Aren examined her.
Her long hair, as black as the night, was matted together with blood and sweat, but even this couldn't overshadow her striking beauty. Her facial features were sharp; she had a button nose and full lips.
She must have leveled up enough, as she was exceedingly tall for a girl. She looked to be around 1.80 meters tall. With his enhanced senses, Aren had also guessed from the sound her footsteps made that her weight was exceedingly high.
But her most striking feature was her eyes.
Ice blue.
She looked so cold and emotionless that, for a moment, Aren thought the entity across from him wasn't a living human but a statue sculpted from ice.
The woman did not react to the luxury of the lobby, the warm lights, or the smells of food coming to her nose. Her eyes neither widened with astonishment nor sparkled with joy.
She merely scanned. First, she looked at Xeras. The moment she saw Xeras, an expression of shock appeared on her face. But with her superior intelligence, she quickly grasped the situation. After all, Xeras was their instructor. However, it was still surprising to see a tuxedo and a bowtie on such an entity.
Then she turned to Aren.
Aren maintained his silence as he continued to eat grapes.
'2nd Rule: Do Not Draw Attention.'
Her gaze wandered over Aren's clean clothes, the relaxed expression on his face, and the grape in his hand.
A momentary flash of bewilderment passed through her blue eyes, but it quickly vanished. Razor-sharp caution took its place.
'Is he an enemy?' could be read from her face as she thought it.
She moved her hand to the short sword at her waist. The tip of the sword was broken, but she gripped its hilt so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
"Calm down, ice queen." Xeras said in a mocking voice.
"This is a Safe Zone. If you don't lower your weapon, according to the rules, I will have to separate that pretty head of yours from your torso."
The woman flinched when she felt the pressure Xeras emitted. She turned her gaze back to Xeras, then slowly pulled her hand away from the sword.
Seeing Xeras's words and the screen that suddenly appeared in front of her, the woman relaxed.
She still hadn't uttered a single word.
Limping, she walked toward the open buffet. As she passed by the armchair Aren was sitting on, there were a few meters of distance between them.
The 'Bloodlust' the woman emitted had caught Aren's attention. This woman had also killed. And not just once, but repeatedly.
Seraphina whistled.
"Not bad... I didn't expect such a genius to emerge from a primitive, simple world like yours. This girl, just like you, is one of the '9 pioneers', Aren. Try to feel the mana she emits." she said.
Aren did what Seraphina said and focused on feeling the mana the girl emitted.
A wave of mana as cold as ice greeted him. She didn't have as much mana as Aren, but it was exceedingly powerful. After all, not everyone cultivated their mana with a 'Divine' art.
In a serious tone of voice, Seraphina said, "Her affinity for ice is extraordinary. Aren, if you manage to pull her to your side, she will be of tremendous benefit to you in the future."
Aren did not answer.
'Having someone by my side to help me might be good. However, there's also the risk of her betraying me.'
While he was thinking this, the woman reached the table but didn't immediately attack the food.
First, she found a clean cloth and wiped her hands. Then she took a bottle of water, opened its cap, and smelled it. After making sure it was safe, she drank it slowly.
Next, she prepared a small plate of protein-heavy foods.
Every movement of hers was controlled. Her stomach must have been rumbling from hunger, but her will governed her impulses.
As Aren watched this scene, he inwardly appreciated it.
The woman took her plate and sat on the armchair right across from Aren, in the farthest corner of the lobby. She leaned her back against the wall so she could see the entire room.
Aren continued reading his book. He wasn't planning on talking to this girl for the time being.
Silence reigned in the lobby.
On one side, Aren was reading his book, and on the other side, the 'Ice Queen' was eating her food. Occasionally, she shot cold glances at Aren.
As for Xeras, he was watching this silent theater with pleasure, like eating popcorn. After all, there wasn't much else to do.
After half an hour had passed, the woman finished her food. She stood up.
However, instead of heading toward Xeras and asking questions, she took a few steps toward Aren.
Aren had sensed the woman approaching but didn't lose his composure.
"You..." the woman said. Her voice was as cold and gentle as the winter wind.
Aren slowly lowered the book. He raised his head and looked into the ice-blue eyes.
"Yes?"
The woman frowned slightly at Aren's calmness. Her eyes wandered over Aren's dragon-embroidered robe.
"How long have you been here?" she asked. She thought Aren was someone who had come out of the dungeon just like her. This was more of an information-gathering question than out of curiosity. She wanted to compare her own speed with others.
"Ten days." Aren said in a flat voice.
The girl's pupils trembled momentarily at the answer she heard. Her mask slipped for a second.
"Ten days?" she repeated, her voice coming out like a whisper. "That's impossible. The dungeon time limit was a hundred days. Meaning you... from that hellish place..."
"Finished it." Aren said, cutting her off. He closed his book and left it on the table. "And waited."
"And also, from what I understand, everyone enters different dungeons. My dungeon was easy, that's all," he said.
The woman took a deep breath. Frankly, she didn't believe Aren.
The caution in her gaze gave way to an involuntary crumb of respect. Arriving here ten days ago was a speed she couldn't even dream of. She herself had only managed to arrive today by returning from the brink of death repeatedly.
"What's your name?" the girl said, maintaining the cold tone in her voice.
Aren, in a calm manner, said, "Before asking someone their name, shouldn't you state your own name first?"
The girl paused slightly. She wasn't angry at this blunt response from Aren. On the contrary, a slight flash of approval passed through her blue eyes.
"You're right." she said. There was no tone of apology in her voice, only the cold logic of acknowledging a mistake.
