The Summoner's Rebirth: Awaken, Milady

"Aria-nim?" It was the voice of a boy she met before.

Yoo Jin. Behind him was Yoo Sung-ha, whose eyebrows creased the moment his eyes fell onto the familiar figure of Aria.

"Golden flashy guy.. Don't tell me," Aria recalled the time Sung-ha utilized his power in front of her. It was indeed the striking golden colored aura that enveloped him.

However, she hadn't thought as far as to even consider him to be the potential 'leader'.

When she fought against him, the mist that surrounded him after his spell was cast didn't show up that much. It was a golden shade, but Aria couldn't tell if it was truly gold or just a peculiar yellow.

'If he's the guy, then the one who told Jin-kyung to hide her power must also be him.' It made sense if Sung-ha, as the bearer of a similar power knew the extent of it, especially when he seemed to be a well rounded Hunter in both offense and defense.

Two Arcana Magic users, both of them appearing in a short span of time.

Aria grew to be mystified by how much things have progressed. Before she was confined, the only Arcana Magic user known to man was on the verge of death and didn't even possess the purest form of the original type.

But looking at the two now, it seems that the magic was truly revived.

"Why are you here, you sketchy woman!" Sung-ha gritted his teeth, pointing his index finger at said woman.

"You.. you know each other?" Jin-kyung peeked from behind Aria, blinking curiously with her large eyes.

Yoo Jin was now standing beside Arin, not wanting to get into the two's confrontation once again.

"I wish I didn't, but yes, we have met before," Aria shook her head in displeasure.

"Tch! 'twas an unpleasant encounter," Sung-ha chided.

"I should be the one saying that,"

Sparks were flying between them. Of course, the hostile kind.

"...Would you two stop fighting? Even though we are covered by Jin-kyung's seal, others might still pick up the rowdiness, you know?" Yoo Jin held his hand against his forehead, sighing.

The two really couldn't get along, could they?

The pointless bickering continued, with Aria responding calmly to Sung-ha's hot headed remarks. Both insisted that they were in the right.

After a few minutes, enough was enough.

Yoo Jin forcefully separated the two with the help of Arin's piercing glare and killer smile.

At first, the woman looked at the fight with delight as it provided a sense of entertainment to her, but after minutes of endless bickering, she grew tired of it.

The fun had to end, so Arin intimidated the two. The woman rarely broke her smile, but that same gesture contained a thousand meanings. This time, it definitely was a warning issued towards Aria and Sung-ha.

Now as a group of five, they continued walking towards the base and eventually entered it. It turns out that the Yoo siblings were also headed towards the place.

Standing in front of the door, Aria and Yoo Sung-ha had a staring fight as Arin opened another seal placed at the door. Their gazes were fiercely interlocked with each other, filled by hatred and irk.

"...Stop acting like children and enter, for God's sake," Arin went behind the two humans, who were both taller than her.

She then put both of her palms on their forearms, fingers pressed against each other with no space. Then, she used the bottom of her palm to push.

A strong gust of wind hit. The two figures were now dropped on the ground in an instant, whereas Arin was still menacingly looking at them with her palms steady in the air.

"Hey, I told you not to do that!" Sung-ha rubbed his head in pain. When he fell, his left body was hit harshly.

Aria had a fast reflex, so she was able to land without causing much harm to herself. Her elbow was already in place before she fell, so that it would act as a support when she reached the ground.

Even so, that same hand was now trembling thanks to the great amount of force applied to it.

"It was needed to separate children from unneeded fights," Arin replied, retracting her hand and twisting her wrists.

'What was that?' Aria, now on the ground, looked at Arin in surprise.

Since she had the capability to make illusory drinks, she thought that the Main Arin possessed had something to do with Illusion. However, there was actually such a strong impact lying under her?

"Don't cause trouble for everyone, hm?" Arin had a smile on her face, but it made everyone in the vicinity shudder unconsciously.

There was no joy, no emotions inside Arin's eyes. She looked at them as if they were filth that dirtied the roads.

"Ah? Did you get Arin angry again? You guys really don't cherish your life," A foreign man's voice entered the conversation.

From inside the building, Aria was able to see a pale, thin man. He had this sickly aura around him, like he would collapse to the ground and pass out if you push him hard enough.

He was covered from head to toe in black clothing, the hood of his hoodie leaving nothing but strands of his hair and face to people.

