Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Emilia Atkinson

Chapter 17: Emilia Atkinson

 

Emilia Atkinson opened her eyes right as Roul walked into the gymnasium. She was able to feel him in the periphery of her range a few seconds ago. It was good to know that her range had extended by a couple of meters since she last went all out.

She smiled as Roul froze up the moment the door opened. Rightfully so. It was not safe, after all. Anyone would be scared of getting hurt.

It gave her immense pleasure that she could have that effect on people. It was not sadism or a thirst for power.

No.

It was a heartfelt relief, not being seen as a fragile shell anymore. She felt great pride in not being infirm anymore.

Before she came to Viz, she was not in the best situation. She loathed her life before magic found her. For that is what it was; magic. Other voyagers might hate the dungeon for plucking them out of their lives. For divesting them of their families. To Emilia, none of that mattered. The dungeon had freed her from her shackles. Her artifact and the subsequent infusion of mana had freed her from her weakness. The old Emilia was dead. That was her inevitable fate. Except, it was a joyous occasion now, as opposed to the sad fare she had been waiting for. The new and improved Emilia was something she could only imagine in her wildest dreams back on Earth.

That is why she had jumped at the chance to be something better. She hadn't hesitated one bit. She was the first person who bonded to an artifact. Understandable, since she had nothing to lose. Plus, more pain due to the dungeon's curse was not something she was keen on. Her body had been in a bad enough state as it was. So she jumped head first. She got her artifact. And what an artifact it was. The Hollow Crown.

Her fingers caressed the silver circlet upon her head lovingly. As a reward for her fortitude, as a recompense for her struggles, she had gotten the circlet. The moment she wore it, her life changed. Every time she wore the Crown, she saw a different world. She could sense so many things; could change so many things.

It was mind-boggling.

She had decided that day, to never hesitate anymore. She would not harbor regret. That was something she had already done in spades. Enough to last several lifetimes. No more.

The fruit of it all was quite palpable, after all.

Here she was, sitting cross-legged in the air, several weapons circling her in intricate patterns. She concentrated on the weapons, and one by one they floated back to the racks. With practiced ease, she unfolded her legs and floated down on the ground. Not a single sound was heard the entire while.

“How many?” Roul asked, pointing at the weapons.

“Twenty-two.”

“Well, looks like you got better,” he said.

She nodded in agreement. The number of things she could simultaneously control with her telekinesis had indeed increased. Her range was also better now. Alas, multitasking was a hard endeavor, and she found it easier to clump them together and make them perform similar actions. With practice, she would improve. But this alone was acceptable for now.

The heavier the objects, the lesser the number she could move. That was one area she needed to improve greatly on.

“Where are the others?” he asked.

“Andrea said that they’re on their way. Shouldn’t be long,” said Emilia.

Her teammates preferred intense physical training more than she did. And it was fair. Andrea’s fighting style required as much. While Stefan had no other choice. 

“Ah well, only two more days remain. So we have something special planned for today,” he said.

Emilia’s eye twitched as she heard that. Roul did his job, but sometimes, he made her wish that she had gotten to stay on Celeste’s team. He was way too whimsical for her sensibilities.

He was not a bad advisor. He did his job correctly and gave them what was required. But that was it. He just did his job. He did not have that fire that Celeste had.

Although, he was quite devious when he wanted to be. She had observed him pushing everyone's buttons initially, trying to gauge their reactions. To her, it seemed like he was getting the measure of each person, to build strategies around his observations. In her opinion, that kind of approach was often a hit or a miss. Either way, it did not endear one to their subordinates.

Soon enough, the doors opened and her teammates walked in.

First walked in Andrea Ortega. The Crylleret. Andrea had her dark brown hair in a messy bun. She wore her dobok as usual, with her black belt tied around her waist. Her light brown skin contrasted well with the white of the uniform. The green accents on the martial arts uniform matched the green of her eyes. The wide sleeves and pants did nothing to hide her toned body, honed through years of practice. In Emilia's eyes, Andrea's physique was perfect. She was a couple of inches short of six feet. Not too skinny, not too bulky; just perfect. It was the kind of physique that she would have been bitter and jealous of if she was back on Earth. But mana had done a lot to whip her into shape in these scant few days.

Following Andrea was Stefan Kullander-Z. The Inspectacle. In contrast to Andrea, Stefan’s pasty skin was covered by a black tank top and joggers of the same color. Also contrasting his skin color were the burnt orange eyes, the one true eye color of all synthires. There were two visible implants on both sides of his neck and several more underneath his tank top. All telltale signs of his species. What was not common were the circular tattoos on his temples, signifying his artifact. He was not particularly muscular. At six feet and four inches, he was taller than his teammates. His skinny physique made him look way taller than he actually was. Just as his heritage made him look younger than he was.

“Yo, leader,” Andrea greeted.

“Good morning, Andrea. Stefan,” said Emilia, returning the greeting. Stefan silently nodded in return.

“Hello to you too, my wayward voyagers,” said Roul cheekily.

“Ah, didn’t notice you there, gaffer,” said Andrea with a wide smirk. Emilia smiled at the interplay. She had habitually called Lord Roland their gaffer once. Andrea had apparently liked the sound of the slang and began needling Roul with it. The way she said it made it sound like it was something disgusting. Those two easily got on each other’s nerves, and it was interesting to watch.

