The Summoner's Rebirth: Awaken, Milady

Chapter 2: A New Chance

Would she even get out?

Aria's one and only rejoice was that she knew about a certain fact.

Azef Harkan would not be able to succeed. She had never told anybody about the last part of the prophecy. Thank her instincts.

The last complementary element to the Unity Flame. Something that worked to contrast the undying flame.

'That particular element strangely belonged to my very first summon'

The unique water elemental spirit, Dianthe.

Summons were typically incapable of increasing their strength, but Dianthe was different. She had the capability to evolve.

Aria vividly recalled the first time she succeeded in summoning Dianthe.

She was only a lesser ranked spirit at that time, but as she went on more and more trips with her, Dianthe's power actually grew.

'As of now.. She could be considered a EX-Higher ranked spirit.'

EX-rank was the title conferred to those who surpassed the realms of common sense. It could only be achieved by attaining power that multiplied those of higher-ranked creatures by nonsensical amounts.

'A pity that I wouldn't be able to fight with her anymore.'

The bond they shared was more than just a summoner-summoned one. It was more. Much more.

When she was starting out to become a Summoner, no creature responded to her call. Only Dianthe did.

From then on, her career escalated. Fighting against the harsh currents of fate and ending up as a winner.

Reaching the pinnacle and attaining the highest level possible.

Time trickled by.

Aria lost track of how much time had passed. The count was definitely already in years.

Contrary to her first optimistic response, she had lost all thoughts of revenge.

Now, she only wanted to be freed. From the flame. From everything.

But at the same time, she also relished in the small feeling of freedom the eternal flame gave her.

She no longer had to worry about anything. She had spent over half of her life researching something she was unsure about, but now she didn't have to continue that.

After building a tolerance system, she was able to sleep. That was a weird feeling at first, since the current her had lost her eyesight.

She wasn't even able to see the raging blue flames at this point.

Maybe it was for the better, because there was no bright light to obstruct her smooth sleep.

______________________________________

'Azef and the others must've died by now.'

Even if they were strong, death always tailed them. Including her.

If it wasn't for the flame, Aria too would've died.

It's just that the flame didn't allow her to die. For unknown reasons.

'Surely, there was no way he can succeed. He missed the unmentioned ingredient.'

'What did they become after failing to reach the higher realms?'

'Did they keep trying?'

'Lorelei definitely quit. In the first place, she joined because she was bored. If the big reveal was ruined, she would definitely return to her land.'

'Azef is stubborn. Needlessly so. If he really did spend the rest of his life continuing my research, I would gladly count that as a win. He was also prideful, yeah? For the first few years, I was waiting for him to come seek me and make me cough up answers, but he didn't.'

'Well, even if he did come, my vocal cords are long gone.'

'What about the others? Yerenica, Arthur, that brat Zeno, Eris, what did they do?'

There were seven of them. The strongest seven.

'I don't even know how I'm able to breathe. Wait, why am I breathing anyway? Should I try dying by suffocation?'

Of course, the eternal flame was not that easy to beat. Every time she was almost about to die, the flame would engulf her and that somehow gave her air.

After a few tries with the same results, she was no longer willing to put herself through such torture and stopped.

____________________________________

'A millennium.'

'I'm convinced that at least one.. no, ten millenniums had passed.'

'Why?' was the only question she had now.

What was all of this for? Why was she still living?

The chances of her being discovered shouldn't have been low. Even if she was buried, natural disasters were a thing. Especially if they used magic, they would eventually uncover her body, which was buried under normal circumstances.

When she was charred under the flames for the first time, she was still able to recognize the sounds of those around her- Azef's voice was the most prominent one.

The place the coffin was stored in, albeit far from human settlements, didn't mean that it never had visitors.

With so much time, how could no one discover her existence?

But why? Why was she still stuck here after countless days and nights?

Time was no longer something that applied to Aria.

Forget tens of millenniums.

If she once thought that a millennium was a long time, then that same perception had now been erased and rewritten.

The pain of loneliness and solitude. The very action of being confined killed her spirit.

Each second felt like eternity. At the same time, hours passed like nothing.

She lost her concept of time, her hope, her emotions..

Herself.

Aria Schreiner was still alive.

She underwent a treatment that she wouldn't wish to anyone.

Not even Azef Harkan, her mortal enemy.

____________________________________

One day, something unexpected happened.

She woke up to her body feeling mysteriously sore and in pain.

She thought that after all those years, the concept of pain would be demolished and long forgotten, but it seemed like that wasn't the case.