"Lilith. Lilith Grey."
"Aren."
Short and concise. There were no unnecessary words of courtesy.
After looking at Aren's face one last time, Lilith slightly bowed her head and headed toward Xeras's desk.
Xeras grinned as he tossed the room key to Lilith.
"Room number 2 is yours. Be careful not to make too much noise."
Lilith caught the key in the air. "Thanks." she said, her voice ice-cold.
Lilith ignored Xeras's provocation. She headed toward the elevators. When the metal doors opened, she stopped before entering and turned her head slightly to look at Aren over her shoulder.
A faint, mocking smile formed on Lilith's lips. She got into the elevator, and the doors closed.
The lobby was buried in silence once again.
Only the slight hum of the chandeliers and the annoying sound made by Xeras's file could be heard.
Aren closed his book and left it on the table. Peace had returned, but the atmosphere had changed. He was no longer alone.
Seraphina's voice echoed in his mind.
"You should try to pull her to your side. She will be of great benefit to you."
Aren calmly said, "I will try. But some things shouldn't be rushed. You should know this better than I do."
"Hmph!" Hearing Seraphina's grunt, Aren stood up, smoothed the hem of his robe.
He walked toward the elevator.
The day had ended. The lobby was quiet, clean, and empty.
***
It was the early hours of the morning. Or rather, one had to assume it was morning based on the hotel's artificial lighting.
Aren was completing his daily mana training in his room.
He wore only loose black sweatpants. He was shirtless. Drops of sweat glided down his pronounced abdominal muscles, but evaporated before falling to the floor.
The reason for this was that Aren's body temperature was far above the limits an ordinary human could survive. The inside of the room resembled a sauna, but a dry and scorching heat prevailed, not a humid one.
Aren was floating in the air cross-legged. He was only a few centimeters above the ground, but this was proof that he had started manipulating mana in the physical world.
This was a training method Seraphina had taught him. He was trying to anchor himself in the air using his mana. The goal was to improve his mana control.
For now, he could only float 5 CM above the ground and last a maximum of 1 minute.
Every breath he drew into his lungs burned the oxygen in the room.
'The Divine Phoenix Mantra... I can feel it changing my body.'
In Aren's mind, the silhouette of a massive Phoenix, its wings spread to the depths of the universe, each feather consisting of pure gold and fire, appeared and disappeared.
The bird's cry echoed in Aren's soul sea, expanding and pushing his meridians a bit more with each echo.
"More..." Seraphina said. Her voice cracked like a whip in his mind. "Your mana pool hasn't filled enough yet."
The blood coursing through his veins felt as if it was no longer liquid, but had turned into molten lava.
Every heartbeat meant a new wave of pain pumped into his body.
The Phoenix in his mind cried out, flapping its wings and testing Aren's will. The air in the room began to vibrate.
Aren tried to spread the energy compressed in the mana pool below his abdomen throughout his entire body.
The distance of 5 centimeters from the ground shakily increased to 6 centimeters.
However, this slight increase had also consumed the last drop of Aren's concentration. That delicate string of control in his mind suddenly snapped.
Aren's body, suspended in the air, crashed to the floor like a sack of potatoes, obeying the inevitable command of gravity.
Even though the soft carpet cushioned his fall somewhat, the impact was enough to empty the air from his lungs.
Lying on his back, Aren watched the ceiling. His chest was rising and falling like a bellows.
"Time?" he asked, panting.
Seraphina's voice was full of disappointment and mockery.
"1 minute 12 seconds. And your altitude record is a whopping 6 centimeters. Congratulations Aren, soon you might be able to fly over a paving stone."
Aren closed his eyes, unable to find the strength in himself to answer.
His body was more tired than someone who had run a marathon. Mana exhaustion was much worse than physical fatigue. It was a feeling that scraped one's soul and hollowed one out from the inside.
"In the first days, I couldn't even last five seconds. Now I've surpassed one minute. Progress is progress." Aren said, struggling to straighten up.
His joints cracked as if in protest.
He got up from the floor and staggered toward the bathroom like a drunk man. Every step he took was heavy.
When the ice-cold water poured down over his head, hissing sounds rose from his body. The steam rising from his skin fogged the bathroom mirror within seconds.
While the cold water extinguished the fire in his muscles, it also cleared his mind.
When he stepped out of the shower and put on the Royal Dragon Silk Robe, he felt renewed.
However, the rumbling from his stomach reminded him of the truth. Practicing with the Divine Phoenix Mantra required ten times more effort than a normal workout.
Aren left his room and headed to the elevator.
When the elevator doors opened and he stepped into the lobby, he immediately noticed the atmosphere had changed.
The temperature of the room had dropped, as if an invisible air conditioner had been turned all the way up.
Aren turned his gaze to the lounge area of the lobby.
Lilith was there.
There was no trace of her miserable, fresh-out-of-the-dungeon state from last night.
She wore a dark blue, form-fitting, flexible, and light armor clearly bought from the tutorial shop.
She had tied her night-black hair into a tight, flawless ponytail. Her face was as smooth as porcelain and expressionless.
She had a white cloth in her hand. She was cleaning a long, thin, and slightly curved sword she had placed on the table with almost obsessive attention.
The steel of the sword was so bright and white that it looked as if it were made of compressed ice rather than metal.
With Aren entering the lobby, Lilith raised her head.
Her ice-blue eyes met Aren's hazel eyes.
A competitive gleam appeared in Lilith's eyes.
At that moment, a strange air current formed in the lobby. The wave of cold air emanating from Lilith headed toward Aren.