Chapter 123: Plan

"...So, do you still need the pendulum for you research, or is it done yet?" Aria asked, playing around with the pendulum that aroused some great memories of her teacher. This pendulum was always a mysterious accessory that her teacher was never willing to let her take a look into when she was little. She learned to ignore the item every time Zehell looked at it with strange eyes, but now that it was in her hands... it was largely different.

This could be considered as part of Zehell's legacy. If this pendulum was the exact same one as the one her teacher used, that is.

"It should be done. You should try putting the gem inside the pendulum to check if it's the real deal, big sister. Although I'm almost certain that this is what we are looking for, we never know," Alena chuckled.

Aria pulled out the gem that she had stored inside the System storage and handled the pendulum. It had a socket that was completely empty, but Aria couldn't see how this small gem would stick into the pendulum without its other components. However, she still tried it anyways.

And it did work. Although there was no adhesive, there seemed to be an attractive force that pulled the gem into the socket without much help and made it stick to the unidentified metal's walls.

Instantly, several System notifications popped up in front of Aria, making her jerk backwards as a natural reaction.

[Congratulations. You have become the first <Player> to successfully find your Container and insert the first gem.]

[For your achievements, the System will grant suitable rewards.]

[Congratulations. The <Adapter>'s Container, Unity Pendulum has been identified and bound to your soul.]

Aria received such notifications from the System, causing her to be taken aback and look at the next notification with wonder. She was granted three rewards. First, another status boost. Second, a 'Training Ground Ticket'. Third, a skill.

A skill that was still written in question marks. Only one line was left uncensored, which said that Aria's qualification weren't enough to unlock the skill yet.

Aria pursed her lips, not knowing whether to be happy at this thing or not. It was a niche gift that left her with more questions than answers. First of all, she wondered how the System was able to influence her status so much so that it completely abandoned the experience and level features. If she continued getting status boosts, then she could possibly match someone several levels higher than her, not just based on her pure skill anymore, but due to her boosts.

She had experienced firsthand how scary the attack addition could be. The reason why she lamented almost losing [Halvargg] was because of the huge status boost it gave her, compared to others' weapons. When she tried to equip Yan's claymore when she fought inside Leonis' lair, she felt the huge decrease in strength. It made her worried. What if she became reliant on the System's boosts? What if one day, she came across something that was able to strip her away from those boosts? Wouldn't she be too heavily affected?

"...It seems like the System is giving me rewards through unorthodox manners. It gave me the pendulum as a gift, but chose to make it harder for me in different ways. Well... so be it," Aria sighed as she reported to Alena, who giggled in understanding.

"So it is your container, right? That's a relief. I have received info from the System that apparently searching for the container will be quite a hard thing to do," Alena said.

"The System likes giving me benefits like this,"

Alena tweaked around with her device once more. She was suddenly reminded of something.

"Right, big sister. Since your departure to the Tower, I have managed to get a grasp of the Association's currently panicked state. As I said before, as the dungeon gates increase, the amount of capable Hunters would rise as well. However, as of now, the Association can't contact all of the Hunters right away, so they are having a lot of problems with numbers. The Hunters were sent to hectic locations right away, but there is still a surplus of problems.. So, there is where our part comes in,"

Aria raised a brow, gesturing for Alena to continue. The child had an excited expression, as if she had just discovered a new toy that she liked.

"The Association's security will naturally be directed towards the densely populated areas first. I am going to make full use of this situation and work with Gin to the highest possible efficiency. I ordered him to tally me all the plausible dungeons to take down and come with us to secure those gains. At this rate, coming up against an A-rank dungeon might not even be a far fetched idea. The world is getting dangerous increasingly fast,"

Gin. The broker that caused Aria's senses to tingle, someone who she was unsure of.

"So we will be working with him for a long time, right...?" Aria was not that happy about this outcome, but it was indeed the best possible solution if she wanted to catch up with the rest. One thing that she was surprised about was the fact that Alena was willing to work with Gin this much. It made her wonder if the child had a special relationship with the man.

"Alena, who introduced you to Gin?" Aria asked. Before, she had asked the same question, but Alena did not reply in great detail and instead just tried to avoid the matter entirely by diverting the topic. This made Aria wonder even more what type of person is able to fetch such a reaction from the little girl.

Alena sighed before finally relenting.

"It's another broker. Gin's non blood related brother who stays overseas. In actuality, the one I'm close to isn't Gin, but this other broker. I first came to know him when I was still in Germany. He had helped me gather information, ones that weren't about dungeons. Before the dungeons arose, he was already a well known broker, and Gin is somewhat of an apprentice he picked up to nurture. Then, when the dungeons appeared, he offered to take job of being a dungeon broker and set up an independent company that specialized in said subject. A lot of things happened, and Gin was sent to South Korea to keep the area's customers under his reach. That's why, you must be wondering why I trust his work so much.. It's precisely because there is already a long standing history happening indirectly between me and him," Alena said.

"..I see. I don't have that much of a great feeling about Gin, which was why I became extra cautious, but you seem to.. believe in this other broker's vision very much,"

"Of course. Big sister, just trust me. I wouldn't make decisions that would hurt you. This kind of important matter has to be well researched- something I already did multiple times beforehand. So fret not," Alena smiled as she assured the other.

Aria finally decided to rest the case about Gin. After all, the man was nothing but a supplier for them, and he wouldn't be able to fight alongside with them anyway. If she was just careful enough. Gin wouldn't be able to touch her.

"Alright. We will start clearing the dungeons tomorrow. It's already night time, go to sleep soon. I want to try testing out my boosted powers in the training ground, is that alright?"

"Of course. Like I said, the building is free for you to use in any sort of way. Please don't restrain yourself. The training ground should be able to handle the full capacity of your current power.. Although we can't say for sure in the future. You seem to be progressing very fast, to the point where my powers are having a hard time trying to track your information down. There is only one other <Player> who moves at a rate equal to you, big sister," Alena's gaze turned serious as she spoke, pressing buttons that were invisible to Aria's eyes.

"...Is it the one who beat me to some records? I was the second <Player> to clear the first stage. I reckon the one you're talking about is the first," Aria recalled that she was listed as the second record holder previously.

"Exactly. That Tower's <Player>.. His name is Dion Allegra. Like you, his Tower is also considerably stronger. His Tower is the second hardest after you. The reason why you were able to clear the Gem Collection record faster than him is because he hasn't found his Container yet. He currently holds... One gem, but the time disparity between your clear record and his was quite large. I suspect that he is already a step away from getting the second stage's record," Alena said.

Dion Allegra.

The name rang inside Aria's mind. A strange sense of eerie feelings shadowed her mind.