Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

As Evangeline was walking towards the lecture hall to attend one of her lectures, her feet came to a sudden stop.

’Huh?’

There was a crowd gathered around a wall of the building. They all seemed to be looking at something on the wall.

Evangeline tilted her head in confusion.

Just then, her eyes spotted a girl with deep green, curly hair. Evangeline called out to her.

"Hazel, here!"

Hearing her voice, the girl turned around and noticed her. She separated from the crowd and walked towards Evangeline.

This was one of the few people Evangeline regularly interacted with in the academy. Hazel was the closest to one Evangeline could call a friend.

As Hazel approached, Evangeline glanced at the crowd and asked.

"Why are so many cadets gathered there? What are they looking at?"

"Well," Hazel made an awkward face. "The academy stuck a notice to the wall. And it’s not only here. The same notice is stuck on the walls in multiple buildings throughout the academy city. The contents, though, are a bit strange."

Evangeline blinked.

"Strange? Like in what way?"

Hazel sighed.

"You must know that our curriculum lasts for three years, right? We spend the first year attending lectures. In the second year, we go out of the academy city to complete missions called assignments that are given to us by the academy. And in the third year, the cadets are made to participate in the never-ending two-front war at the borders."

Evangeline nodded.

She had indeed been aware of it. When she had learned the fact that she would have to fight in a war, she freaked out. It felt like things were moving too fast. But according to Adrian, the missions they would complete in the second year were supposed to condition the cadets for the war.

Hazel continued.

"Well, the thing is... the notice states that the academy is changing the curriculum. Now, we would have to attend lectures and complete missions in the same year. And for the next two years, we will be fighting in the war."

Evangeline stood there with her mouth open, dumbfounded.

"What? Why did the academy suddenly change the curriculum?"

Things were really going fast. Would she have to fight in a war next year?

’I’m not mentally ready for this.’

"I don’t know why either." Hazel glanced at the crowd. "Nobody seems to have any idea why the academy is doing this. It feels as though this notice came out of nowhere. Everyone is troubled by this news. Especially since nearly all of the missions are said to require at least the strength of a Phase Three, and most of the cadets are still Phase Two or even Phase One."

She let out a tired sigh.

"Well, this has complicated a lot of things for me, so I have to go. See you later, Evangeline."

And with that, Hazel walked away, leaving Evangeline alone with her confusion.

She entered the crowd and read the notice on the wall. The things that Hazel had said were indeed written in the notice on the wall.

She could see the troubled faces of others standing nearby.

After thinking for a bit, she separated from the crowd and began walking towards the biggest library in the academy city.

’I should inform Adi, too.’

He had been in that library for quite a while now. He didn’t even go to attend the lectures, saying that he had already studied most of the stuff they teach.

Soon, she reached the library where Adrian was.

It was a large building with a strange structure. From the outside, it looked more like a temple with a lowered dome-like structure than a library.

Entering inside, Evangeline saw rows of tall bookshelves aligned perfectly, looking like a maze. There were wooden ladders here and there. There was a table near the entrance and a librarian sitting behind it.

There were a lot of cadets in the library, and some of them even looked to be older ones who were hard to find since they were usually out completing a mission or fighting in the war.

The library was quite large, so it took a while for Evangeline to find Adrian.

He was sitting at a small study desk by the window. Various books were piled on top of one another messily on his table, and he was sitting quietly and thinking.

Evangeline pulled a chair and sat across from him. This action seemed to have brought him out of his thoughts, making him notice her.

"Oh, it’s you. Why are you here? Do you need something else too?"

"Hey!" she pouted. "I came here to tell you something important. Something huge happened in the academy—"

But just as she was speaking, a black bird flew in from the window and landed on Adrian’s shoulders.

Adrian glanced at the bird from the corner of his eye.

"Alisardarc? Is there some additional news?"

The bird poked his shoulder with its beak.

[That notice I told you about a while ago—it seems that the academy is going to make a few changes in the rules related to the missions. Nearly all missions require the strength of a Phase Three mana user at the very least. But since most cadets are not yet Phase Three, they will be taking those missions in small teams.]

Adrian calmly nodded.

"I see..."

Then he turned his attention to her.

"Weren’t you saying something?"

But Evangeline’s eyes slowly widened as she pointed her finger at the black bird sitting on Adrian’s shoulder.

"A t-talking bird!"

She had unconsciously raised her voice—which she wasn’t supposed to, in the library—and everyone was now staring at her. But even as she became the target of those stares, Evangeline’s mind remained fixed on the bird.

Adrian frowned briefly, but then a look of mild realization appeared on his expressionless face.

"Ah, right. You have never seen Alisardarc. This bird is a Rank One Eternarch I am contracted with."

She tilted her head.

"Eternarch? ...What’s that?"

Adrian furrowed his brow as he seemingly noticed her confusion.

"...Don’t tell me you don’t even know that. How do you not know so many things?" He sighed. "Well, an Eternarch is..."

After that, Adrian began explaining in detail about Eternarchs, what they are, and where they come from. Evangeline completely forgot the reason she had come to meet him as his explanation continued.

’To think there was really something like that in this world all this time...’

She observed the black bird sitting on Adrian’s shoulder.

"So this is your Eternarch, huh? And its name is Alisardarc?" She waved at the bird. "Hey there, Alisardarc. Talk to me too, please."

The bird looked at her strangely and didn’t speak.

She turned to Adrian.

"So what’s its ability?"

Instead of replying, Adrian glanced at the bird, and it suddenly divided itself in two. Moments later, both parts regenerated, and there were now two black birds sitting on Adrian’s shoulder.

Evangeline blinked as she looked at the two birds.

"It can create clones?"

Adrian shook his head.

"More like incarnations. There is no real Alisardarc or fake one. They are all equally real. Moreover, there may be multiple birds, but they are all being controlled by a single mind simultaneously. Think of these bodies as Alisardarc’s limbs."

As Evangeline processed his explanation, she suddenly paused as a brilliant idea popped up in her head.

’This bird can be used as a telephone!’

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