Travel, Beginning, and End

Chapter 45 - Travel, Beginnings, and Endings

After the enjoyable spring outing and exploration, in the autumn of the same year, during September or October, Rosaline embarked on a solo island-circling trip.

As for whether it was September or October, it was impossible to know. After all, in a world of two, time was only recorded by the changes in the seasons.

She felt her teacher was capable of tracking time more precisely, even down to the date, but simply couldn't be bothered.

Of course, her swordsmanship lessons were supposed to be a hindrance to this trip. However, her teacher had recently requested to practice alone, forbidding her from watching, calling it "freeing up her time." But Rosaline suspected it was the slow learning progress that had pricked her teacher's pride, leading to such a decision.

Indeed, teachers who made excuses were still quite cute.

However, if she went traveling alone, what would her teacher eat and drink?

Rosaline still had some doubts about this, but her teacher confidently stated that she didn't need to worry about it, which put her at ease.

Yes, her teacher had lived alone for hundreds of years; there was no need for her to worry. Besides, many of the kitchen dishes were first conceived by her teacher, with Rosaline completing them later. The reason she rarely cooked was simply to give her student an opportunity to actively serve and repay her kindness.

When she set off, after packing her belongings, Rosaline first watered the small vegetable garden in the manor and bid farewell to the rabbits and deer being kept in the pens. After departing, she didn't forget to check on the growth of the wheat in the other farm plots and collect the bodies of any animals or aberrations caught on the electric fences.

Then, she passed through an arched long street covered in wisteria vines, possessing a classical ruined beauty, and went to check under the shadow of the elevated bridge ruins where Lady Chicken resided.

However, the first generation Lady Chicken had vanished mysteriously, and this place had become a stronghold for its descendants to multiply.

When she arrived, the second generation were playing with an ugly, giant centipede over a meter long, covered in numerous humanoid eyes. This centipede had likely recently consumed the flesh of some aberrations, having only recently mutated. Its movements were clumsy, and it was being toyed with by a flock of wild chickens. Rosaline was hard-controlled for over half an hour. Finally, seeing that one of the second generation was about to meet its demise, she intervened to help.

Before leaving, she solemnly placed her right hand on her chest and bowed to the second generation, expressing respect for their valiant act of defending their home to the death.

—Years ago, when her father went to the front lines to fight the demon race, her elder brother and the others performed this gesture before leaving. At the time, she didn't understand its meaning and just watched silently. Now that she understood, it felt a little too late.

However, after so many years in the Land of Finale, the hope of ever returning home was rather slim. The book that recorded the legends of the Filth Demons stated that the Aurora Belt was a rare celestial phenomenon that appeared once a century. Perhaps going home was, from beginning to end, just a beautiful delusion.

Rosaline's island-circling trip lasted for half a year. Her main route was to go around the island, but she did not go to Mount Ish.

The trip had two main purposes: first, to alleviate the monotony of their repetitive doomsday life; second, to continuously train her independent survival skills; and third, to check along the way for any Mother Nests or stage-three aberrations in various locations, preventing potential crises like those that had occurred in the past.

She traversed the center of Grayport City and saw the huge pit that had once been occupied by a Mother Nest. Below it was the city's sewage system, though now it was more fitting to describe it as an underground dark river.

It was covered in verdant moss, and occasionally, in places where sunlight fell, one could see maidenhair ferns growing from unknown origins. Perhaps due to the narrowness of the waterway, there weren't many aberrations in the dark river; instead, there were many agile fish and small animals not commonly seen on the surface, congregating and playing joyfully, like a sanctuary for the reclusive.

Later, she passed through a deserted town and reached the ruins of Luya City.

The former Mother Nest of Luya City had been located in the shallows, creating many mutated jellyfish and Fish Monsters, which were particularly sinister and eerie. But returning here now, the white sand beach was gently lapped by the waves, washing ashore stranded starfish and sea anemones. Groups of unknown crabs leisurely crawled under the coconut trees. If one ignored the dilapidated streets overgrown with weeds nearby, it would have been quite a relaxing and leisurely seaside vacation.

