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 after her entire body was literally consumed by the flames and was left with no proper functional capabilities.
Shielding her eyes with her 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.]
'...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.
It popped out of nowhere without warning.
Her life was built around an ancient prophecy that her master passed onto her.
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.
'Outrageous.'
When she thought of her struggles, she wanted to curse at herself.
For being this dumb.
'Why now?' She wondered.
Was there really a set time for the flames' effects to expire? Did she finally pass that time and was now freed?
But..
'Still, something is weird. I'm all healed, aren't I?'
Her first test subject for the flames didn't get to keep their life after the flames were put out. He immediately passed away.
'I didn't. Does that mean something?'
Having not moved for an innumerable amount of years, her movements were chapped and disconnected from her thoughts.
She tried moving her arm, but didn't control her strength very well.
What was meant to be a test move ended up harboring the maximum amount of strength she could exert right now.
The slender limb shot up to the roof of the coffin.
Since Unitium was an extremely dense element, the strong blow she landed didn't manage to damage the coffin at all.
Aria hissed in pain.
She calmed down yet again.
Her memories remained untouched. She wanted to praise herself for still remembering the knowledge held by the Summoner Aria Schreiner after the seemingly endless suffering.
'..For now, I have to see what's beyond the coffin. I'll make my decision after that.' Aria decided.
Whether she wanted to continue existing or not.
Aria tightly clenched her fists and brought her courage up to come out of the coffin.
With the correct push, the coffin actually opened up right away.
It was only after she stood up and 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 buildings were 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.
Aria was amazed and in disbelief.
"Shout, my darlings!!" Aria spotted a man holding a weird black baton with silver embellishments in his hands. The volume of his voice made Aria frown.
'That's not.. a language I recognize.'
Aria had a vast knowledge of linguistics, but what the man spoke was completely foreign.
Even so, she understood it. 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 applied. Mana cost multiplied.]
[Launching temporary skill.]
[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 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: -
EXP: 0/1000
HP : 100/100
MP : 1/50
System Points(SP) : -
Strength: 10
Vitality: 10
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 10
Remaining status points: -
Skill:
-[Tempered Body]
"This..." Something lit up inside Aria's eyes.
Amazement. Dismay. Denial.
Several emotions came and left. For she was in complete bewilderment over this strange phenomenon.