Chapter 102: The Price To Pay

Aria could do nothing but stay in silence as the child began to speak towards her, even though her voice was croaking here and there. Alena was in the middle of much more pain that she couldn't even begin to feel the one her throat created. There was another place much more painful.

It was located inside her heart, that was thrown into disarray. The emotions that overflowed upon knowing that her death was almost certain. Most people would feel fear upon being directly told that their life was nearing the end. Even for those who said that they were not at all scared, there would be occasions where they still feel discomfort.

There was no medicine for death. Once you passed away, all of your life would dissipate. One day, you will be forgotten and reduced into nothing if you didn't leave a mark in the world.

Alena's head was filled with pessimistic and degrading thoughts.

"Well, I didn't have high hopes, but I would've preferred if my body waited a bit longer before it fell down. You know, when I learned that I was a <Player>, and received all of these powers, I though that this was the world finally giving me a break and providing some sort of solace towards me. But what did it do to better my condition? Nothing. I still can't fight unless I want to suffer, and it's not something that is fixable by training," Alena sighed.

"The events I went through was like pulling on my heartstrings and releasing it right after I got excited. I get some sort of revelation, some sort of reward, and it makes me think that things are starting to look up. But then, the downside comes down like a landslide and destroys those thoughts,"

"Things never changed ever since the first occasion five years ago. You said.. it was a curse, right? I'm thinking of who I offended or what mistake I committed to get such a harsh punishment, but I really can't think of anything. Maybe I forgot, what a shame,"

"I can't say that I'm not satisfied with this ending, but I would love to achieve more. I only have.. what, the willpower of ten average people's amount?" Alena joked, making Aria break into a gentle smile as she supported the kid to lean upwards.

"I want to try to live through this.. I want to go to the tower. Tell me, big sister. There is a chance for me, right? You said that it's not zero.. then I want to go through it," Alena had a determined expression even though her body was weakened severely.

Aria looked at the girl and knitted her brows, falling into silence before she spoke up once more.

"See... Alena, I am not saying this to discourage you or make you scared, but you must know that proceeding through an Undertaking process is not something comparable to the pain you're feeling right now. I'm really not doing this to make you feel bad, but considering your conditions and all, it will be something out of your biggest nightmare. One that will shake you to the core. If you truly want to proceed with this.." Aria dragged out her words, hesitant to continue.

"Don't worry. At least I will die trying. What use is dying peacefully when there is even the slightest bit of chance left that I haven't tried upon? I have already suffered this much, one more trial will be nothing to me. Believe me, big sister. I am stronger than you think. Can't you see how bright I am?" Alena showed a large grin, trying to assure the older woman.

She knew that her condition was not normal, she knew that it wouldn't be solved through simple methods. But what is the harm in trying when all she could lose was her measly life that was already on the verge of falling apart?

"..You are one of the brightest child I have ever met, one of the bravest. Take that as a huge compliment because I've seen thousands of others," Aria said. The child truly had one of the brightest smiles she has ever seen.

"Ao, I'm not the brightest? Hmp, you could have at least lied that I was the only one in the rankings for this time's sake,"

"You are going to survive through this, aren't you? If so, then once you get out of this problem, you can prove to me that you are truly the one and only brightest child, surpassing everybody in my rankings. Be wary, though. My rankings are tough to beat. Hellish," Aria smirked.

"..I'll swoop that up in one go," Alena answered. "Big sister, rather than dragging on, we could proceed right now. We can't afford to lose that much time, right? My condition will only worsen.. Is that not right?" Alena asked.

"Yes," Aria nodded, standing back up and conversing with Rallaka as she summoned Dianthe, who had been revitalized during the time she rested in the summoning space. The water spirit was sent to soothe Alena as Aria began to discuss the plan, following what they have talked about just a few moments ago.

________

"Here is how we are going to do this," Rallaka said. "I have identified Alena's puppetry case ever since she introduced herself, and I think she might be able to conduct one of the taboo subjects in the puppetry field. We have to confirm this with Alena later.. But knowing that she was ale to subdue a damned high ranking ice spirit, even though it seems to still be a young one, is a great enough feat considering  her levels and stages,"

"..Explain further," Aria's expression was far from pretty upon hearing the word 'taboo'.

"The technique is called... Possession. It's basically trading vessels.. Chaining you to your puppet and entering that puppet. You must have already heard of this technique. It's not a relatively unknown topic, even though it's restricted by quite the large amount,"

Aria took a deep sigh, knowing that Rallaka's words applied to her time and subject very much. Those who mastered the art of puppetry had the freedom to do this, but it proved to be extremely hurtful to both sides and could even trigger a huge damage, which made it a 'taboo' topic. It risked the condition of both the puppeteer and their puppet, which made it unethical. Especially when those who wanted to do this in the first place were people with malicious intents.

There had been large scaled cases where a single puppeteer injected his soul into hundreds of their talented puppets and wrecked havoc in places. In the end, the puppeteer couldn't be discovered and the case was closed being unresolved. The damage was done. The puppets were successfully destroyed, and the perpetrator must've received a large impact in return, but the chaos at that time made the fighters incapable of finding the mastermind in time before they escaped.

This taboo topic, to be used on Alena, it was for a different process.

"I know. Are we going to use Ilyin as the trading vessel? To strengthen Alena using the spirit's spiritual essence as well, and take that chance to perform the Undertaking? In theory, that's possible, but the risk it carries.. Haah,"

There were two joint process that needed to be executed. Both were equally hard to pull off even in words, not to mention applying it in reality where Ilyin was this ferocious spirit who refused to back down even after the long time Alena had kept her as a puppet passed.

Rallaka made sounds of agreement.

"Only, she would have to fight hard. Not only will Ilyin not willingly give her space in her vessel, but Alena's true body will also still be affected by the curse even though Alena's soul is diverted to Ilyin. This child.. she will not only have to feel the pain of facing Ilyin's wrath, but also the curse's enraged state. Her soul will move, but she will still have links with her body. This will make her vulnerable to both sides of the pain. I'm sure that you understand the concept," Rallaka explained.

Aria nodded. She indeed knew about this factor. The biggest challenge to fighting a mass of puppets was finding the actual mastermind that controlled them. Especially in this case, where a Possession technique is applied. The mastermind, albeit their soul would fleet to the puppet, still could be attacked by damaging the original body. Thus, they had to properly hide their true state and work around the matter with caution.

"Is there anything we can do to ease the process? I'm not sure if we're just sending a child to her eventual demise in addition to the pain.. or we're doing a favor for Alena," Aria asked.

"We can probably ease the spirit a little using mine and Dianthe's essences. Thankfully, the three of us are spirits, so we should be able to form a resonating effect in one way or another. However, this penetration of essences towards Alena will also lead to more pain because she won't be used to our foreign elements,"