Then, she left Luya City again. In the late winter of the following year, she followed the long coastal road circling the island, enduring frost and snow, stopping and starting, and finally returned to Ish City.

In the suburban factory district outside the city, she saw the half-mechanical Aberration that had attacked her and her teacher—that mechanical giant turtle.

Last year, after her teacher obtained the Pale Tentacle, she had carried out a major cleanup operation on all the high-level aberrations on the island, and the mechanical giant turtle had not been spared. Now, the mutated flesh on its body was gone, and its body was relatively intact. The reason was that when her teacher took action, she felt that this thing might be repairable in the future and had specifically held back.

As she passed under the dusty head of the mechanical giant turtle, she looked up for a while. She felt that the turtle's eyes, which should have been inanimate, looked surprisingly spirited. Especially the angle of the camera beneath the glass layer seemed to have been adjusted, pointing in her direction as if quietly gazing at something.

Rosaline thought of the theory of "Animism" that her teacher had introduced to her, guessing that although the mechanical giant turtle was dead, many Soul Runes remained within its body, which was why it gave her such a strange sense of vitality.

Therefore, being someone who wasn't afraid of aberrations but was afraid of ghosts, she nervously left the area and had no intention of returning anytime soon.

Having set off in the autumn of the previous year, she returned to the central district of Ish City by the spring equinox.

It was drizzling that day. The spring rain was continuous, making the ruins of the Black Tower building in the distance resemble a lighthouse standing in the hazy mist and rain. Although it didn't emit light, it could guide the way.

Before returning to the manor, as she was concerned about the second generation and the situation of several central district farms, she didn't go back directly. Instead, holding an umbrella, she first went to the shadow under the elevated bridge ruins to visit the chicks there.

Clearly, during her absence, the chicken coop had suffered a fierce attack, resulting in the number of second generation being halved compared to the previous autumn, which made her very sad. She couldn't help but silently mourn the fallen warriors. But soon after, she discovered that there were quite a few eggs in the nest, as many as ten. Immediately, she became happy again, took three, and then, amidst angry clucking, quickly fled the area.

Then she went to inspect the wheat fields on the farm.

But how to put it: the seeds had been sown, but the surrounding environment was a mess. Weeds were rampant, stealing nutrients from the wheat, and the electric fences were broken and not repaired or replaced promptly. The leftover wheat stalks were piled aside without being dealt with, seemingly unafraid of pests like aphids and earworms breeding.

This made her puff out her cheeks, thinking that her teacher was too lax. This could hardly be considered management.

But soon she became worried, suspecting that her teacher was living a hand-to-mouth existence, starving and famished. She quickly took to the wind, disregarding the umbrella, and flew back to the manor in one go.

The manor in the spring rain was still as peaceful and serene as ever. The light tubes hanging on the trees emitted warm light, dyeing the surrounding rainwater into an orange mist.

Seeing the familiar scene, Rosaline relaxed, preparing to surprise her teacher. Then she saw several pieces of clothing left on the drying rack on the second floor, diligently dripping in the rain.

She couldn't help but take a deep breath, push open the door, and find her teacher sleeping on the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a book.

If one ignored the untended wheat fields, the forgotten clothes in the rain, and the cluttered table, this scene was still very beautiful, harmonizing with the melody of the spring rain, like a sleeping beauty aloof from the world.

She let out a sigh, tiptoed, and went upstairs to collect the clothes.

She finally confirmed it. Indeed, her teacher couldn't do without her.

After Rosaline's six-month island-circling trip, life in the manor returned to normal. The weeds were gone, someone cleaned the dust, the clutter was organized, and there was no need to worry about laundry or cooking.

