Reincarnated Hero System

“Nice one.”

Evan said with a nod, though the sting still lingered. She had gotten him. He couldn’t regenerate, not like her.

He had never encountered anyone with a regeneration ability that came from a skill he could copy. The few people and monsters he had seen with regenerative powers had it as an inherent trait of their physical bodies, something tied to their species or unique constitution.

Same with Artemisia before him.

|Skills-Evolution Control, Energy Drain, Limit Break, Elemental Mastery, Lightning Strike, Thunderstorm Fury, Inferno Blast, Tidal Surge, Earthen Quake, Aero Slash;

Unique Skills-Queen of Evolution, Benevolent Lightning, Tempest Avatar. |

He scanned her skills again and didn’t see a single one that possessed the regenerative ability she had just shown.

Her regeneration wasn’t a skill that could be copied—it was a physical trait, one she had given herself using Queen of Evolution.

Since discovering her Queen of Evolution skill at the age of nine, Artemisia Delgasso had been fine-tuning her existence.

She had spent years reshaping both her body and soul, evolving herself in the direction she wanted, adding things to her existence. Things that goddesses like her definitely did not have from birth.

Take her magic affinity, for example. She had been born with a natural affinity for light, earth, and lightning magic—great but still limited. Her fire affinity was only average, and she couldn’t even use water magic at all.

Yet now, seeing how she wielded elements, one would think she was some chosen one of the elements.

Artemisia could use almost all major elemental attributes. And the process towards gaining these affinities had been straightforward.

Over the years, she had absorbed elemental catalysts, just as Evan had taken in Faldo’s dragon heart to become a Draconic Human. Artemisia had done this multiple times, transforming herself into a versatile wielder of elemental power.

While she became a Jack of all trades, Master of None, she wasn’t content with simply having these abilities—she trained rigorously to master them, eventually earning the coveted Elemental Mastery skill.

Now, she was a Jack of all trades and a Master of Some.

Her durability followed a similar path. Understanding its critical value, Artemisia had focused heavily on enhancing her durability, often prioritizing it over her overall health.

Her reasoning was simple—if her durability was high enough, she wouldn’t take damage, meaning her health wouldn’t deplete in the first place.

For the rare occasions when someone managed to break through her defence, she had a backup plan.

Artemisia had once hunted down a regeneration monster, killed it, and absorbed its core, fusing it with her divine spark. The result? The regenerative ability that Evan had just witnessed.

It wasn’t a passive, all-powerful regeneration, but it was strong enough to heal the damage Evan had inflicted on her arms. Unlike some natural regeneration traits, hers required manual activation and had limited daily uses, but it was potent enough to reset bones and reconnect muscles in a minute.

Every existence had some form of natural healing factor—when they levelled up, their health stats increased, and their natural healing accelerated.

They could recover from wounds, sickness, and other afflictions faster than ordinary. But even so, there were limits.

Without proper healing skills or magic, they couldn’t regenerate lost limbs or heal catastrophic injuries. Evan, for instance, had nearly lost an arm permanently if it hadn’t been for Eliza’s healing.

So, while this natural healing that came with strong vitality was useful, it wasn’t omnipotent.

That was why healing magic and special skills were still essential.

Evan wasn’t too concerned about his lack of a regeneration skill, though. He had unlocked Mesarthim’s Red, Orange, and Yellow flames, and once he gained Mesarthim’s Green flames, he’d acquire the Flames of Life, a self-healing skill of his own.

As Artemisia stood up, she examined her newly healed arms. Flexing her right arm, she placed her left hand on her shoulder and swung it around with a practised motion, as if testing its full range of movement.

“Shall we continue?”

She asked, her voice calm and confident. But before the sound of her words had even fully registered with Evan, Artemisia was already right in front of him.

Evan blinked, his brain trying to process what had just happened.

One moment, Artemisia had been meters away, the next, she was right in front of him, her fists already streaking towards him. He didn’t even remember her movement—just the blur of her sudden presence.

‘Oh, the lightning on her feet. That makes sense.’

It was no surprise; lightning had always been known to enhance one’s speed.

Without wasting time, Evan instinctively activated his elemental shield, and Artemisia’s fists broke through it effortlessly. The split second that bought him was enough for him to teleport away, and he reappeared behind her, launching a kick aimed at her side.

Artemisia, not missing a beat, coated her arm in earth magic and blocked his strike. But as the earth gauntlet she had created shattered from the force of his kick, a thought crossed her mind.

‘So, he’s been holding back. Just how high is his true physical prowess?’

She knew Evan was a dragonkin, a race with innate physical strength that went beyond what his displayed stats suggested.

His true strength was hidden behind layers of bonuses from his race, titles and skills, meaning anyone judging him purely based on his visible stats would be sorely mistaken.

