The sun above Alos’s domed structure pierced through the morning clouds and bathed the city in its rays. The outside world was a slum amidst a desert but, within the protected city, there was only a metropolis. Skyscrapers. Floating castles and minuscule islands that resided in the air. Vehicles flew overhead and ran along the roadway, but the girls sat under the roofed top of a bus stop. Rose’s feet just barely managed to touch the ground from the sitting, Lilias was similar, but Elsa sat comfortably taller than them both.

‘Mighty and aloft. It’s like the city was built around it.’ Rose thought as she looked ahead. Even if the gleaming skyscrapers were tall, there was something perpetually taller than them all. In the distance, there was a tower that pierced past even the mana dome that covered the city and into the clouds. That thing, a Great Dungeon which only 9 existed in this world, was their destination.

Lilias had spoken that around its base would be the Dungeon Association and quite likely anything else that was even a bit connected to dungeoning. Every Great Dungeon’s surroundings was usually a hub for dungeoneers or dungeon explorers as some termed them. The night before, Rose had taken the time the two were sleeping to do research of her own and ascertained these facts to be true.

‘Alright,’ She thought as a spark of fire danced between her outstretched hands, floating there and burning. Elsa watched her action with interest but Rose focused her attention on the flames.

She was becoming more familiar with <Igris> as a whole. At this point, she could summon flames even without the weapon itself out and about. As Mare had put it, a Gear was more than simply a weapon that killed, so Rose had never stopped experimenting with her weapon. She knew the basic ability of her power was that it could summon flames that burned mana and could copy copy attacks, techniques, and creations of fire.

A shaking dagger of fire began to twist and form. It flickered wildly, then mellowed, then twisted as she experimented with the right places to push mana onto.

Though her flames burned mana, they themselves required mana to exist. It was a sort of paradox. And that was why Rose was finding it a bit difficult to create something from them. She was working off of the foundations of the mana strings one could make when dealing with magitech, solidifying the energy, and applying it to her own ability.

She could place her will into her flames, as far as guiding the raw strength in a direction and creating explosions went, but she found that she couldn’t exactly solidify them. Yet, she also discovered that she could continuously surround it in mana. What she actually needed to do was continuously calculate and resupply mana at just the right ‘load’ and area around her flames. It took extreme focus but that was rather simple for an homunculus like her that couldn’t tire or exhaust. With a brain that processed information at a rate that would leave humans in the dust, she guided her flames with the mana that shielded it.

In the end, she gripped a small dagger of fire in her hand that continuously flickered. What kept it in place was the paradox of the mana it was burning around it. As it burned mana away, she continued to forcefully push the energy back in place to keep it compacted in the shape and form of a dagger.

It was a small thing, but it was a good step. Though she was sure her black flames would make any mana that came to constrict it all but void, at the very least, she could make some constructs from her orange flames, and more unstable ones from her blood-red ones.

This was the first time she was actually trying to build upon her power from nothing. Before, she had copied Shana Striker’s phoenix and made it her own. Before, she had copied Chase’s extended blade strike, making a flickering flame. Now, she was trying to expand her abilities even as she waited.

And, there was solely one reason for that.

Her creator, someone she brutally lost to with a single strike, marked her future death. Even if she had yet to figure out a way to save herself, she would continue to grow her strength. Less angry, she now felt like a brooding calm before a storm.

A spark of lightning crackled and her dagger burst apart, exploding into fragments that quickly burned away. There was a small blitz of the dance of electricity. Then, there was nothing.

“. . .” Rose blinked her eyes, confusion apparent in her face.

“The heck was that?” Elsa spoke, “Was that freakin lightning? How’d you do that?”

Rose furrowed her brows.

“I. . .I don’t know.”

“Oh?” Lilias looked over from Elsa’s left-hand side, “That wasn’t a power from your Gear?”

Rose shook her head. “As far as things go, <Igris> deals with flames.”

“Then that could only be ‘true magic’,” The girl said, “That doesn’t sound quite right, however. From what I know, dragons are the masters of the art, followed by light elves, dragonians with mana sensitivity and control, and then dark elves. Very few humans can do it, being extremely weak at it, and even fewer beastmen can weave it, though they are even weaker that they might as well not try.”

Rose took in the information and tilted her head. “So?”

The girl shrugged.

