Takumi —or rather, Aria— remained on her knees upon the straw for what felt like hours.
The cold from the floor seeped through her tattered nightgown, but it wasn't the cold that disturbed her the most; it was the way she felt it.
Every gust of air that entered through the broken window caused a shiver: like a stinging caress running across her skin, now much more sensitive than she remembered.
"Damn bargain-bin god…" she tried to say, but her voice barely came out as a high-pitched whisper that made her grit her teeth.
She ran her hands over her thighs, checking the extreme softness of her skin. It was terrifying.
In her previous life, her hands were calloused, and now, even the dirt under her fingernails felt like an unbearable nuisance.
As she moved, the friction of the cheap fabric against her new, small breasts made her shudder.
Her body was too sensitive; she felt exposed, as if the world could touch her just by looking at her.
[System Notice: Soul Synchronization at 85%.]
[Side Effect: Sensory Overload.
Your new body is processing the SSS Core.
Physical sensitivity has increased by 200%
to facilitate the connection with external mana.]
"Two hundred percent? You're going to kill me!" Aria protested aloud, hugging herself.
But hugging herself only made things worse.
The pressure of her arms and the rubbing against her chest caused an uncomfortable heat to rise to her face.
Her heart beat too fast for someone her age; the system hadn't just given her the body of a woman; it made every sensation feel stronger than normal.
Suddenly, the rotten wooden door slammed open with a violent creak.
"Aria! Are you still wasting time, you filthy rat?"
A burly man, with an unkempt beard and the smell of cheap alcohol, entered the room.
He was the owner of the orphanage, a guy named Gunter, who, according to the memories beginning to surface in Takumi's mind, dedicated himself to exploiting unregistered mages.
Gunter looked her up and down, his eyes lingering longer than necessary on Aria's thin legs and how the damp nightgown clung to her figure.
Aria felt nausea, but also an instinctive fear she had never felt as a man.
Her body, on its own, began to tremble.
"The Kingdom's collector will arrive in two days," Gunter grunted, approaching.
His shadow covered Aria completely.
"That Soul Core better glow, even if just a little, girl. If you aren't even worth the Academy, there are always merchants in the capital who pay good money for fresh meat like you."
Gunter reached out one of his calloused hands and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up.
Aria smelled the rancid odor of his breath and felt the contact of his rough fingers against her skin, now too sensitive.
It was as if they were burning her face.
"Let go of me…" Aria said, feeling how rage began to grow inside her.
[Alert: Emotional stress detected.]
[SSS Core reacting to hostility.
Temporary mana flow unlock: 0.01%.]
A pulse of heat raced through her chest, spreading through her body in an instant.
Gunter screamed and jerked his hand away, shaking it as if he had been burned.
"What the hell...?" He looked at his hand, which was reddened. "You damn brat! Do you have fire magic?"
But Aria didn't respond; she was too busy trying not to moan.
The small flow of mana had traveled through her veins, leaving a stinging heat that concentrated in her belly and her most sensitive areas.
Suddenly, her legs failed her and she leaned against the wall to keep from falling. She was sweating so much that her nightgown became soaked, turning translucent and clinging to her skin like a second layer that mercilessly marked the contours of her developing figure.
"You're going to make me a fortune!" Gunter, far from being frightened, smiled with greed.
"If you already have that power before the official awakening, the nobles will pay triple for a combat 'pet'."
The man took another step, this time with a thick rope in his hand. Aria tried to retreat, but her back hit the cold wall.
The contrast between the cold of the stone and the internal heat of the mana made her gasp involuntarily.
"Don't... come near me…" Aria pleaded, her voice on the verge of breaking.
Just when Gunter was about to lunge at her, a shadow crossed the window and the door went flying off its frame, hitting him and throwing him against the water bucket.
Against the light, a tall and slender figure appeared.
She wore a tattered traveling cloak and leather armor that highlighted her athletic physique, along with a longsword hanging from her waist.
Aria blinked, trying to clear her vision clouded by sweat.
The woman pulled back her hood, revealing short blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. She was beautiful, but with a thin scar crossing her cheek, making her look intimidating.
The stranger looked at Gunter with contempt and then focused her attention on Aria.
Her eyes widened slightly upon noticing the violet aura emanating weakly from the girl's body.
"My…" the woman murmured in a calm tone.
"So the rumors from the Refuge were true… a diamond among the trash."
Aria tried to speak, but the heat she felt was overcoming her.
Her eyes rolled back and she began to fall forward, but before hitting the floor, a pair of strong, warm arms caught her.
The contact made her shudder as if receiving an electric shock.
[Potential Bond Detected: Liora (Rebellion Huntress).]
[Soul Compatibility: High.]
[Initiating core cooling process through physical contact...]
Aria buried her face in the woman's shoulder, breathing in a scent of leather, rain, and something sweet, like wildflowers.
Her body, treacherous and sensitive, reacted to the contact with a shiver that ran down her spine.
"Quiet now, little one," Liora whispered into Aria's ear, her warm breath causing the girl to let out a small, involuntary moan.
"You're not alone anymore."
The last thing Takumi felt before losing consciousness was the pressure of the woman's firm breasts against her own and the security of arms that, for the first time in this new life, did not seek to hurt her… at least not in the way she feared.