It was the reason for his confidence in saying he could take on higher-level opponents.

Before Evan could follow up, Artemisia grabbed his leg mid-strike, and with a swift motion, hurled him into a nearby building. The structure crumbled as he smashed through it, debris flying everywhere.

Hovering in the air, Artemisia summoned her Tempest avatar. This time, instead of the usual sword it wielded, the avatar brandished a massive halberd formed from crackling lightning.

With a swift diagonal sweep, she swung the halberd down at Evan and the strike crashed into him with a thundering force, sending him careening through the building and slamming him into one of the underground city’s walls.

Evan’s body splattered against the wall like a rag doll, and he slumped to the ground, but Artemisia narrowed her eyes, a flicker of disbelief in her gaze.

Something was off.

As the one who delivered the attack, she knew the feedback she was meant to receive if it was successful. But despite appearing so, she didn’t get that feedback to know that Evan had been severely damaged.

“How?”

She muttered more to herself than to him, before boosting her movement with lightning and appearing in front of Evan.

To her disbelief, the boy casually stood up, dusting himself off as if nothing had happened. He stretched his neck, a nonchalant crack following the motion.

“How?”

She asked again, her voice sharp and Evan barely resisted the urge to remove his mask and show her a smug grin.

“Oh, I have a titanium body.”

His tone was playful as he continued, his gaze moving down to her arms which had broken earlier.

“But you don’t seem to have one, do you? Sounds like a skill issue.”

Artemisia’s brow twitched in annoyance and Beatrix, who had been watching from the side lines, burst out laughing.

“You guys are so childish! Seriously, it’s like watching a couple of kids bickering.”

Beatrix giggled, shaking her head while Evan only activated his own Tempest Avatar and summoned a sword with it.

He and Artemisia locked gazes and in unison, they rushed towards each other and swung their blades.

Their avatars clashed with a thunderous roar, the force sending shockwaves through the cave and lighting up the ruins around them.

The swords sparked violently as they pressed against each other, each trying to force the other back.

“Think you can beat me at my own skill?”

“Watch me.”

Artemisia narrowed her eyes when she heard Evan’s reply and she put more power into her blade. The swirling magic around them started building to a dangerous intensity, and Beatrix immediately saw the future coming and teleported over a hundred metres out.

Their avatars crackled as they strained against each other, neither willing to back down. The energy between them grew hotter, and more unstable with each second.

And then, in a sudden flash, the magic reached its breaking point.

With a deafening explosion, the energy ignited, tearing through the cave with a blinding flash of golden light.

The force destroyed both avatars in an instant, shattering them into brilliant sparks of lightning that fizzled out in the air. When the light faded, Evan and Artemisia stood across from each other, both breathing heavily.

“I won.”

Evan said, brushing dust off his shoulder but Artemisia scoffed, crossing her arms.

“Are you serious? I won. You were barely keeping up!”

Evan took a step forward, pointing at her.

“I was doing just fine. In fact, I had the upper hand.”

But Artemisia Shook her head.

“You did not! My Tempest Avatar is way stronger, and you know it.”

Evan let out a laugh.

“Stronger? Please. You barely scratched me.”

“You call that barely? I had you pinned, Evan!”

“You wish!”

The argument escalated, their voices bouncing off the cave walls. They stood toe to toe, glaring at each other, neither willing to back down from their claim of victory.

“I won!” Evan insisted.

“No, I won!” Artemisia fired back.

“No, I won!”

“I won, Evan!”

Their bickering continued, each trying to outshout the other, when suddenly Beatrix, who had been watching the whole thing unfold, sighed loudly.

“Are you two done with your petty scuffle yet? You’re acting like a couple of children fighting over a toy. So immature.”

Her words cut through the air, halting the exchange between Evan and Artemisia.

For a moment, silence fell.

Beatrix’s smirk widened—until she noticed the shift in their gazes. Slowly, Evan turned toward Artemisia, his brow raised in question.

“Should we get her?”

Evan asked, his voice calm yet carrying a serious undertone and Artemisia nodded, her eyes glinting.

“Yeah, let’s get her.”

The smile vanished from Beatrix’s face as a sudden chill shot down her spine. Her time powers activated automatically and she the future—brief, fragmented images of what was about to happen. Her stomach dropped.

“Wait a second!!!”

She shouted out, already moving, but she knew it was too late. Evan disappeared in a blink, his body vanishing as he teleported behind her. She spun around just in time to block his fist, her arm vibrating with the force of the impact.

“Why?!”

Beatrix shouted, her voice cracking with the strain as she held him off, but before she could fully achieve that, the chill intensified.

She whirled around to find Artemisia’s fist coming in from her other side and barely managed to block her blow as well.

“WHY??!!”