Zora stared at the two creatures rolling toward her, blinking several times as her mind tried to make sense of what she was seeing. When they finally stopped at her feet, her expression twisted into something between disbelief and amusement.
Right in front of her were two perfectly round balls of fur, one black, one white, so fluffy that they looked like decorations ripped off a winter cloak. Soft, silky hair wrapped completely around their little bodies so tightly that at first glance, they didn’t even seem alive.
But then she noticed tiny button noses, little mouths, and two pairs of big, shiny eyes staring up at her like puppies. They were cute. Dangerously cute.
"Master!" the white furball cried out cheerfully, throwing itself against her leg with the enthusiasm of a puppy.
The black furball immediately followed, not willing to lose, and wrapped itself around her other leg. "Master! I’m the master’s favorite!"
White glared at black. "No! I’m the master’s!"
Black puffed up angrily. "She’s my master!"
Before they started a full-on rolling brawl, Zora quickly raised her hand. "Stop! Before you two fight again, explain something. What exactly is this Ring of Chaos?"
"I can explain!" the white furball said proudly, bouncing in place. "The Ring of Chaos is an ancient divine artifact! It has existed since the birth of the Xynnar Continent. Anyone who bonds with it can become a peerless powerhouse!"
She blinked. "Then what about me crossing over?"
The black furball jumped forward excitedly. "Master shed blood on it when you found it! That made you its new owner. But the ring hasn’t recognized anyone for a long, long time. When your blood touched it, the awakening shook space so much that it caused a storm. That’s why Master crossed!"
As the two furballs explained and argued over each other, a picture slowly formed in her mind.
So the ring she casually picked up while treasure hunting was an ancient divine artifact?
And she didn’t just become its owner... she crossed dimensions because of it?
Moreover, anyone who became the master of the Ring of Chaos was destined to rise to the peak. And because fate played a joke, she had landed inside the body of the General’s unfavored daughter.
"Sigh... My luck was either heaven-defying or absolute madness."
Led by the black and white furballs, she followed them deeper into the palace. They guided her to a stone chamber behind the main hall.
"Master, this is where the training method is stored!" White announced proudly.
The room was empty except for a raised platform in the center. On that platform, black and white light twined together like living energy, attracting her attention.
She approached slowly.
On the platform lay a single book, old, heavy, with its cover dark and worn, like it had survived ten thousand years. It radiated a subtle power that made the air hum.
The three characters written on its cover glowed faintly:
"Summon Magic."
Just looking at the title made her heart tighten. The strokes seemed to hold weight, like it was ancient, commanding, and even overwhelming.
Her instincts whispered that this book was anything but an ordinary summoning magic book.
She reached out and lifted it. As soon as she removed the book, the light around the platform faded and went still.
The moment she opened the first page...
A sharp pain exploded in her mind.
*Gaah!"
She screamed in pain as a massive flood of information rushed into her consciousness. Her vision blurred. Her head felt like it was splitting open. Her body trembled from head to toe... She clenched her teeth against the agony, digging her nails into her palms.
Only after a long, suffocating moment did the pain finally fade.
She inhaled shakily in relief. "Haaa..."
When she looked down again, the book was blank; every word had been erased.
Everything had been transferred into her mind.
Leaving the palace, she let the ring’s power pull her back into her room. The two furballs tumbled out after her, chattering happily. She barely paid attention and simply pointed at the door.
"Both of you. Stay inside the Sun Pavilion. Don’t run out."
The two creatures nodded obediently.
Then she sat down, closed her eyes, and began to digest the contents of Summon Magic.
The deeper she read, the colder her expression became. Her breath grew heavy.
This wasn’t an ordinary training method.
This was a forbidden art.
The speed of improvement was far slower than any normal method. And only the master of the Ring of Chaos could cultivate it. Anyone else who tried would ruin their foundation completely.
It was both a blessing and a curse.
Normal training arts were divided into four levels:
No-grade > Star-tier > Moon-tier > Sun-tier, the highest being Sun-tier.
Summon Magic did not belong to this ranking at all. It stood above them. It was strange, dangerous, and incomprehensible.
And now it belonged to her.
Time slipped by quietly inside her sealed room. Days blended into nights, and nights turned into mornings. Before she realized it, an entire month had passed.
When Zora finally pushed open her door, sunlight spilled over her like warm gold. She closed her eyes, letting the light rest on her skin. After thirty days of isolation, that simple warmth felt strangely comforting.
A soft smile blossomed on her face, and she stretched lazily. "A whole month, but it was worth it."
In the world of training, only those who stepped beyond the mundane could enter the Acquired Realm, which was divided into three stages: Earth, Sky, and Heaven, each split into early, middle, and late phases.
With the power of Summon Magic and her previous life’s knowledge, she had broken through to the middle stage of the Earth stage in only one month.
If anyone heard she surpassed Luna’s ten years of training, the entire imperial city would lose its mind.
"It’s been too long since I left this courtyard," she murmured. "Time to see the outside world again."
A hint of bittersweet emotion flickered through her phoenix eyes. Since she was five, she had barely stepped out of the General’s Manor. She had forgotten what the capital even looked like.
And she needed supplies now. Proper training requires proper tools.
The moment she mentioned going out...
"Master, take us too!"
Two fluffy shadows launched themselves at her like cannonballs.
Her calm expression vanished instantly. The black and white furballs were suddenly much larger in her field of vision because they had leaped straight at her and...
Boom! Boom!
Both crashed into her legs, rolling backward dramatically before staring up at her with huge, watery eyes.
She sighed helplessly. These two had only two moves: cling to her and weaponized cuteness.
After a month together, she knew their tactics well. Rolling, whining, pretending to be pitiful... ugh... she was too vulnerable to their antics.
"You two really want to go?" she asked.
Both furballs nodded so hard they nearly vibrated. The white one nodded too hard and rolled away, then scrambled back to pretend nothing happened.
"Master, pleaaase!"
"Let us go! We’ll be good!"
"But taking two weird little furballs outside won’t everyone stare at us?" she muttered. "Someone might even try to steal you. And honestly, I’m not sure I can protect you yet."
"We have a solution!" the black furball declared proudly.
Before she could ask, both creatures suddenly shrank rapidly, turning into two shiny bead-like pearls. With a tiny plop, they jumped up and attached themselves near her hair like decorations.
Zora’s jaw dropped in shock.
She genuinely did not know they could do that.
Well, that made things easier.
"Fine," she said, rubbing her temple. "But listen carefully. You can’t cause chaos. No running around. And you two can only talk through my mind. No speaking out loud."
If someone heard voices coming from her hair ornaments, they’d probably burn her at the stake.
"Understood!"
Two obedient voices rang in her head immediately.
Seeing them behave, she allowed herself a small smile. With these two around, her days would never be lonely.
After a while;
The capital’s famous North Street was overflowing with life. Vendors lined both sides, their stalls stacked with trinkets, talismans, herbs, and snacks. People shouted their prices, children ran between the carts, and the air buzzed with the lively noise of commoners.
Walking through the crowd, she felt a strange sense of nostalgia as if she had stepped back into her original world from a thousand years ago.
The two furballs whispered excitedly inside her mind.
Master! Look at that! So shiny!
Master! That smells good! Can we eat it? Can we?
Their constant reactions reminded her: she wasn’t the Zora of the past.
She had companions now.
Strange but... well... adorable companions.
She paused in front of a street stall, touching the beads in her hair.
"Hmm, you two still don’t have proper names," she murmured thoughtfully.
"How should I name you?"