Her regeneration was going to take some time, so as much as she wanted to get going already, Evelyn was forced to wait. Both her legs were still broken, so she wasn't going anywhere for the time being.

"Be glad you can heal that amount of damage, even if it takes a while. Not many can say the same." Remarked her druid companion.

"No need to remind me. My Endurance has saved me more times than I can count. I wouldn't be breathing right now if it wasn't for the extra physical resistance it grants me."

"Still, we can't really afford to waste time here. Brother Marrow must have picked up on the smell of honey while he was with Moss. He must be following the trail right now."

"My senses are pretty good thanks to my Awareness, and even I couldn't do that, much less in this sea of natural and unfamiliar scents."

"So your Stat focus is on Awareness and Endurance? That must mean your starting Archetype is Ecologist. I've identified two of your Skills, but I'm gonna guess that those things you used in the fight that were part plant are a result of your third Class Skill."

Evelyn was surprised by the quick deduction but even more curious about her knowledge of the Classer System.

"You are versed in Class Skills? Not a thing I would expect druids to know much about."

"Most druids don't, but those marked as Saint and Saintess candidates must learn as much as possible about everything related to Classes and their development. We study under the tutelage of experienced Tier 3 and 4 Classers in the Hunter's Circle to know how to handle our Returned."

"The Hunter's Circle. Is that the name of the order of druids? Wait, there are Returned in your order? I got the impression from that puffing cretin's attitude that your people see them as tools."

Cloud looked the other way, visibly ashamed by her body language.

"I said Classers, not Returned. And before you say anything, yes, there is a difference. I don't know how things are in the future, but while all Returned are Classers, not all Classers get summoned from Earth. Many are just born that way."

"Let me guess: they are descendants of Returned from the past."

She nodded, recovering her composure. Something about this matter caused quite the negative reaction from her, which only prompted Evelyn to press further for information.

"So you accept Classers as part of your order of druids, but only if they aren't slaves, just slave blooded. Got it."

"That's...! No, that's completely fair. I can understand why you see it that way, as many others do. The Returned contracts are quite one-sided, but they are necessary."

"Oh, you mean like the contract you immediately tried to put me under the moment you could? The one that, if it didn't fail, would have made me essentially your servant? That contract?"

The druid sat down, arms and masked head over her knees, refusing to look at Evelyn directly.

"... Yes." She admitted somberly. "We are complete hypocrites. Druids preach about freedom, the natural order, and finding harmony, but then our own teachings give us the excuse to deshumanize people out of convenience and tradition. It's disgusting. I hate it. But it's still something that needs to happen. Because the alternative is worse."

Something in the way she said that irked Evelyn in all the wrong ways, but there was also a deep-seated hatred in her voice. Something that had festered for a long time in her heart kept a solid barrier between them. Even now, Sister Cloud stayed away from her, visibly uncomfortable in her presence.

"You hate Returned, don't you?"

There was a hesitation after Evelyn's question, like Cloud had been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. Her posture tensed and then seemed to relax a bit, but to Evelyn's trained eye, it was clear that she was forcing it to appear more trustworthy. Evelyn stared at her until she gave up the pretension.

"I do. I hate all of you." She admitted in a low voice.

"I understand hatred intimately. For a very long time, it was the only real thing I could feel. Where does yours come from?"

A sudden wind moved the leaves in the trees around the space left by the battle in the middle of what used to be a fruit farm. Evelyn's mouth tasted coppery, not just blood, but also a shift in the air.

"An uncontracted Returned murdered my parents. A very stupid druid aspirant tried to summon one before being ready for it, just because of earning a first ring mark. An act of pure hubris born in unfounded pride. And that mistake cost me my family. Because that Returned decided to take advantage, earning the trust of that young foolish druid, making sweet promises of loyalty and trust to avoid the contract. Until those words got caught up in the wind, scattered like dust in a breeze. My parents got punished for the arrogance of a little brat."

Evelyn said nothing, letting her rant to her heart's content. There were some deep-seated emotions in that explanation, obvious half-truths to exploit, but she remained silent.

"So, forgive me if I'm not the most trusting of you earthlings. I can push myself to trust Classers born here because they are my people, even if not all of them may be good; at least they understand what it's like living here. They know the pain the Strife brings. But those that arrive from Earth and are given instant magical powers with their first Archetype and trio of Skills? Sometimes they are good people too, sure. They may be reasoned with if they are shown the stakes and their role in them. But sometimes they are not. In the cases where a Returned decides that they are better off without any supervision, to grow their powers and maybe get a piece of this world for their own purposes, that's where the contract with a druid comes into play. It's a deterrent for would-be tyrants."

