The Summoner's Rebirth: Awaken, Milady

"Hmm, that's an interesting statement!" Reina tilted her head, raising a brow at Aria's words.

Not money, not the materials. Just power. What game was Aria trying to play?

"You sure are peculiar. Though, that statement of yours helps a little. You can actually hunt for others' sake in that case.. but I'm afraid that only low-ranked dungeons could be reached by that way,"

'Low-ranked won't satisfy my appetite in the near future.'

Aria's growth cap was growing exponentially. Sooner or later, she would have to train all day long if she wanted to progress.

"...This is just a question, but is there perhaps any chance I could get into higher-ranked dungeons alone?" Aria wondered.

She knew that she was asking for quite the excessive thing, since rules were rules. Aria kept asking for means to bypass said rules.

Reina narrowed her eyes, sighing as she raised a hand to gesture that she needed to think for a short moment.

Aria patiently waited for the response.

"It's.. both easy and not easy. More like, it's easy to say, but hard to execute," Reina pursed her lips.

"And what is.. the way?" Aria asked.

"Blythe, Cha Seol-hyun, the infamous unidentified A-ranker..." Reina mentioned. "And the future.. high ranking Hunters,"

"They're the only ones who can bypass the hard rules, because nobody can stop them,"

Aria nodded in agreement. Indeed, they were the strongest and their strength was pivotal to the entire country's survival. Opposing them risked so much negative things.

"Basically, get to the top of the Hunter food chain. Make sure no one can question your judgement. Only then would you be able to gain freedom. Your power decides everything if you don't have a good family background,"

"...I understand," That was close to impossible for the current her.

Unless a random multibillionaire was bored and suddenly decided to adopt her. Which

"Well? Are there any more questions? You know, I thought that you wanted to ask about [Lichte], but it turned out otherwise," Reina made a small pout and put up an aggrieved expression.

She was there to recruit the woman, so she purposely made special arrangements for her. She thought that Aria finally realized how golden of a chance she was given only to be disappointed when Aria never asked a single question about [Lichte].

"Can there be an experimental subjugation? Like a trial experience before I make my final decision,"

"..A trial experience?," Reina mumbled, bringing her hand up to her lips as she fell into deep thoughts.

"Yes. I believe that I can only make a concrete decision once I've tried working with you guys," Aria added.

After thinking about it, the offer did not seem to be that bad of an idea. Reina had never seen Aria's work inside dungeons. She faced the other contestants one by one in the competition. How would she fare inside a dungeon, where numerous opponents were available?

"I'll consider it. I'll bring it up to my captain," Reina relented.

"That's great!" Aria heaved a sigh of relief as she expected Reina to refuse right off the bat.

For a rookie who hasn't even joined their team, Reina was actually going to quite a far length.

It made her wonder how they managed to have this much trust in her potential. She was confident in herself, but it wasn't like the rest saw the same thing.

"Oh, and also.. The kids from your competition.. Yoon Ji-min and Lily wanted to reach out to you. They offered their thanks," Reina casually mentioned.

Aria instantly had a flashback to the competition. The two women were ones that she technically saved.

"Ah... I see," Aria made a simple, light smile as she thought about the girls' appreciation. "I simply thought that it'd be a waste if they went down just like that,"

After that, Aria and Reina engaged in small talks and resolved everything with the ultimate decision of going to a dungeon subjugation together.

______

As she was still staying inside the institution, Aria sat down by the bed and played her mobile phone. Two days had passed. Aria was now wearing casual clothes after realizing that she would be here for longer than she thought.

Her phone suddenly rang. Aria had few contacts, so she immediately picked it up without looking at the name carefully.

After reading the caller's name and realizing that it was Reina, Aria perked up, wondering what the woman had to say.

"Hello?" Aria took the initiative to talk first.

"Come to XX Road right now. We procured a dungeon. It's going to be a team of five. B-ranked," Reina conveyed everything in one short sentence.

Reina didn't bother about greetings and unnecessary stuff, which showed that the dungeon's matter had to be rushed.

