Chapter 33: Plans

"How was it? How was it?" Back in the base, Jin-kyung greeted them with excitement.

At first, Jin-kyung wanted to follow the two, because she was also familiar with [Magnolia].

However, Lein had dragged her to let her perform her supposed duties.

"Yuki came back," Arin said. "Yuki and Aria sparred, Aria came out as the winner,"

"Sister Yuki?! Was there?!!! Big sister, why didn't you call me! I would've rushed there in an instant!!" Jin-kyung rebuffed Arin, who only placed her hand on top of Jin-kyung's head gently.

"Precisely because I know you would rush there, I decided to not cause any trouble for Lein. If you left him alone, will the work be halted just like that?" With a light giggle, Arin left to drop her things on the table.

"Is it done?" She then asked.

"What is? The dungeon? Yep, there is one in the outskirts area. Around... Medium C-level, perhaps?" Jin-kyung informed.

The time she spent with Lein was used to detect probable dungeon locations. This was also another scary ability Jin-kyung had.

She was able to 'sense' the emergence of a gate. It wouldn't be the exact location, nor would she be able to pinpoint the time, but it was enough to let them progress through the dungeon procuration process without the need of much luck.

If anything, Jin-kyung was the very embodiment of luck.

A massive ball of luck.

"Medium C-level.. Not bad," Arin nodded. Most of the time, the dungeons Jin-kyung frequently sensed were F-ranks and D-ranks.

However, they were obviously not looking for those categories.

D-ranks were the bare minimum. With their current levels, one person would be enough to wipe out a D-ranked dungeon.

Usually, this was quite impossible for a normal person's caliber, but of course the team's members were all different.

Sung-ha was the current leading active member. Although he wasn't a <Player>, he still had massive potential and could surpass normal Hunters with ease. He could even contend against the powerhouses.

It was just that, he started low.

Compared to the powerhouses who began their Hunter career at B-rank or A-rank, Sung-ha was first evaluated as a D-rank.

Not much expectations were put on him, understandably.

People sought power. Power to overturn the world's challenges.

They would flock towards those who were promising as a form of natural reaction.

However, Sung-ha was quite peculiar by himself.

An enfant terrible.

With his main, [Regalia], he was able to manifest a strange power.

Mains were typically aligned to a certain element.

For example, if you had a fire-based power, your aura would hence be red. All sorts of red.

Similarly, if you had a water-based power, your aura would be in the shades of blue.

However, [Regalia] turned Sung-ha's aura into a golden shine. When used with full power, it would emit a thick, striking golden mist.

It would then envelop Sung-ha, letting him simultaneously obtain the power of camouflage when done right.

Although it wasn't to the point of invisibility, he was able to control the mist to a certain point where he could hide in it. It required high concentration, but it was possible.

When in use, [Regalia] would summon a specific Insignia catered to each purpose.

A roaring lion for offense.

A turtle shell for defense.

A wolf's claw for agility.

A snake for dexterity.

And lastly, there was an emblem that contained all four.

Unifying the four types, the emblem was as such: There was a shield made of the turtle shell pattern with a wolf's claw imprint, two swords with snakes slithering around it, and to top it off, a lion standing behind it all.

The positioning was quite apparent. The turtle as the protector, the wolf's claw showing its ability to scar the protector, the snakes' ability to harness the sword with ease. The lion, was undoubtedly, the King.

However, according to Sung-ha, this emblem was yet to be used.

More like, there was no way of knowing how to use it.

The animals' benefits were quite obvious, but when Sung-ha tried to use the fifth emblem, nothing seemed to have changed.

It almost gave him a direct invite from Hades to get an autograph.

When he utilized the fifth emblem, thinking that it would be a combination of all four powers, he was instead met with no power ups, making him susceptible to being endangered by the monsters' attacks.

He was able to get out of the predicament, but it wasn't without a cost. He became gravely injured and had to rest for a while.

Ever since then, he has always tried to ponder upon the emblem's usage, but to no avail.

This last Insignia always provided him nothing. Nada.

He wasn't troubled by it, however. His other emblems were sufficient for his current progress.

The fifth emblem must have a use. It's just that he hasn't figured it out yet.

On the other hand, the other emblems were strong. For example, in Aria and Sung-ha's first meeting, Sung-ha's turtle Insignia managed to block off Dianthe's attack and absorbed the damage from hitting the house.

That was admirable by itself. Not to mention, he didn't only have a defensive ability, but had all sides covered.