He had a hair color that was awfully close to white. Strange hair colors weren't unprecedented in Aria's time, but it was still rare.

It was her first time seeing someone's hair this devoid of life. You would think that the man's hair was dumped in a bucket of white paint. Even then, it looked way too unnatural.

"I don't know what feud or dark past they have, but if you want to fight, fight somewhere outside of my sight," Arin stepped inside, going around the two people's bodies.

She removed her shoes and put it in the cabinet, followed by Jin-kyung and Yoo Jin who trotted behind the elder and did the same sequence of actions.

"Brother Lein, we are back~" Jin-kyung skipped towards the man, jumping and extending her arms to get a hug. That, however, was swiftly avoided, making Jin-kyung tumble on her steps.

"Don't 'Brother Lein' me. Where have you been? The gate was closed hours ago, but you're only here now. I hope you have a good explanation," Lein rubbed his sleeves, as if there was dust sticking on it from Jin-kyung's actions.

Jin-kyung laughed awkwardly, her mouth twitching in nervousness. She was then dragged by the arm, with Lein heading to a separate room upstairs.

"Lein, come down later, this girl I brought here is a new member. The name's Aria," Arin introduced, letting go of her tote bag and placing it gently on the table.

The words were met with a rugged groan from Lein. Instead of the man's voice, Jin-kyung's muffled noises could be heard louder.

"Don't pay much attention to them. They're always like that. You'll get used to it," Arin clarified, staring at Aria, who got up from her fall and was now standing inside the room. "How do you like the place?"

"...Mm," Aria hummed. She didn't find anything out of the ordinary, surprisingly.

It was different from what she worked with in the past, where their facilities could be considered the best in the world in all subjects. It housed a lot of members and had operations all across the world.

Then again, Golden Insignia was a team composed of ten people, now eleven. A secretive one, at that. Of course they wouldn't want to stand out with high-classed environments.

"Some members, like Lein practically lives here. Others, like Jin-kyung and me use this house a temporary lodging option from time to time. Yoo Jin and Sung-ha have their own house so they rarely stay here... As for the others, they are the silent members. Almost like shadow people, honestly. Call them and they'll be here. Don't call them and they won't ever bother you unless something huge is on the line," Arin let out a gentle puff of breath, going towards the counter and taking an empty glass.

She poured cold water from a dispenser and drank it. "Refreshing," she commented.

Aria was still looking around the house.

Sung-ha was now sitting down at the sofa, muttering strange words under his breath. He was displeased by Aria, but at the same time, he roughly knew why she was here.

Yoo Jin had told him the full story about how he went inside a dungeon out of curiosity and cleared said dungeon with Aria. Two people clearing a C-dungeon, one of them being an unregistered Hunter.

Aria was, so to say, a great candidate for the team.

His team.

Although he hated to admit it, Aria was a good addition as she fulfilled all the qualifications and had a strange power sense, according to Yoo Jin.

She was well versed in fighting. There was a difference between someone who possessed innate great power and someone who was an expert at combat.

One could have power but not know how to wield it.

Aria's power wasn't something that could match up to Blythe or even him, but her combat abilities and instincts were impressive, as if she was someone who had countless experience in the battlefield.

As long as she continues to grow, she would eventually catch up to Blythe, who was the renowned number one Korean Hunter to the public eye.

There was a great debate between Hunters about who would come out as a winner if Blythe and the secretive Solo Player battled.

But both of them shared the same characteristic. They started from point zero in fighting. They both had some basic physical training, but fighting the dungeons was different.

Aria was the opposite of them. Her power wasn't that amazing, but the way she utilizes them wasn't what a beginner could pull off. Not only from Yoo Jin's stories, he had also experienced being her opponent, although it wasn't for long.

Now, just going by logic, he deduced that the woman had probably saved Jin-kyung, another member of his team. If not, Aria wouldn't have been discovered and brought to his attention once more.

After thinking over it again and again, he finally gave up.

Whatever his mindset was, Aria already entered the team in terms of contract legalization. Arin had the authority to formally accept someone into the team because he had given her the power to do so.

The rice was cooked.

So be it.

Perhaps it was fate. A fate that made them intersect in their lives.

They were a team made of sketchy people anyway.

Another sketchy person wouldn't hurt.

"..Welcome to Golden Insignia," Sung-ha made his decision.