Owen Evergreen

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Is this how her life has turned out? Will she be doing this for the rest of her days? Lira was confident that because she was no longer human, she would live much longer than people from this world, but she could be wrong.

She was still born human so maybe her lifespan is still the same. No, with how much she strengthens her body with Aether, she was definitely sure she would live a life long time

That's beside the point though.

Lira was grading the wolf caucus through the forest, and she kept shouting strange things, mostly profanities, at the tower while talking.

Lira would transform the snow into ice, allowing her to move the corpse with ease. She only needed to use Air Magic to push it and keep it from sliding off the ice.

But it was still a huge pain.

While walking, she kept her gaze fixed on the bracelet. Because a gem was orange, she turned to the side and went that way. Because she's not going forward or back, she was hoping it would stay orange.

Fortunately, it did, and she continued her exploration for several hours, collecting all the strange fruits she came across along the way.

The girl frowned at the sun; if she was correct, which she probably wasn't because she's not an expert, it should have been around five o'clock in the afternoon.

That meant she'd have to find a place to stay. She didn't want to know what came out at night after nearly dying from the wolf.

Even though it only hit her like once.

So her first priority was to find a place to spend the night. Because Lira still wanted to cook the wolf, she preferred a cave.

She had finally found it after a long period of searching. A cave entrance carved into the cliff face. The sun was barely visible above the harrison.

The sky was a lovely orange and pink hue. Lira moved past the corpse and took a look inside the cave.

Surprisingly, it had a lot of space inside. The wolf could certainly fit inside Lira. She only had one minor issue: a trail of ice and blood led to the cave, courtesy of Lira's stupidity.

She just wanted to get out of there thinking she'd attached a slew of other monsters, but they'd definitely find her now.

She did, however, have a plan. A plan that would work perfectly

and had absolutely no loopholes!

The wolf had to be brought into the cave first, which was the simplest part of her plan. Getting the wolf into the cave was easy since she just made a path of ice and then pushed it.

After a bit of time, Lira kicked the wolf corpse and sighed.

"Will I have to do this every day from now on?" She said this as she walked away from the frozen creature.

When she saw outside, the girl froze. It was completely normal, but that's the problem with it all. There was no blood trail, ice, or even her footprints.

It was as if she didn't even pass through the place.

Lira knew it couldn't have been covered up because it wasn't even snowing, and even if it had, it wouldn't have been covered up that quickly.

Lira's face went blank as her mind worked overtime to figure out what was going on. She slowed cracker her head back when she heard the sound of a large rock dragging on another.

The back of the cave, which was previously just a wall, now revealed a tunnel with erie mist coming out of it.

"He. Hehehe. Hahaha!" Lira chuckled, which soon turned into full-fledged laughter. Some would think she was insane if they saw her now, which she kinda was.

Lira turned around and marched out of the cave smiling.

"Not today Satan. Not. To. Day. I may be a sadistic, crazy, and slightly masochistic bitch, but I ain't dumb... sometimes." Lira said walking through the dark, "Some deformed clown with needles sticking out of his skull will emerge from that hell tunnel, and when it happens, I won't be there to see it. No thank you. Goodnight to you sir."

"Stop being dramatic, little one, and come down here." Lira felt a chill run through her entire body. Her survival instincts kicked in right away.

Aether Fire coated her hands as she frantically looked around, preparing to drain her Aether pool for the second time today.

"Who's there?! Come out, or I'll light up the night sky like you've never seen before!" She yelled. All logic had gone out the window at this point.

The thing is, Lira wasn't joking. She was prepared to cast every spell she possessed. This was not the same as going up against a beast.

This guy was clearly smarter and more powerful than the monsters in the forest. If they discovered Aether, so be it; as long as she killed them in the end, her secret would be safe.

After all, dead men tell no tales.

Lira didn't miss that this voice sounded similar to one she had heard years before. That didn't mean she'd put her trust in them, but they could obviously kill her whenever they wanted.

"I believe you remember me, Little One; I helped you out when you were only a week old. I just want to talk and possibly make a deal that will benefit both of us."

Lira stood in the cold, dark yield, deliberating her thoughts. It was difficult for her not to follow her curiosity and enter.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Lira stated. "For all I know, you did it all just to gain my trust and then kill me."

She snickered as she heard the voice sigh in frustration.

"Okay, I swear to you that I will not harm you. Oh, and I'll give you a book on how to use Aether more effectively."

"Eh." Lira went blank for a few moments there. She tried to say something, but the words were stuck in her throat.

"Ah, it seems I've got your attention." The voice said with a smug tone in their voice.

What was she supposed to do now?! Just turn around and leave, like a sensible person?!

Nope!

Lira couldn't just walk away after that; this could be her only chance to get this kind of information this early.

Of course, they could be lying, but she was willing to take the risk. Even if they were, she would have try to kill them in order to keep her secret safe. She was skeptical, however.

Lira reasoned that if they were willing to offer her such a deal, they probably needed her more than she needed them.

Whatever they want, they needed it now. While she could just learn that information on her own in a few years. It would take time though, but she would still get what she wanted.

Lira returned to the cave. She flinched a bit when a stone wall erupted, blocking and concealing the entrance.