"Oh dear, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not your boss? Technically, Lord Patcher is your gaffer. You remind me of an idiot I was previously managing. The only difference is that he punches while you kick,” he responded with a condescending smile. 

Emilia wanted to keep quiet and let it play out, but something he said caught her attention.

“That was the person I was traded for?” she asked.

You are reading story Pygilist: Fire + Fist [Dungeon Isekai] at novel35.com

She was curious. A part of her wondered whether she was traded away due to how frail she had been when she came here. Her ailment had taken a toll on her and often caused her to second-guess everything just like she was doing now.

"Yup," he answered.

"I see."

She knew that the main reason she was not in her original team was because of some of the political issues the Hollow Crown brought along.

There was no use questioning that.

The traitorous part of her mind that whispered poison into her thoughts kept nagging at her. It said that she had been traded away due to her weakness. She ignored that voice and moved on from that train of thought. When her bonding process had cured her, she had made a vow to herself. Holding onto past insecurities and regrets was anathema to that vow.

“So, what’s up? Your mail was vague as hell,” said Andrea.

“Oh yes, I almost forgot,” japed Roul. Emilia rolled her eyes as she was well aware that he did not forget the topic.

"Today, we have a joint training session with our allied team. You will be heading into the dungeon in two days. It's better if all of you got a feel of how the other team works. Just in case you need to team up in a hurry," he finished with a flourish.

“Please tell me that we can fight against them,” said Andrea with a wide grin. The battle maniac was already excited about it.

"For sure. We'll have a mock team battle. Chances are high that some teams would jump at the opportunity to eliminate Emilia. So, you need the practice," he said.

“Let them come,” said Andrea as she punched her palm and clasped it in an intimidating gesture.

“Yes,” said Stefan and nodded stoically.

Emilia did not say anything at all. She stood there for a few seconds, contemplating what was to happen in the next few hours. It was not news to her that other teams would be gunning for her. She knew firsthand how unfair her artifact was. If allowed to develop further, it would be a massive threat to everyone. She did her reading. Every Hollow Crown user got jumped early on. Some prevailed, others didn't. She would prevail. She didn't come so far to get a second chance at life, only for it to get snatched away from her.

That would not happen.

So, she agreed with her teammates. Let them come.

What she was more interested in was their allied team. If things were a tad different, she would have been on the other team. Even as things were, the other team was her ally. Down there in the dungeon when others would selfishly try to take advantage of the chaos, they were the ones who would help her. She didn't really care about the title of the Centurion. All she cared about was her second shot at life.

She knew that her team was strong. She didn’t know anything about the other team. Hence, her curiosity. According to Roul, the person she was swapped with was good. She would put that to test.

“When are we meeting them?” she asked, breaking the silence.

“They’ll be here in about ten minutes,” said Roul.

“Alright then, let’s make ourselves presentable,” she said as she began walking towards the lavatory.

“Wait what? Why?” groaned Andrea.

“We need to look presentable, Andrea. Make a statement. Quit dithering around, come here,” she said. 

“What statement? I am wearing my dobok. That is a statement in itself,” her teammate replied, pointing at her taekwondo uniform.

“Fair enough,” she said.

“I am good. You worry too much about propriety,” said Stefan as he folded his arms. It would have been more intimidating if he had more muscles.

“Suit yourselves,” she said and walked into the loo.

As she stood in front of the mirror, she looked at her reflection with scrutiny. Her early morning training had disheveled her somewhat. Her blue eyes bore into the reflection as she fed a minute stream of mana to the circlet resting on her head. Right now, she did not have the fine control to manipulate every little droplet one by one. But there were multiple approaches to this specific problem. She held her clothes with her telekinesis and pushed everything else outward slowly.

Several droplets of sweat and dirt percolated outwards and hung in the air. With a simple command, she grabbed the entire thing and commandeered it down the sink. Satisfied with her work she then focused on her hair.

At once, her blonde hair fanned out in all directions. Once again, controlling every single strand one by one was not in her wheelhouse yet. So, she clumped multiple strands together, as if holding them by her hand. In the next few moments, her hair moved around and settled down in an elegant braid. That would do for now.

Then, she pulsed mana into the small crown-shaped mark on her forehead. Her circlet summarily disappeared, going back into its dimension pocket.

She nodded at herself in satisfaction and rejoined her team. Upon seeing her, Andrea shook her head fondly while Roul looked like he had something funny to say. Before he could do so, his signet ring chimed and his attention went towards that. 

They watched on as he fiddled with the screen for a few seconds before turning towards the door.

Right on cue, the door opened, and four people walked in. It looked like their allies were here. 

You can find story with these keywords: Pygilist: Fire + Fist [Dungeon Isekai], Read Pygilist: Fire + Fist [Dungeon Isekai], Pygilist: Fire + Fist [Dungeon Isekai] novel, Pygilist: Fire + Fist [Dungeon Isekai] book, Pygilist: Fire + Fist [Dungeon Isekai] story, Pygilist: Fire + Fist [Dungeon Isekai] full, Pygilist: Fire + Fist [Dungeon Isekai] Latest Chapter