A loud scream resounded throughout the Brynhildr household. The source? My panicking mother currently standing at the doorway to my room.
“Aria! Are you okay!? What happened to you!? How did this happen!? Are you injured anywhere!?” Shooting out several questions in a single breath, my mother rushes to my side in an instant.
She nearly pulls me into her arms to hug me, but manages to stop herself from doing so. Most likely worried that she may worsen whatever possible injuries that were hiding under the bandages, she doesn't make any rash actions towards me and just stands there, clueless on what to do in this situation.
“Hana!? What's wrong!? Did something happen to Aria!?” My father quickly appears at the doorway, completely confused about the situation at hand.
“Kieran! Why does Aria look like this!? What happened while I was away!?” Upon seeing her husband at the door,my mother immediately goes over and starts shaking him wildly by the shoulders, demanding answers. She finally calms herself down after half an hour, allowing my father to come examine my condition
“This is…!” Using magic to try and figure out why my appearance was like this, he easily detects the curse within the bandages.
“What's wrong, Kieran? Is she in danger!?” Seeing his reaction, tears start welling up in my mother’s eyes.
“No, not at all! According to my research on the bandages wrapping her, she is heavily cursed at the moment. Her stats should be extremely low, but otherwise, her life is not at risk.” He explains to her.
“Thank goodness…” Letting out a sigh of relief, my mother wipes the tears from her light blue eyes.
“I'd like to know how this got misplaced outside my study, but more importantly, how are you feeling, Aria?” Seeing my parents’ honest emotions of worry and relief actually made me feel slightly guilty. Wanting to try and open up to them, I decide to say something.
“...I'm fine…” Speaking for the first time since my rebirth, the both of them froze in place. After about ten seconds have passed, they finally processed what happened in their head.
“It's… it’s a miracle! Kieran, she spoke, she's finally said something to us! It’s a blessing!” My mother immediately becomes excited and hugs my father with glee, spinning him around. A scene that would normally be the other way around, but my mother was the warrior of the family instead of my wizard father. I don't know why but seeing this scene relieved the guilt in my heart slightly.
“That's great and all, Hana, but isn't this a bit dangerous!? You're gonna smash my body against the furniture!” My father yells, clearly getting dizzy from the spinning.
“Oh Kieran, I can't help it! I'm just so happy that she's finally talking to us! Actually, here, let mommy give you a hug, Aria!” Letting go of my father, my mother shifts her target to me, and quickly wraps her arms around me. Pulling me into her bosom, she rapidly spins me around as well.
It took quite a long time for her to calm down, and both my parents eventually left my room. Although it was quite chaotic at the end, it was as obvious as day that my parents cared for me greatly. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for better parents than these two. Not that the ones in my previous lifetime treated me badly, it’s just that the mother and father I have now are much more gentle and loving. I vow to myself to treasure these precious memories with them until the day I leave for the outside world.
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A month has passed by since that event, time which I spent between studying about the current world and doing family activities with my parents. They’ve been taking me outside more recently to places such as the park and library. Both of them were also pretty well known in the community, often being greeted by the locals wherever we went. Though they were baffled at first to why I was completely wrapped in bandages, my parents were always able to find an excuse as to why my appearance was like this.
As for my research, it appears that I’m residing in the city of Forlin, which was the new capital of Atalin. The previous capital was completely transformed into an S-Ranked dungeon, so it was quickly abandoned and relocated to here, the second largest city within the kingdom. It was one of the least popular dungeons for the elite adventurers to explore, since the monsters mainly consisted of undead creatures that had resistance to several different weapons and elements, added on top of their high health and strength.
Out of the eight countries that were around during my time, three of them were destroyed during the [World War] between the humans in the past. One other country fell into ruin due to the overwhelming amount of dungeons that appeared within their lands, the abandoned towns and cities now occupied by thieves, bandits, rogues and other cutthroats squatting there.
Although these three countries have been wiped out, nine more countries has risen since then. Most of them were occupying land in other continents that were discovered during the [Pioneering Age], something that took place just before the arrival of the [Dungeons]. They all grew in power at an extremely rapid place, developing technology unique to their own country, and followed a variety of different customs and religions.
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If there was anything in common between the current countries that stand today, it’s that they all had their own unique [Heroes]. Back then, this title was meant to go to the one who was destined to defeat the [Demon Lord], but now, it’s a title to signify the strongest warrior of a country’s military force. And it’s not like these people were only barely above the average elite soldier, it seems like they all possessed abilities far beyond the norm. Even the weakest hero from the thirteen countries is capable of razing a city on his own, or so the books says.