However, Ivette felt she was quite innocent. She wasn't really that lazy. Not collecting the clothes on a rainy day was because she had fallen asleep and didn't know; the poorly managed wheat fields were because she could choose not to eat and lacked a pressing need, and she didn't know when her disciple would return; the clutter on the table was because she habitually waited until a certain threshold was reached before cleaning it all up at once...

It was like how some single guys would stuff clothes into the laundry basket before throwing them all into the washing machine. When living alone, why bother being so meticulous?

And putting aside everything else, she had indeed been diligently practicing her cold weapon skills. She was no longer reliant on the path of large-scale spell bombardment like before, which was concrete proof of her hard work.

But she decided not to explain these things to Rosaline.

Because it didn't fit her persona.

Mmm, she wasn't just being stubborn.

Time flew by, and another year passed.

This year, Rosaline turned nineteen, fully embodying the presence of a young woman. Ivette, using her crafting skills, made her a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, which added a significant scholarly and intellectual air.

Rosaline didn't understand why she had to wear glasses, as she wasn't nearsighted, but since her teacher liked them, she did as she was told. Looking in the mirror, she felt that she seemed more like a teacher than her own teacher.

Of course, considering she was indeed providing martial arts guidance to her teacher, that feeling didn't seem entirely out of place.

Compared to previous years, this one was exceptionally peaceful. Through the underground seed bank of a certain agricultural college's ruins, the two began cultivating rice, and the day they could eat rice was within sight.

The following year, with improved meals, the two traveled to Luya City in the far north and together built a small, primarily wooden seaside villa. This way, when the summer heat became unbearable, they could go north together to escape the heat and stroll along the white sandy beaches.

In the third year, Rosaline proposed the "Ocean Upgrade Method," which involved transforming the ocean into a super training ground for her teacher's advancement, absorbing Aberration factors there. However, due to Ivette's lack of adaptability for underwater activities, they mostly operated in shallow waters, not daring to venture too far.

But the efficiency had indeed increased significantly, and both were certain that with continuous consumption and digestion, those white tentacles would surely evolve. The only unknown was how long this process would take.

A summer night, the Milky Way descended.

Stars interwoven across the deep blue sky, like scattered shards of mirror, reflecting specks of silver light on the distant lake. Insect chirps rose and fell in the grass, and occasionally, fireflies flitted by, leaving behind short, luminous arcs.

Gliding across the lake on her magic-guided skateboard, Rosaline, clad in a blue mage robe, gracefully landed on the metal platform of the Abyss Base.

This was her twelfth year since transmigrating. At twenty-two, she had finally shed the girlish aura of being under her teacher's protection, instead possessing a sophisticated, mature, and alluring side. In her teacher's words, "You've finally become a proper 'older sister' type."

She found this statement perplexing, but since her teacher didn't elaborate, she didn't ask further.

Adjusting the gold-rimmed glasses on her nose, she opened the door and descended the stairs. The crisp sound of her high heels clicking on the metal steps echoed down into the dark depths below.

However, she wasn't here for exploration. Her teacher needed some interior decorating for the newly built seaside villa in Luya City, so she had come to cut some Magic Light Vines to take with her.

Tucking her excess blonde hair behind her ear, she began her work, cutting the Magic Light Vines one by one, bundling them, and placing them on the metal platform outside.

This was undoubtedly a tedious and monotonous process, but she worked with great motivation. Who didn't enjoy the process of gradually making their small home warm and beautiful?

As for returning home, she had completely given up on that two or three years ago. Meeting her teacher after transmigrating through the aurora was already an unbelievable stroke of luck. For such a celestial phenomenon, which appeared only once a century, to occur again and send her, now accomplished, back to her family—such good fortune simply didn't exist, not even in daydreams.

After about half an hour, having tied up several bundles of Magic Light Vines, Rosaline, her task complete, could finally leave. She walked onto the metal platform, stretched her waist lazily, and looked up at the starry sky.

She saw a magnificent aurora stretching across the night sky, like a melted river of stars, pouring down into her gaze.