she found him. It seemed luck was on her side today, however, because she spotted Tristan crushing bugs near the mansion closest to her own.

"Lucky!"

Finding him was just the beginning of the solution, however. The real problem Evelyn was facing was how to punish him without overdoing it.

Although the stone clenched in her hand reminded her of the survival test before her rebirth, she wasn't so cruel that she would kill a child for being moron. People grow and change, and she certainly hoped Tristan could do so as well.

Getting a little revenge was sweet, but one of the main reasons she wanted to punish him was to make him learn not to go around hurting others willy-nilly. He must know that if he does that, it won't be without consequences!

"I definitely can't just return tit for tat. If I really smack him on the head with a stone, it's gonna be a complete disaster."

As she thought about it over and over, Evelyn actually found her resolve wavering. She initially had made up her mind to teach him a harsh lesson by hitting his leg with the same stone. If it hurts, it should help him remember it for a while.

"Look at this kid... he's so young, but doing so many bad things already! Ugh!"

In the end, Evelyn gritted her teeth and opened her inventory. She stared blankly at the huge pile of candy she had hoarded unconsciously, and tossed the stone into a separate corner with some embarrassment. And then she stomped over to Tristan directly.

The boy stood up in shock as he spotted her.

"Y-you!"

A resounding smack echoed as Evelyn's tiny little palm slammed into his face with a force he couldn't believe came from someone younger than him.

The boy seemed to be unable to comprehend the situation anymore as he fell to the ground and started bawling.

"Shut up!"

Evelyn kicked him, not hard enough to really hurt him but enough to let him know she didn't care about his whining. It did make him stop sobbing and quiet down, and he seemed slightly more aware of what was going on now.

There were many things she wanted to say, but as the words came to her lips she discarded them one by one. Giving him a lecture at this point would be pointless. He'll just forget it later, or hate her even more, no matter what she said. In that case, she might as well make it clear.

"Tristan, if you have something to say, you should just use your mouth. If there is ever a next time when you try to hurt me or anyone I care about for whatever reason, I will hurt you ten times more!"

Looking at his slightly scared appearance, Evelyn decided that instead of going soft halfway through, might as well drive the point home in one go.

"And that's if you fail! If you actually manage to hurt someone, I'll make sure it hurts hundreds of times more! Remember, don't do to others what you don't want done to yourself!"

Tristan didn't speak a single word in response, and just looked at her blankly after she finished speaking. Holding his cheek in slight confusion, his thoughts were probably still on that slap.

"Ugh, this kid..."

In the end, Evelyn could only leave helplessly. There wasn't much time left before Amara would wake up and discover she was gone. If her pink hair was nowhere in sight by then, she might be transformed into an elf girl with very long ears. If there was one thing Amara loved more than pulling her cheeks, it was pulling her ears.

As for the consequences of slapping Tristan, Evelyn did not care at all. If someone tries to hit her and she hits back, is it her fault for 'starting the fight'? Would it have been okay to just get beat up passively?

Even if he really complained about it, Evelyn wasn't stupid enough to just admit her mistakes and not expose the faults of the other person. She would fully expose what Tristan had done. Who was afraid of adding oil to the fire? Definitely not her.

At that point, the one getting scolded would not necessarily be herself. If Tristan wasn't dumb, even he should know who is the one at fault if the adults really looked into it.

She just hoped that he learned his lesson, and there won't be any future trouble.

A notification from her system attracted her attention, bringing a smile to her face.

"Oh well, I guess it really was quite worth it in the end."

-Mission Completed-

[Vengeance: Level 1]

Hint: Beat up Tristan Knox.

Reward: 90 experience.

Level up!

Level 9 [30/50] -> Level 10 [70/100]

Level 10 - Milestone level reached! +10 All Stats!

Level up bonus increased from +1 to +2 all stats per level!

The continuous ding ding ding sound from the system made her eyes shine. Previously, it really took too long to level up! Each experience point took two to three days.

She even felt slightly regretful. "If only I could repeat the same mission, slapping that little shit once is as good as nine months worth of wait!"

Putting aside the matter of experience, previously each level up only brought her a single point in each stat, and now she will get two per level. Although it seemed like her spirit power and soul value both increased at a higher efficiency compared to other stats. But this was a just a huge boost to everything!

The system didn't make it clear what these 'milestones' were, but if she could hit a couple more, it would be like a dream.

The stats weren't just for show. The easiest one to test was, of course, her physique. And if she was right, then each point of physique directly increased both strength and speed. If she really hit Tristan with even a tenth of her actual strength - his skull would have cracked open at the very least.

Even with her previous 110 point physique, Evelyn was confident she could actually lift Amara up with one hand.

With a final 'ding', the system displayed her updated stats before her shining eyes.

Evelyn Knox: Level 9 -> 10 [70/100]

Hybrid Physique: Blessed Spirit, Lotus Throne

Physique: 110 -> 122

Spirit Power: 35 -> 53

Soul Value: 1215 -> 1233

Vitality: 107 -> 116

[ Abilities / Enhancements ]

Basic Spatial Manipulation

Basic Probe

Minor Shield

Disease Immunity

Advanced Regeneration

Calamity

As Evelyn was happily making her way back to her father's mansion, she caught an absolutely absurd situation happening not far away.

A little girl with blood red hair was running around crying in circles around a tree, being chased around by a loudly quacking duck. It seemed like the duck had a bloody vendetta against her, because even with tears running down her cheeks, scratched up face and limbs, and her blue frock in tatters, the duck had no intention to stop.

"What in the world? Has that animal gone mad?!"

Evelyn didn't hesitate for even a second and dashed towards them, taking Tristan's stone out of her inventory. Once she was close enough and confident of making a hit, she threw it with all her might towards the duck.

Despite her confidence, however, the stone ended up barely missing the duck.

A boom resounded throughout the area as the bark of the tree exploded, making both the girl and the duck stop in shock. The duck ran away in terror shortly after, and Evelyn made her way to the little girl who was now sobbing on the ground.

She looked a little younger than even herself, which made it absurd that she was out here alone. She felt a little angry at whoever was responsible for taking care of her.

Wiping her tears with her hands, Evelyn felt distressed at the scratches all over her body. "Hey... what's your name? Where's your mom?"

The girl made an 'um um' sound but didn't respond, instead scrambling up and looking around the surroundings in a hurry.

Feeling a little confused, Evelyn followed her to see that she was picking up little colored stones that she had probably gathered up before they got lost in the duck fiasco.

After a while, the girl finally had her hands full and walked over to Evelyn happily. She seems to have completely forgotten about the duck.

"T-Thanku!"

'Oh, well, it's good that she can speak, although her words are a little broken!'

Just as Evelyn was going to comfort her and find out where she lives, a shiver of terror ran up her spine as she felt a 'sinister' gaze from her back.