Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 1263 - 1263: The Rising Star of the Beta Continent
Abigail Vanya Lowe.
The 17th Princess of the Elven Empire, aged 21.
She was the most famous among the Elven Emperor’s 19 children, and for more than one reason.
If Evan could be regarded as the Rising Star of the Alpha continent, then Abigail held that same standing on the Beta continent.
The young woman possessed knowledge far beyond what her age would suggest and was known to have an exceptional level of intellect and skill across many fields, spanning both combat and non-combat disciplines.
She excelled in crafts that one wouldn’t expect from a princess of any nation, much less one from the great Elven Empire.
For a time, she trained in blacksmithing under one of the planet’s Transcendents, the ‘Smith King’ Vulwin, ruler of the dwarven nation of Stonehammer, and when she later turned her attention to alchemy, it was said that the Smith King made the journey to the Elven Empire himself in an attempt to convince her to return as his student because of how extraordinary her talent was, and this instance wasn’t the first of its kind.
Abigail had a tendency to fully absorb a discipline before moving on to the next, and those she left behind always found her absence noticeable.
Even in alchemy, she absorbed the knowledge of the centuries-old elven alchemists like a sponge and displayed an innovative mind that allowed her to refine processes and procedures that had been standard for centuries before her birth, making them far more efficient.
When it came to the raw power aspect of things, Abigail was second to none within her generation across the entire Beta continent.
She had once secretly taken part in a fighting tournament hosted by the Dragonkin nation of Draidan for the younger generation, and she defeated every opponent in her path on her way to the finals, where she faced the heir apparent to Draidan’s ruler and bested him within mere minutes.
Her identity was only exposed when, during that battle, the skill she had been using to conceal her appearance deactivated.
It was widely known that she was also an Irregular-type existence, just like Evan, possessing power beyond her years that far exceeded what her Level would suggest.
Her combat ability, supported by an extensive arsenal of powerful skills and magic, made her a genuine threat even to existences that were many levels above her.
It was only natural that when Evan began to rise to prominence on the Alpha continent, with many taking note of his individual combat strength after the Lacertilia Dungeon Break, comparisons between Evan and Abigail began to spread.
At first, not many placed Evan on the same level as Abigail, with the majority of those aware of such comparisons acknowledging that Abigail was the superior one.
However, what followed was the GEE-Wolfen war, then the assassination attempt on Evan’s life by several powerful existences above Level 500 from three different nations, which failed as Evan emerged victorious against them despite being a Grandmaster with a Level below 500 at the time.
A few months later, aside from the minor incidents Evan had been involved in prior to that, came the battle of Kreah Trade City, where Evan reportedly summoned a goddess.
Finally, the last major event Evan took part in was the Battle of the Wild Lands, the largest offensive launched against the Demonic Hand by several nations, which resulted in the opening of a dimensional rift to the world that had invaded the planet over a thousand years ago.
It was public knowledge that Evan was the one behind the Tarse Defence Coalition Force, and after the events of the Wild Lands battle, many grew curious about the true extent of Evan’s power, both in terms of political influence and individual combat strength.
The former was easy to assess, but the latter? Not so much.
Abigail was also among those who were curious.
She was also one of the Seven Heroes of Aidos, possessing a Mystic Eye Unique Series Skill just like Evan, with the only difference being that Evan held the position of Leader of the Seven Heroes.
This was a secret to almost everyone, but she was the only other person on the planet who possessed Evan’s Blessing of Destruction skill, having received it from the Eternal of Time and Destruction, the same existence who had granted Evan that Unique Skill.
She could manipulate the Law of Destruction just like Evan, could also achieve a 300% increase in power with her BoD, and she was capable of using the Blessing’s Second Activation, having unlocked it at a much lower level than Evan had.
As a Hero, she was aware of the events of the war from a thousand years ago, when the planet’s invaders were repelled, and the dimensional rift they came through was sealed.
She knew of the Demonic Hand’s existence, and although not in the same public manner as Evan, she had also been fighting against them for many years, even clashing with some of their Executives on multiple occasions, though she hadn’t succeeded in killing any of them, unlike Evan, who had killed Dominik Velak and Maude Gilatryd, the Eighth and Ninth Fingers of the Demonic Hand.
Abigail wanted to meet Evan. She wanted to measure herself against him in person, rather than relying only on what she had heard or seen about him in the news.
This was why, when her father informed her that Evan intended to come to their empire, she volunteered to be the one to receive him at the border, wanting to meet him even a second sooner.