She rolled around and tried to get the painful feeling off, but instead, she was met with a sensation she had stopped experiencing long ago.

The feeling of skin touching skin.

Aria was bewildered. She had been so used to having no sight at all that she didn't even notice that her eyes were tightly closed shut.

After being hurt by a harsh bump on her elbow, her eyes involuntarily opened.

A sudden surge of bright light affected her eyes, something that shouldn't be happening.

Shielding her eyes with arm, she began to receive several unusual sounds of... bells?

Ring!

Ring!

Ring!

Hearing the consecutive sounds of bell chimes invading her ears, she couldn't help but open her eyes to see.

There were multiple strange windows in front of her, each displaying a different text.

When she tried to touch the windows, her hand actually went through!

It was a weird feeling, but Aria had been in too much weird occasions to be fazed at such a simple thing.

[It is possible to merge the System with the potential Host: Aria Schreiner.]

[Host is 100% compatible to the System.]

[Automatically accepting the merging option.]

[Beginning the merging process with Host: Aria Schreiner.]

[Initializing process....]

[Installing...]

[Successfully installed the System.]

[A new host has been selected.]

'System? Host?' Aria was still stunned.

[Detecting possible threat to life force: Lack of oxygen. Advising host to get out of the enclosed space as soon as possible.]

'...Right. The flame is gone, so I would be able to die now, would I?'

Aria laid down.

The time she spent being burned by the Unity Flame ended up helping her.

Her emotions were tempered. She was thrown into this new predicament, but she felt calm.

She looked at the coffin's ceiling, which was still spot clean thanks to the Unitium's properties.

The question was, for what reason should she get up and intermingle with the world once again?

Aria looked at the glaringly bright System window.

Her life was built upon an ancient prophecy. Her master had once said that the one who could complete the prophecy would be considered the strongest. They would no longer be constrained to the mortal world and would ascend to be a higher being.

Only after her master died did he give her the scroll to the prophecy.

The prophecy was very vague. Thanks to her meticulous hard work, she was able to decipher the scroll's contents. It described a total of five materials in total.

First, there was the Unity Flame.

Next would be the Unity Bind.

Third, the Unity Sword.

And then, there was the Unitium.

The last ingredient was Unity itself.

Having not moved for an innumerable amount of years, her movements were chapped and disconnected from her thoughts.

However, her memories remained untouched. She wanted to praise herself for still remembering the knowledge held by the Summoner Aria Schreiner.

Aria tightly clenched her fist. It was only after she glanced upon the new environment that she got the biggest shock of her life.

Not even her tempered psyche could handle the change.

"Azef Harkan... It's only thanks to you that I get to experience a world completely different from ours. It wouldn't be a stretch if I called this the higher realms we have been searching for," Aria sucked in a breath of cold air as she repeatedly blinked, trying to confirm whether the scene before her was real or just an illusion.

From afar, she could already see blinding neon lights and feel her heartbeat sync with the eardrum-bursting music the obnoxious building was sporting.

Humans were like ants, crowding in one place altogether. One could only imagine how dizzying their loud screams and chatters would be if they approached the vicinity without preparation.

"Shout, my darlings!!" A man held a weird baton in his hands. The volume of his voice made Aria frown.

She was able to understand a language that she had never heard before.

'A voice amplification magic? But I didn't sense any mana disturbance...'

The unfamiliar genre of music made her frown, but at the same time, it made her heart thump.

'I should get away from here...'

Aria tried to perform a teleporting magic. However, the magic circle, which had temporarily appeared under her feet, suddenly dissipated into nothing.

'?' Aria was puzzled.

[The host doesn't possess the skill 'Teleport'.]

[The host tried to access a skill that exists beyond the System's limitations.]

[Penalties shall be given. Mana cost multiplied.]

[Insufficient mana. You have depleted your mana.]

[New condition: Mana depletion.]

Aria felt her head ring.

'This is bad.'

She dragged herself to the nearest pole. Only after stabilizing her mana for 5 minutes was she able to regain her clear mind.

'I can't even cast a teleport spell?'

As if reading her mind, the System immediately sent a new notification.

[Please be wary of your status.]

Aria Schreiner | Lv.1

Title: -

Job: -

HP : 1575/3025

MP : 27/185

System Points(SP) : -

Strength: 10

Vitality: 10

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 10

Dexterity: 10

Remaining status points: 0 (+20)

Status Condition:

- [Hunger]

- [Thirst]

- [Mana Depletion]

"This..." Something lit up inside Aria's eyes.