Even if Evelyn wanted to point out the flaws in her logic, the last word rang too close to home for her. She had seen and experienced what the unchecked power of Classers in charge of the world could do. The Tetracrown had gotten rid of the druids, and now she knew why. Not just because they were an opposing power, but because of the Returned contract.

The Tetracrown would have wanted full control over the Returned Four to ensure their dominion. They couldn't risk that control being taken from their hands.

But that raised an important question. How did the Tetracrown get control over the Returned Four if there were no druids left to make contracts with?

"Do you think I'm evil? According to what you and Marrow have been saying, I somehow brought you back from the dead. Which again, I think I'd remember if I could resurrect the dead."

"It doesn't matter what I think. You are an uncontracted Return. This not only makes you potentially dangerous, but also blocks you from accessing the city. There are ancient protections in place for that. You won't even be able to see it at all."

"So, other Classers, are they under the same restrictions? Do every Classer need to sign a contract with a druid too?"

Sister Cloud shook her head, clasped in the bird-shaped feather mask.

"It would be pointless, there are too many. Besides, they are part of normal society after so many Cycles of intermingling. The problem is not with Classer's powers or your Skills. It comes with being a Return. Is the knowledge of Earth, another world, and a previous life. It tends to mess with your head, making you unstable and unpredictable. Then, there's the real problem: the Blessing of the Goddess."

"I wasn't aware I had been blessed."

"Really? You seem pretty at home with those Skills of yours. Have you checked your Skill mastery levels lately? And don't make that face. I know about the way Classers can literally read their progress. Just tell me, how long have you had your powers?"

"Technically, several years, but in an actual usable state? A day."

"What mastery level are your Skills now?"

Evelyn decided it was a good moment to check it, so she opened up her status screen. Several notifications popped up, which immediately annoyed her. She needed to find a way to reduce the wall of text, but getting notifications in the middle of combat would be too distracting.

There were several messages about high mana influx, probably from the charging up of the spear with her Skills. She passed those quickly, but there were a lot, and they were all the same. Warning after warning, but then, the long chain was broken with a strange notification.

[You have obtained anima data]
[Redundant data]
[The anima data could not be consumed]

[No True Runes obtained]

[Your [???] Aspect Skill has leveled up to Adept]
[A Verdant tool was consumed]
[Verdant tool mastery insufficient]

[No True Runes obtained]

As she read it, she remembered the taste of Cloud's soul in her mouth. Evelyn had truly eaten the soul of another person, albeit momentarily, for the looks of it. She couldn't fathom what it meant for her to do that, but one thing was clear: it had something to do with the mysterious Aspect she had.

She had consumed the power from the wraith of Adrien Nomeck, the disgraced handless musician, and obtained the True Rune of Harmony from him. By eating its dark soul. It had also been called anima data by the Overseer then, so it was clear that that was what it meant.

The notification about the verdant tool had to be about the spear she had used to travel back in time. How it did that or why was a question that would remain unanswered for the time being, maybe forever. There was much she didn't really understand yet about [Verdant Toolset] as a Skill, but the last part of this particular series of notifications called her attention.

She knew now that she could get True Runes by absorbing power from wraiths, this anima data, but what she didn't know before was that, apparently, she could get True Runes from her Verdant tools too. How that worked, she would have to investigate thoroughly, but it was a promising alternative to having to hunt down wraiths to get stronger.

Evelyn looked at the verdant tools next to her, the Edge Punk knife and the yet unnamed Verdant taser.

Knowing more about them in detail would be good now.

As soon as she thought that, a window popped up with information about them.

[Edge Punk - Verdant Knife - Tier 1]
[Soulbound item]

[Affinity - Pneuma (Fire + Water)]

[Mastery 56%]
[Possible Mastery Rewards: [Knife], [Edge], [Sonic], [Rebel], [Voice]]

[Generates a cutting music performance from the grave on the knife's sonic edge]
[Extra damage to entities at a superior Tier than the user]
[Greatly reinforces Willpower against mind control and possession effects on entities that can hear the music]
[Enough damage with the knife may end mind control and possession effects]

The description of the item was detailed and comprehensible enough. Evelyn read every part carefully, understanding now what her [Verdant Toolset] Skill actually did much better. In essence, it turned things into growth items, and not just that, but it gave them the ability to generate True Runes. If she could create, master, and grow more of these Verdant Tools, she could potentially get many different True Runes in the process.