The only handicap being, the current him was unable to use more than one emblem in a single battle. One Insignia was his limit- the power is extremely draining to use.

Below him, Aria would probably come in second in terms of overall battle ability. She knew how to utilize her power to the fullest extent, just like how it was described in previous battles.

Yoo Jin could be higher in terms of pure power, but he lacked the sufficient knowledge to give the power its best usage.

However, any one individual from the three was still enough to take down a D-ranked dungeon as per mentioned before.

"Where exactly?" Aria asked for the location, wondering if it has been found out yet.

"Ummmm... Dunno! Ask Lein, me only pointed out where it could be. He's searching it right now, but according to him, there is indeed one C-ranked dungeon lurking somewhere in that area~~" Jin-kyung skipped to the fridge, opening the door and taking out a bucket of chocolate chip ice cream.

She finished her work, so she was now free. Jin-kyung did not engage in battles. She was more or less Lein's partner, being the intelligence part of the team.

She would give her assumptions to Lein, and the man would continue that guess and search for the real location.

Not only dungeon gates, other assumptions were also present.

Intuition and luck.

That was Jin-kyung's forte, something that only she had. Her own power.

Now, that jolly kid was eating ice cream without restraint in front of the two adults.

"We're going to look for Lein. Don't forget to clean up after you finish eating, don't just leave it on the table to melt like you did last time," Arin reminded.

"Un, okay!!" Jin-kyung beamed with innocence as she scooped one spoonful of ice cream and ate it.

Arin herself was baffled on why such a credulous and careless kid was granted with such a power.

Jin-kyung couldn't even form enough sense to put back ice cream buckets into the fridge after eating it, or turn off the gas stove once she's done using it.

If the power fell on the hands of someone who would purposefully exploit every single side of it, then doom it is for their enemies.

Jin-kyung, however, had to be led around and could not operate on herself. This was her weakness.

She also lacked common sense and skills, leading to her growth being blocked.

Forgoing that, the two women headed towards Lein's room. They climbed up the stairs and reached said room.

Knocking on the door before entering, they found Lein laying on the soft bed with a lollipop held inside his mouth.

In his hands was a tablet, one that Aria frequently saw during her time with the team.

"Lein, how is it?" Arin asked.

"How is it, what? The gate is just like normal. C-rank. Send Aria and Sung-ha there," Lein instructed.

"What about Yoo Jin?"

"There's another gate. D-rank. He can take it all. Like usual, if there's any objection, just say it out loud. I'm sending both Aria and Sung-ha as a method of precaution because Jin-kyung said 'something is weird'. That's enough to make me wary," Lein narrated, spilling his thoughts.

Arin nodded in agreement. The arrangement was for the best.

"I'll update you on anything new," Lein said.

"Got it,"

Bidding their farewells to the focused man, Aria and Arin then proceeded to go on their own separate ways, knowing that their job for today was over.

Aria was granted a room inside the house. It contained all the necessities one would need.

Aria had no personal belongings at the very start, and her current room was more or less as spacious as it could be.

Aside from the essential furniture, nothing else was added into the fray.

After splitting up, Aria went inside this same room. Upon arrival, she let her body fall onto her own bed.

She stared into the ceilings. Her eyelashes fluttered as she kept her eyes on the white platform.

Ever since she experience what she now defined as a 'rebirth', she had adapted to the changes, in both the positives and the negatives.

"Haa.." Sighing, she rolled over to the side.

"Dianthe," She called out the spirit's name.

The Spirit appeared in front of her.

Aria scrutinized the spirit.

No matter how many times she did this, there was always one oddity.

The Spirit was similar to the former Dianthe. Perhaps too similar.

Like they had the same wavelength.

"I still haven't found my purpose yet," Aria lamented.

The Spirit couldn't speak verbally, nor did it know how to react to Aria's words. Her development was still little, but it was there.

Another abnormal spirit fell into her hands.

One that was similar to her previous life companion, the holder to the last ingredient of Unity's lock.

"If I chase Unity one more time..." Aria mumbled. "Wouldn't that just repeat history once again?"

The events that led up to Azef's betrayal.

Aria recounted the memories she had.

Some happiness, some sadness, some anger, some shame, some of everything.

Was it all fake?

Was it really just like what Azef said?

She had been fooled all this time?

"Unity..."

Her eyes closed, and her mind shut itself down as she fell into a state of deep sleep in mere minutes.

She began to have a dream.