Evan hadn’t concealed his intention to travel to the Elven Empire and had even boarded a commercial train, though he was riding in first class, so it wasn’t difficult for Abigail to determine which border gate he would pass through.
She arrived there before Evan’s train got close, but when it finally approached, she began to regret her decision.
‘I should have waited in the capital and at least gotten a report on who he was coming with before deciding to go and meet him,’ she thought to herself.
‘While he may not notice, Laurene Hayes with her Mystic Eyes of Truth would definitely notice if I slip up even the slightest bit.’
Even so, she had no choice but to proceed with her original plan, as turning back after sensing that Laurene was with Evan would have made her appear even more suspicious to both of them.
After all, they were able to sense her presence at the same moment she became able to sense theirs.
While Abigail was occupied with her own thoughts, Evan and Laurene were having a not-so-secret conversation through their phones.
[So? What’s the verdict?]
{That’s definitely Abigail Lowe. I can’t see any other souls in her body.}
Laurene’s response to Evan’s message confirmed that the Abigail Lowe before them was the genuine one.
She wasn’t being possessed by her predecessor, making her the fifth of the Seven Heroes to be identified and the fifth who hadn’t been taken over by her predecessor.
With how events were unfolding, it seemed that all seven of them had somehow managed to prevent their predecessors’ attempts to take over their bodies.
Evan’s mere existence disrupted Arlan Maddox’s plans. Laurene had her Mental Block skill and a bit of assistance from Artemisia, which she wasn’t aware of, to stop Yvonne’s reincarnation attempt into her body. Bianca had her mother, Rizass, the Master of Dragondune, step in. And for David, his own Mystic Eyes handled the matter.
From the beginning, Evan had his doubts that Abigail could be taken over by her predecessor, Alisa, since the Abigail he knew from Aidos Online could only be described as ‘superwoman’.
However, Laurene and the other Heroes didn’t share that certainty, so he brought Laurene along to confirm that there wasn’t anything unusual involving Abigail.
Just as he reached the conclusion that there was nothing to be concerned about, Laurene sent another message.
{Something else seems off, though.}
[Off? What?]
{That’s the problem, I can’t clearly identify it. Her Irregular nature is causing a distortion in the world laws, so it’s difficult for me to pinpoint what feels out of place.}
[Now you’ve got me curious.]
{I’m curious too. I’ll let you know if I discover anything.}
Laurene set her phone down after sending that message, then turned to Eliza and said, “Hey, Eliza, those strawberry tarts we got in the morning, do you want to go get some more?”
Hearing this, Eliza raised her gaze from her phone, thought about it for a moment, and nodded silently as she rose from her seat.
Right after, Laurene also rose, and the two of them made their way toward the dining car of the train, leaving Evan behind with Abigail, Leoniel, and Abigail’s lady in waiting and personal guard, the Elven Living Legend, Zestari Herrel.
While they walked away, Evan, seated at a window table across from Abigail, spoke as he looked out at the fields the train passed by.
“I have to say, I definitely didn’t expect to meet someone else who was familiar with that guy.”
He then turned his gaze from the window to Abigail and continued, “Blessing of Destruction, and you already have the Second Activation as well.”
“You seem surprised,” Abigail asked, and Evan responded immediately, “Well, yeah, I am surprised. I thought I was the only one with BoD.”
“Is that so? Well, I was aware of you, Evan Eris,” Abigail replied. “As a matter of fact, our mutual benefactor, if you can call him that, informed me of your existence and the fact that he did give you the Blessing of Destruction as well.”
“Now, did he?” Evan said, then shook his head lightly and muttered under his breath, “Damn bastard, giving away personal information.”
Abigail chuckled at his words and said, “Well, while you’re surprised about my Blessing of Destruction, I’m fairly surprised at the fact that you’re a much higher Grade of Irregular than I thought you were.
I mean, from the start, I never expected you to be a mere Grade 1 or Grade 2, but I honestly can’t tell what Grade you are, and I’m pretty sure I should be able to discern up to Grade 4.”
When Abigail said this, Evan froze, blinking lightly before asking, surprise clear in his tone, “You can’t tell what Grade I am? No, wait, to begin with, you’re aware there are multiple Grades to Irregulars?”
Abigail nodded. “Of course I’m aware of such basic knowledge.”
Hearing her response, Evan scoffed and said, “You call it basic knowledge, but 99.99% of the planet has no idea that not all Irregulars are the same. Look.” He gestured toward Leoniel and continued, “Even Leoniel is surprised to hear that there are Grades to Irregulars.”