She had crossed the halfway point already with Edge Punk, which only made sense; she had used it in two very intense battles against opponents stronger than hers, one of them a Tier 4. But that also meant that she would need to fight quite a lot to take it all the way to 100% Mastery. It didn't seem to function exactly like Skills Mastery levels; it didn't have different levels, but maybe that was because it was a Tier 1 item? Evelyn wasn't sure.

[Verdant Taser - Tier 1]

[Affinity - Elektron (Wood + Metal)]

[Mastery 41%]
[Possible Mastery Reward: [Taser], [Spark], [Stun]]

[Cobalt flowers conduct potent electricity generated in living amber to shock and burn]
[Extra damage to Construct and Slime-type entities]

The details for the taser were much lighter in content, but equally illuminating. Now she knew that verdant tools had an elemental affinity, though it could be just for these two specific ones; they would give her a True Rune, maybe more, when she mastered them, and finally, they would get powers that the original items didn't have.

That made [Verdant Toolset] a truly frightening Class Skill. She could literally grow a garden of gadgets and weapons, all with their own magical abilities, while getting stronger herself out of it.

The only real problem with that idea was what she could actually turn into a Verdant tool. So far, it had only worked on runitronic items, which meant only things that had a Runeskill inscribed on them.

Given how she was marooned in the past for the foreseeable future, she wasn't getting her hands on any more runitronics that she wasn't carrying in her person. That still gave her a few additional options to try the Skill on, but it would have to wait for another time.

[You have defeated Petalter (Forest Cat) - Tier 1 x 3]

[You have obtained [Petal] Rune fragment 1/7]

[Your Ecologist Tier 1 Action Skill [Hylosynthesis] leveled up to Expert level]

Rune fragment? What in the hells is that?

Evelyn had never heard anything like that before. If even normal tier 1 monsters could give her the chance to get new True Runes, the possibilities were endless. Still, she only got one after killing three monsters, so it was probably a chance-based thing. And she needed seven fragments to make a True Rune, so she would probably need to actively hunt these Petalter monsters to get the [Petal] True Rune.

There was no notification for defeating Brother Moss, but she wasn't surprised; the true deathblow had been Cloud's astonishing attack. Evelyn has just helped a little in creating the right opening and gaining time for it.

Still, it was good to know that assist kills would not be counted at all. Only the killing strike really mattered.

Done with notifications for now, Evelyn could finally check on her status screen. Sister Cloud had been patiently waiting as she saw her reading floating screens while regenerating from her wounds.

[STATUS]

[Evelyn Anima]

[Hybrid Core - UNSTABLE]

[Class - Undefined - Tier 1 (Adept)]

[STATS]

[STR - Unassigned archetype]

[DEX - Unassigned archetype]

[END+ - Unasigned archetype]

[AWA - Ecologist (AWA, END) - Tier (Adept)]

[Action Skill - [Hylosynthesis] - Tier 1 (Expert 8%)]

[Passive Skill - [Pulse Link] - Tier 1 (Adept 68%]

[Utility Skill - [Verdant Toolset] - Tier (Adept 21 %)]

[INT - Unassigned archetype]

[WIL - Unassigned archetype]

[PRE - Unasigned archetype]

[TRUE RUNES]

[Primeval]

[Harmony]

[Technogenic]

[Petal] (1/7)

 

[Mastery Level Reward unclaimed x 1]

"I'm done checking things for now. My Skills are two at the Adept level and one just got into Expert with this fight."

"That in just a day? Wow, your growth is even faster than that of the other Returned! Though if you say that you had these Skills for years but only got hold of them in the last day, that could actually explain. In any case, I want you to understand that this swiftness in progression is not the norm for most Classers. Is only true for Returned. That's what the Goddess' Blessing is. And it's also the main reason why druids want to contract with Returned. The Blessing gets shared through it. What once took years of hard training can then be achieved in months or even weeks."

"That makes it sound like it's only positives for a druid making the contract. You are doing a terrible job at convincing me of doing it with you so far."