"Alright," Aria gulped a mouthful of her saliva, feeling her heartbeat speed up as this was going to be her first dungeon excursion with a separate team.

She wondered how well she would fit in. Moreover, it was a B-ranked dungeon.

She asked for as little members as possible, but they were only able to bring down the number to five people in total. Usually, one B-ranked dungeon had to be entered by at least 15 B-ranked people to assure safety.

After being told the specific pinpoint, Reina hung up.

Aria felt the need to rush and made her travel there quick using her abilities. The institution wasn't all that far from the location Reina mentioned, thankfully.

Aria was able to reach there in less than ten minutes.

She felt extremely lucky that she had not slacked in her training during the stay at the institution. Thanks to that, Aria was able to maintain her perfect condition with much ease.

Upon reaching, she saw the waiting figures standing in front of a gate. She walked up to them and tried to identify the figures, but failed. They were complete strangers she had never seen before.

"..Hello," Aria looked at the several unknown figures and bowed slightly.

Three people. Reina, one female, and one male.

"I am Kim Ha-young, a B-ranker. I specialize in Fire magic," Ha-young was a girl who had short hair and wore circular glasses. She carried a staff with her, which mirrored her identity as a fire magician.

"My name is Yan, a B-ranker. I specialize in heavy damage," A gigantic claymore was loosely sheathed behind his back. He looked like he just popped out of a comic with the overly fantasy-themed outfit.

Hunters did wear gear that might look too fantasy-ish, but ones that were deeply invested like Yan were scarce.

"Nice to meet you, I am Aria Schreiner and I will be joining you guys in this event. I specialize in.. Water and Earth magic, along with close combat," Aria introduced herself.

"But.. I thought we were going as five people?" Aria recounted and made sure that there were only four people including her in sight. Where was the fifth?

Reina blinked as she laughed. "Don't worry, he will come soon. The last person... Hah,"

With Reina leaving a vague statement like that, Aria was left confused. Who would be the final one? She expected White Fox to come, but Reina used a male pronoun.

Aria dropped her pressing thoughts and gazed at the humongous B-ranked gate with awe. As usual, the gate's appearance was weird, yet hypnotizing.

She found herself entranced to the look.

Suddenly, Aria was able to feel a slight uncomfortable feeling, making her squirm and look back instinctively.

It was then that she realized. A stranger was around the vicinity, hiding somewhere. The presence was strong, and Aria soon grew wary.

"An outsider," Aria took out her sword, getting into her fighting stance as she observed the possible opponent's moves very clearly.

They were hidden somewhere within the nooks and crannies.

Then, one sharp dagger suddenly flew towards Aria.

Since she had been expecting a move to be made, Aria was quick in getting her reflexes going. Using her sword, she successfully made the dagger bounce off and stab into the ground.

Another blade came. This time, it wasn't only one strike. The opponent launched four more blades, all from different directions. It made it hard for Aria to dodge perfectly.

Thanks to Aria's great mobility, she successfully repelled two of the blades, and dodged the other two by jumping high into the air.

However, never would she have expected the blade she avoided to suddenly point upwards as if it was being controlled and shoot up to attack her.

Aria gritted her teeth. There was a slight delay between the movement of the dagger, so she had time to react, albeit a very short period.

Mid air, Aria used Dianthe's Water Magic to successfully create a solidified water base. She bounced off the platform and was able to dodge from the last dagger, performing a beautiful spin in the air and landing safely seconds after.

Her body was as light as a feather, shocking the others who were present in the scene. Those who didn't know of her prowess.

Just as Aria was prepared to engage in a full front battle, she suddenly felt the presence approaching her. She immediately went defensive and expected the newcomer's next move.

Instead of another attack, Aria heard claps. An applause.

She frowned, but didn't lower her guard. She suspected that it was a direction.

One thing that Aria failed to notice, however, was how the other three people did not react to the attacker at all. They were just standing still without doing anything.

"Good work," A male's voice came.