The Summoner's Rebirth: Awaken, Milady

"Aria?" Reina's voice called out to her, catching her attention.

"Ah, please wait a little moment!" Aria got off her bed and went in front of the mirror to tidy up her appearance by even the slightest bit.

Combing her hair by running her fingers through the strands, she rushed to the door in order to welcome Reina, but didn't expect that her slippers' front would fold up and cause her to fall.

Thanks to her quick reflexes, she was able to land on a not so vulnerable place, but she still let out a sharp yelp in panic.

Even though the room had decently thick walls, Reina was still able to hear Aria's voice from the outside.

"..Mm. Don't hurry, there's no rush," Reina giggled from behind the door, thinking that Aria must've panicked with her sudden arrival. "I will be waiting in another room, I need to do something here. Just call me when you are ready,"

"Sorry for the inconvenience. I overslept," Aria rubbed the part that took the hardest fall, enduring the dull pain that followed suit.

She winced. The placed she bumped was definitely going to bruise.

"I do that sometimes. Don't worry," Reina answered calmly, bidding her farewells.

As usual, Aria was able to hear Reina's high heels clacking against the floor, signifying that she was walking elsewhere. As the sounds dissipated, Aria was once again able to calm down.

She took a clean towel and a new set of clothes, both prepared by the staffs during her call yesterday. She was also told where the bathing section was in this particular ward, so she could smoothly pinpoint her destination.

First, she had to speedily take a bath and continue her meeting with Raina. She grumbled, thinking how she was so dumb that she actually overslept.

It wasn't like her, since she usually had an uptight schedule in which she was able to monitor her own body's performance to the utmost limits. She shouldn't have fallen asleep for that long.

Feeling lethargic, Aria's thoughts were a bit jumbled up due to the increasing stress she felt.

"Aah, this sucks!" Aria complained, attributing her feelings of frustration to the simulation she had inside her dream.

Thankfully, due to Reina's call and the busy schedule she had, Aria was able to quickly separate her terrifying nightmare from the reality. She successfully boxed those two segments and put the negative one away.

Her master, Zehell Rivkins had appeared twice inside her dreams during a relatively short period of time.

Even after she lost him, she only had a few nightmares back when she was a child before she could move on emotionally from his death. She understood that every life was fleeting and that her master was destined to go someday anyway.

She shrugged the thoughts away and rushed to the bathroom in order to take the shower she wanted. Once she reached the bathing section, she started to get ready for a quick shower.

Sighing, she opened the shower door and turned the knob. Water sprayed out of the shower head. It took a few seconds for the water to turn from cold to hot, so Aria stepped out from the shower head's reach until the water was comfortable to go into.

Aria moaned in pleasure as she felt the hot water drench her body. She lathered her skin with soap, further rubbing it on the surface to clean herself. She was not a clean freak, but the sensation of being clean was pleasant.

Washing her hair, Aria poured shampoo into her palm and applied it to her scalp, massaging it in to get the full effect.

Then, she washed everything away and wrung her hair to prevent excessive dripping water when she got out.

After the short shower, she stepped out of the shower cubicle and covered herself with a bath robe. She then put on her clothes after she was done with her routine and called Dianthe to take a shortcut.

"Dianthe," she summoned the water spirit.

Dianthe swirled in the air, turning her head left and right to find no enemies or objectives in sight. She tilted her head at Aria, confused as to why she was called.

"Dry my hair, please," Aria asked.

Dianthe blinked twice before realizing that she was called to do menial duties. Even though she was a bit disgruntled, she obeyed the orders and dried Aria's hair to the perfect level by extracting the unnecessary water out of her strands.

"Thank you, Dianthe," Aria conveyed her gratitude, tying her hair up into a ponytail and telling the spirit to go back into the summoning space.

The spirit did as told, and Aria resumed her hurried routine. She ran with all her might because nobody was in sight.

Not long after, Aria was back inside her room, this time fully refreshed. She checked the time.

Only seven minutes passed in total due to her hasty actions. She scrambled to obtain her mobile phone and dialed Reina's number.

"You're done?" Reina's voice held a slight emotion of shock.

"Yesh- Uhm, I mean, Yes," Aria accidentally bit her tongue because she was too nervous.

She felt embarrassment course through her as she tapped rhythmically with her index finger, waiting for Reina's response and hoping that she would just let her mistake slip by.

However, Reina laughed, not stopping before her laughing gas was emptied. "How cute. I will head there now, wait patiently,"

"Oh, and, I forgot to tell you, I got a relieving balm for your body after you tragically fell. The sound was so hard, so I just had to tell everyone here how anguished my heart was when I heard it. Everybody in this room wishes you a safe recovery~"

Another voice erupted beside Reina, saying that Aria should 'take care' of her body. After that, other voices also followed suit.

Aria could imagine the other six to seven voices having to hear her clumsy accident thanks to Reina's michievous act. She sighed in distress.

"..I'm alright. Please forget about it," Aria covered her face with her palm, regretting her actions.

"No can do~ I'll hang up now, alright?" Reina said, cutting off the phone line.

After, Aria could do nothing but sit on her bed in shame as she waited for Reina to get to her room.

She had some questions to ask and decisions to contemplate over.

In less than three minutes, Reina knocked on the door to notify her arrival.

Aria opened it and allowed Reina entry.

"So? Why did you contact me this soon? Don't tell me, you were just playing hard to get and decided to quit the act?" Reina continued teasing Aria, walking in confidently and going straight to the chair placed right beside the bed.

Aria showed a displeased look. "Obviously not. I just wanted to know what benefits I could get if I did want to join your team. Also.. I have a separate question for my personal interests,"

"Ask away~ I'm free today since the Foxy girl is being punished," Reina sat down comfortably.

Aria, too, got on the bed as she began to sort out her questions.

"Can I work alone? Solo clearing the dungeons?" Aria gulped her saliva as she asked the question.

If she had to work in large groups just like how the traditional way went, then her progress would be largely hindered.

This was the important part. Would she be allowed to enter the dungeon and subjugate it alone or in small pairs? She couldn't bear watching as her stupidly hard to raise EXP get stumped if she chooses to bond with those large groups.

She wanted a fast and efficient path. Something that could keep her on par with the others' progress and even surpass them.

"..That's a little hard to say. Working alone, you say? It depends on several factors,"

"Do tell,"

"The dungeon level, the quota, the schedule.. and your identity or power, I suppose,"

"Is that so... Have you went inside a dungeon alone?"

"C-ranked ones, yes. B-ranked and above.. I'm afraid no," Reina thought hard before answering."If I may ask, why do you wish to work alone?"

"It's just my preference. I find it hard to work with other people,"

"So, with the dungeons [Golden Insignia] procured, you go inside those alone? Even C-ranked ones?"

"Well, we mostly acquire D-ranks, but for the occasional C-ranks, I do go through it alone. Basically, that scenario is the most favorable for me,"

"No wonder you are a monster. Are you not afraid of death?"

"Why would I be afraid? I'm confident in my path,"

"..That confidence will harm you one day. Be careful," Reina warned.

She had seen too much of the industry. Promising rookies that think they are the next biggest stars, only to end up being destroyed by a dungeon out of their league. Rash decision making skills and the tragic outcome that followed suit.

It wasn't a secret that the Hunter industry had many casualties.

"Haah.. exactly what are you doing this for?" Reina asked, confused. "Money? Are you in need of money? Don't worry, if you join our group, we will provide you with a stable salary scaled by your power and contributions. It's not a low sum,"

"I don't want money. I don't want the materials. I just want to fight and get stronger," Aria proclaimed with determination.