In all honesty, I really want to face all of them in single combat, just to see how strong a [Hero] of this generation is. My expectations are fairly high, due to the fact that they held the same title as I did in the past. If they’re any weaker than I was in my previous life, then I’ll purge them of their abilities on the spot.
And by that I mean that I’ll maim them and curse them heavily, for holding the title of a [Hero] without the proper strength.
Anyway, that was pretty much everything I was curious about when it came to this new [Sykerion] that I wasn’t familiar with. Anything else that I didn’t know, I wanted to discover and learn about in person, since it would be more enjoyable that way. After all, wandering around in search of something fun to do was pretty much all I did in my previous life, and I’ll do the same in this one.
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Now that I think about it, I don’t know much about my parents. Although they were held in high esteem by others, I didn’t know anything about their current occupations or their past. Curious about who they really were, I decide to ask them directly while we set up a spot in the nearby park for a stargazing session. Apparently it's supposed to be occurring sometime this week, so several other families were also setting up blankets and chairs nearby to watch the night sky.
“Oh my, you want to know my past? Well, let’s see… where should I start?” I chose to ask my mother first about her past while we wait outside for the stars to come out.
As far as I know, her name was Hana Brynhildr, a woman from a prestigious family that directly served the King of Atalin in the past. Taller than most men I’ve seen in my life, she stood well over six feet tall, perhaps reaching the seven foot mark. Despite being so large, she was still a very beautiful woman that seemed like she was in her prime. My sky blue hair appears to have come from her, which was a unique color that no one ever had in my previous life.
Overall she is an active, yet, gentle lady who seems treats everyone with kindness. Because of this, she has a lot of admirers within the city. Although I inherited most of my features from her, the only things I’m praying not to have are those large ‘melons’ that easily catches the eye of men. They’d definitely be hindering me in the future.
“How about you tell her about your younger years? There should be some interesting stories to tell, would there not be?” My father suggests.
“Great idea, Kieran! Are you okay with listening to that, Aria?” Nodding my head in confirmation, she begins right away with an excited expression.
“Okay then! In the past, I used to be a captain of a group of knights, you know? We were the strongest company within the military back then, often going around to explore dungeons in another world! The place we explored most was known as the [Immortal Realm], an area that is full of [S-Ranked] [Dungeons]. Everyone used to call me the [Valkyrie of Bullets] in the past, since I was capable of using any type of weapon as long as it fired a bullet. As to why I can do this, it’s only because I’ve practiced quite a lot with guns, and I received the [Gun Valkyrie] class in response!” With a prideful look, she begins to tell me a story of a great battle she once had with a mythical creature, but was quickly stopped by her husband.
“When I suggested talking about your younger years, I meant your childhood, not your adventures as a soldier. I highly doubt that our six year old daughter will be able to understand anything about it.” His interruption got him a cold glare from my mother, but he simply shrugs it off.
My father, Kieran Brynhildr, is the rational and intelligent person in our family of three. At least, when it comes to anything other than me, that is. Contrary to my mother’s large stature, he was shorter than the average man, and his facial features seems delicate, if not fragile. He could easily pass off as a female if he tried, though that's not something I'd like to imagine. His hair is a purple ombre color, while his eye color is something similar to the color of steel. He's often the one doing the domestic chores around the house instead of my mother, since my mother was practically incapable of anything related to housework. He's much more mature and reliable when compared to my mother.
“You're only saying that because your accomplishments aren't as distinguished as mine! Hmph!” Turning away with a pout, she lets out a cheap provocation on the same level as a child’s insult. There's no way my father would actually fall for it.
“Is that so!? Well then, Aria, let papa here tell you about his feats!” What happened to that mature and reliable father I was just praising in my head a while ago? Are you seriously getting competitive over something like this!?
“In the past, I was also working under the kingdom as a [Royal Wizard], a prestigious position that had me directly serve the king himself. I was known for being the youngest person in history to have taken such a position, so many nobles envied me greatly, often attempting to have me assassinated. My nickname in the past was [Skyfall], since nearly everyone who faces me in combat feels like the sky is pushing them into the ground. This is because of my class, [Gravity Wizard], which allows me to use some forms of [Spatial Magic] magic.” He began to name the variety of spells and techniques he was capable of using, throwing out several terms that even some adults would have trouble understanding.
“...stars.” With perfect timing, a shooting star flies across the sky, giving me a reason to end this competition about who was the more impressive person.
“Ah, you're right! Kieran, look!” Changing gears as quickly as ever, my mother points to the sky as the meteor shower starts to appear.
For the rest of the time, we watched the dark sky until midnight, before returning home. Although I was pretty much used as my mother's hug toy throughout the entire session, it's not that I disliked it, so I didn't struggle. I was content with what I've learnt today, and my parents are smiling over the fact that we just had a special experience together as a family.