"There's something else. The contract is usually forced on the Returned just as they arrive as a safe measure so they don't run away, but for the druid to receive the Blessing, the Returned needs to accept it on their part. Otherwise, it's just a fancy chain. A very fragile one at that, as contracts need to be agreed on by all parties. That leaves room for negotiation to the Returned, as druids need to seal the deal as soon as possible before the binding gets broken. I'll be blunt with you: I need that Blessing and I need you on my side. What do you want in exchange for making the contract with me out of your own free will? I'll give you anything. I'll do anything."

Evelyn looked at her like she was crazy, not believing what she was hearing.

"Let me get this clear, you want me to sign away my freedom to you? Just so you can grow your power faster and have a Classer servant? You are absolutely terrible at this. Your people skills need some serious improvements, and that's rich coming from me."

"I don't care if you think I'm the biggest hypocrite in the world. I don't mind if you hit me, insult me, or make me your slave in exchange. You are not bound by the contract, so you have all the cards here. Sure, I could threaten you with violence as I did with the pact before, you are still healing, and I'm sure I could hurt you a lot without killing you. Many of the most unsavory druids, like the defunct Moss, would have used such methods. I don't have either the proclivities nor the patience for imparting torture. Much less in someone I expect to have my back. I want a partner, not a servant. Some druids still do that, even if they are fewer in number now than ever before."

"Not interested."

"I will do whatever you ask of me. Anything at all. A contract accepted by both parties is absolutely binding. Like an oath, but to each other. The summoning circles just let us force our initial hand a little bit. Some get ahead of themselves and try to get by without getting explicit consent to the contract from the Returned. That never ends well."

"Like what happened to your parents?"

"Yes." She answered nonchalantly. "Now, what do you want from me?"

Evelyn seriously thought about it. She needed an ally, and Sister Cloud had more than proven herself capable in combat, but she didn't know her enough yet to trust her that much. She had already made a pact not to speak freely of the future with anyone but Cloud or other seers, but that had made sense to Evelyn. She didn't want to screw too much with the timeline, just save her family and incidentally the world.

This wasn't a deal she wanted. But maybe she could make use of it for now. She was in an unknown land, against unknown enemies, with no idea how to go back to her time or what she needed to do exactly to change the future for the better, besides looking for Jaqueline.

"You are right about something. I hold all the cards. Which means, I don't need to accept this contract at all. You already tried it, and it failed, so why would I give you the chance to screw me over? I don't know you; we met hours ago. You admitted it yourself; you hate Returned. I'm not signing away my independence to some strange girl in a bird mask that admits to hating me for something that has nothing to do with me. And what's up with the dusting masks anyway?"

"I admit it's a rather unusual situation." She conceded, completely dodging the question about the masks. "And my personal feelings, while complicated, won't get in the way. Please, I have to participate in the Cycle Saint Selection at all costs, and for that I need a Return to enter with me. I must become the Cycle Saint. I have to. I made a promise." She sounded like she was on the edge of sobbing as she got her head to the ground, prostrating herself before Evelyn. "I swear, I'll accept any and all conditions you give me. I'm desperate. You are my last hope. I don't think I can summon another Returned in time before the Serenity ends. It takes days to prepare the necessary mana. I beg you, Blacklight."

"Whatever I want, you say?" There was a glimmer of opportunity in Evelyn's blue runitronic eye. "Anything at all?"

"Yes."

"You are absolutely terrible at this." Remarked the Returned, shaking her head. "Fine. How about this? I want you to help me save Jaqueline Dupont. That's a given; you already committed yourself to that. We'll see from there. I'll think of something in the meantime. I want to know you better before I get into such a big commitment. For now, how about you help me with my Classer-related problems? There are serious gaps in my knowledge."

"How do I know you are not just using me? Like... like that Returned did to that young druid I told you about?"

"You don't. Take the risk with me or go try another summon. Desperate people don't get to make sure bets."

"You ask for a leap of faith." She said, as if there was something monumental about it that Evelyn didn't understand.

"Well, you are the Sister that wants to be a Saint. Some faith seems to be in order here. So, what's it gonna be?"

Sister Cloud raised her masked head, staring at Evelyn through its holes. She couldn't see the eyes inside; the eye holes of the mask had some sort of fabric cover in them, but she could feel their intensity. Finally, Cloud got up, slowly recovering her dignity, and nodded in agreement.

"What do you wish to know?"