"I'm glad to see that you're okay, Irene," Rachel said with a smile.
"I'm really glad to see you too, Rachel," Irene replied, and her gaze fell on Ren. He lifted his bamboo hat and, meeting her eyes, simply nodded without saying a word.
Irene nodded back and sighed. Ren remained the same as the last time they met. He was just as silent and aloof.
"By the way, congratulations, Rachel! It looks like you've finally achieved your goal!" Returning her gaze, Irene congratulated Rachel.
"Thank you." Rachel said with a smile.
"Did your husband not come?" asked Irene.
Rachel shook her head, "No, Nathan is not in the capital, so I had to lead the Guild members myself."
"I see..." said Irene, lost in thought.
"Rachel, have you seen Crowey or the two clowns?" Hazel asked, wanting to know if the rest of the top ten had appeared.
"As far as I know, Crowey is not in the capital either. As for the two brothers, I haven't heard from them for a long time. They may be in Junonia," Rachel said, revealing what she knew about the fate of the remaining three.
"Hmm..." said Hazel, lost in thought. It turned out that only the four of them were here today.
"What do you think?" asked Rachel, looking at the Flame Zone with interest, wanting to know the opinions of her comrades.
"It's hard to say," Irene replied, taking the initiative. "I suggest we take our time and find out what we're dealing with first."
Hazel stepped forward, walked to the edge of the Flame Zone, and studied it carefully.
"The flame seems strange. It's like he has his own consciousness," she immediately noticed, sensing this strangeness. "I've never seen anything before."
"It's like the work of an experienced fire mage," Rachel opined.
Ren, the only guy among them, followed Hazel. Before reaching the boundary of the Flame Zone, he assumed a fighting stance and swiftly swung his sword.
If Arabel and Idan could have seen his actions, they would have immediately noticed the aura enveloping the sword before striking.
The swing cut through the flames and opened a gap.
"Wow!" the crowd gasped in surprise when they saw this. At the same time, Rachel, Irene, and Hazel frowned.
In a matter of seconds, the gap closed and disappeared.
Seeing this, Ren sheathed his sword, returned to his seat, and shrugged, indicating that he had tried.
"Let's take our time and find out the opinions of other groups. Perhaps one of them will be able to get more information," suggested Irene.
And all three of them nodded, agreeing with her suggestion. Each Awakened had their own unique System, and each of them had their own characteristics.
After a short discussion, everyone dispersed.
"Esma, do you know what's going on inside? How are Idan and Arabel?" Irene asked Esme anxiously and hopefully through the Soul Force.
Irene hoped that Esma, who had signed a contract with Arabel, would be able to find out about her condition.
"I do not know what is going on inside," unfortunately for Irene, Esma shook her head. Then, looking at the Flame Zone, she added:
"Even before Ned and I had a higher rank, I lost touch with my sister. Therefore, I cannot say exactly what her condition is. In addition, this flame prevents any Soul Force from entering, making it difficult to explore what is happening inside."
Irene also noticed this when she tried to use her Soul Force.
"Can you tell me what kind of energy it is?" asked Irene, suddenly remembering that she had forgotten to ask the question earlier because of Arabel's sudden disappearance. Finally, she decided to ask Esme a question about the strange energy.
"It's the Energy of Madness..." replied Esma, not hiding the truth. And what she heard made Irene tremble with fear.
Had all that sinister energy been absorbed by her younger brother? And what did Esma just say? The bloodline of the Alpha of Fire?
"Idan... is he not a human anymore?" asked Irene anxiously, not wanting to believe it. After all, her brother looked the same as before, without any signs that he had changed his race.
"Calm down, Irene!" — Esma immediately noticed Irene's strong concern and hurried to calm her down. "Idan and Arabel are still human, but they have a strange ability that allows them to change their bloodline. Idan has the bloodline of the Alpha races, the Alpha of Fire, and Arabel has the bloodline of the Valkyries, the Ice Valkyrie."
Irene's concern turned to surprise.
"How is this possible?" she said aloud, and all the members of her Guild heard her words.
"Is something wrong, Leader?" one of them asked, and only then did Irene realize that she had said it out loud.
"No, nothing!" replied Irene. Then, with a sigh, she turned her gaze back to the Flame Zone. Now that she found out that her brother has a bloodline of a race called Alpha Fire, she realized that this Flame is most likely his handiwork. He probably erected it before starting his Ascension Trial.
Each Ascension Trial was unique to the System Hosts, and she couldn't have predicted what her younger brother and future sister-in-law Arabel were facing.
"System, do you have any ideas about this flame?" asked Irene, wanting to hear her System's opinion.
[Host, do you remember what this System said a year and nine months ago, the day your little brother awakened his System?]
"Of course I remember!" exclaimed Irene, because in her memory everything was like yesterday.
[As this System said, your brother has most likely awakened an Epic Rarity System, with Paired uniqueness and a Title.]
Hearing this answer, Irene thought about what she had learned over the years.
Each System had its own rarity: Ordinary, Rare, Epic, and Legendary.
As far as she knew, in their world, most of the awakened ones had an Ordinary System, while there weren't many who possessed Rare Systems.
Irene was the Host of a Rare System herself, as were the rest of her acquaintances from the top ten.
The most striking feature that distinguished the Rare System from the Ordinary One was the presence of its "name". For example, the Ren's System had a name — the Swordsman System. The Ordinary Systems had no names and were simply called the System.
Now that her own System claimed that her younger brother had an Epic System, Irene began to wonder how Idan and Arabel's Systems differed from her own.