"Can you do anything about the mist before I walk down there? It's weird; I understand why you did it for dramatic effect, but still." With a shake of her head, Lira stated.

"It wasn't for... forget it."

Lira smiled as the mist dispersed, but it quickly faded when she saw the wolf was gone. She'd worked her tail off to kill the thing, and this guy just took it!

Rude! He didn't even ask.

"Don't be concerned about the wolf; as an added bonus, I'll teach you how to cook it. If you know what to do with them, the teeth are quite valuable as well."

Lira hummed walking down the extremely long tunnel that leads deep into the ground. She wouldn't admit it, but she was a terrible cook. The girl had nearly burned down the kitchen several times before giving up on cooking entirely.

She couldn't possibly cook a big ass wolf with a simple fire. She didn't even know if cooking with Aether Flames was safe. She clearly didn't know how to skin a wolf as well.

Needless to say, it would if been a waste if she does it on her own.

After a good while of walking, Lira sat on the ground groaning.

"Why am I not there yet?!"

"You're so impatient. Can you not see the end?"

Lira sat up and tilted her head down. She smiled seeing that the voice wasn't lying to her. She stood up and ran the rest of the way, very eager to see what the mysterious man looked like, and to get her book and wolf.

When she got to the bottom, she really wished she could of taken a picture. Lira was met with a cavern, not very big but still beautiful nevertheless.

There was a gap in the middle that was filled with clear water that seemed to be almost glowing, and all around it was short white grass with a variety of small flowers.

The ceiling was high, with stalactites spiking down. Lira walked in and saw overgrown vines all over the place.

She walked over to the lack and looked down, surprised that it seemed to go even deeper into the earth.

There were various objects in the water, but they were all frozen in place. She even saw a few people down there.

Lira took a few steps back and shook her head. That was definitely a death trap, if it wasn't obvious enough.

"Ah, you are here."

Turning around she stiffened when she saw an... owl? Yup. Definitely an owl. It had brown feathers with sharp black eyes. Lira looked up at it... and started to laugh.

"A-Are you for real?! You are the guy?! I expected some old guy with a big white beard. But nope! I get an owl!"

"Don't you dare look down on me, child!" The owl roared, shutting the girl up. Even though she was still giggling. "Anyway, yes, I was the one that helped you those years ago.

The names Owen Evergreen. First Dream Owl and progenitor of the Evergreen Family." Owen said with so much pride that Lira almost walked away.

"Uh, mine is Lira Akuji Edin. I'm a... hm. What am I?" Lira put a hand under her chin and fell into deep thought.

"You are a Nephalem." Owen said peaking the girl's curiosity, again! "A race born from demons and angels, even I don't know much about them. I'm five hundred and twenty-five years old, yet I never even met one."

"Ooo, that's cool." Lira said, she had her past life's memories so she had an idea of what she was, but this was just confirmation.

"So, Mister Evergreen, why am I here again?" Lira asked. "And give me the book you promised!"

The owl throw it's head back and sighed, shrinking down to her size, even though it was still very large for an owl.

"You reincarnated ones are so greedy sometimes, Gods. Well, most if you become Gods yourselves so I can't really talk."

"Hm?" Lira said, in the span of an hour. This owl had threatened everything Lira had worked so hard to keep a secret.

Her eyes glowed gold as killing intent flooded the room. She frowned deeply looking at the person in front of her.

"And, how would you know this?" Even though she looked calm, she was freaking out on the inside.

"Relax, child. It's not that big of a deal, you know. I have seen people like you, those who have died and are reborn with their past life's memories.

"Every planet has had at least one reincarnated person since powerful people seek amusement quite often. I'll answer your question later, for now, I would like to ask you a favor. Could you make a contract with me?"

Lira stood there going over everything she just heard.

"Why would I do that?" She asked.

"Well, I'm doing it because I'm dying, and you could do it because I could teach you things and help you get stronger. You would benefit more than me." Owen said with a low chuckle.

"You see, a few years ago something happened to me and I was injured. Not my body, but my soul. I have maybe, ten more years before it cracks beyond repair, at least for someone like me to fix."

Lira raised a brow and sat down. She went over everything he just said and oddly enough, he seem genuine. However, she knew he was going it for a different reason.

He didn't seem like the type to fear death. If he has as important as he was making himself out to be, then he most definitely already had a successor. So why did he want her help.

"If I say yes, what do you want me to do?" Lira asked looking at him. Owen shuffled a bit.

"First, all you will have to do is share some souls so I can repair my own. Souls are the little orbs you see when you kill someone. Second, I want you to help me find my daughter. Do that and you have my undying loyalty."

There it was. Lira hid her smile from him, even if she rejected his offer, she had gain a lot of information.

"Can I use souls to get stronger?"

"Of course." Owe. Scuffed as if she had asked him a stupid question. "The stronger the soul, the more power you gain."

"Hmmm~, I have one condition." Lira said smiling at him. Owen frowned feeling like she would say something weird, but he nodded.

"I want to be able to brake of the contract whenever I want."

Owen rolled his eyes at Lira and nodded to her request.

"Then we have ourselves a deal, Mr. Owl. Now, give me my damn book?!"

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If you want to know about Owen's daughter, then go read "Incarnates of Magic and Tech".