“I’ve never seen a case of a homunculus weaving true magic. Then again, I’ve never seen a case of one having a Gear either until I met you. Both things, though innate, are based upon the soul of the individual.”

Rose pondered those statements and her core spun at the memory of a battlefield she had inherited from her ‘former self.’ That individual had been a goddess of war who wielded flames, lightning, and wind. If true magic was dependent on the soul, then that could only mean one thing. . .not just the memories, not just the will and emotions of the individual, she was inheriting the soul of Bianca Idris Blake’s once-alive older sister.

“Ah, it’s finally here!” Elsa’s voice resounded. “We’ve been waiting for 15 minutes!”

As her thoughts spun, a vehicle descended from the sky. It was a bus of pure white which released its wheels to land upon the roadway before the stop. As it did so, other vehicles automatically moved around and away from it. Driven, likely, by the city’s central network keeping accidents to a minimum.

The three girls stood and walked towards the opening doorway of the motor.

They would have taken Elsa’s bike, but that could realistically only fit two people comfortably. Aside, though they weren't adept on the laws of the city, it made common sense that it was likely illegal to try and cram a third upon the motorcycle. As neither of them had cars, they could only take a bus.

Each of them paid the few of 100 lixels, a process automated at a tap of their pads against a standing tablet of sorts. Then, they turned towards the inside of the vehicle and began walking to find a seat.

Humans. Dragonians. Beastmen. And even elves. Just the bus alone was packed with all manners of people. Some wore business attire, some were dressed with everyday wear, a few kids had on what looked like school uniforms, and there were even people wearing light armor with weapons on their person.

Rose’s eyes jumped about, recognizing that some people held even handheld pads in their grasps, glass-like rectangular things. She was mildly interested until she felt her body pass through a film of mana.

“What was that?” She turned around and looked back.

There was a screen floating in the middle of the bus. Displayed upon it was the image of a confidently smirking, dark-skinned, woman with orange eyes, a strap of red around her forehead, and hair of brown billowing in the wind—a ponytail blowing along with two long bangs. Then there were words overlaid upon her face.

[Fran Freedom makes a blitzing splash in the opening league of this year’s Ranking! Knocking John Thomas down in two minutes and cementing herself as number 1 once more! Three years in a row!]

“. . .”

As far as she could tell, it was a sort of sport? At least, an advertisement for one?

“Holy shit!” Elsa’s voice leaked out as the three girls sat at the back of the bus stop. “Three years and she’s still got it! The first opener to a new league is a Battle Royal. Simple, easy, and fast enough to find everyone’s ranks. Drats, to think I missed it though. . .”

“. . .I see.” Rose replied.

Elsa laughed. “You two aren’t interested at all, eh?”

Lilias silently agreed but Rose smiled.

“You seem excited,” She said, “That’s good enough for me.”

Elsa scratched her hair, “Wel.. . huh. . .yes?”

Lilias chuckled.

“The hell are you chuckling for?”

“Nothing of note,” The dragonian replied, silently caressing the tail on her lap.

“Bullshit!”

The vehicle began to move. Rose stared out of the window to see the city floor growing distanced and the motor linking with the first layer of air travel.

Then, her vision blurred.

The wind blew and the fresh scent of flowers filled her nose. The ground was grass and there, Rose stood, blonde hair blowing, and blue eyes staring warmly at the person before her. A girl shorter than herself, golden-haired much the same, with a younger face and much sharper features.

Behind that girl, elves and dark elves were mingling about. Mostly, they were sparring with swords and true magic clashing. A spark of fire. A spark of lightning. Jubilant taunting as blades met leather and armor.

“How was your first mission being a party leader?” Rose asked, shifting her eyes back.

“Hmm? I tried to work with them,” Bianca frowned, “They disliked me.”

Rose raised a brow. “Disliked you? Those lax people? Did you lead them or did you order them?”

“They are soldiers meant to defend our home,” Bianca furrowed, “They should follow orders and be willing to lay their lives down, no matter what Guardian leads them.”

Rose shook her head. “That’s not how people work, Bianca. You can’t just expect elves to follow instructions like a code.”

“That’s how it should work. If they can’t follow orders, what use are they?” Her little sister asked with utter confusion, “Or are you saying we should have useless soldiers so that the humans may walk over here and genocide us again?”

Rose opened her lips then closed them.

She sighed.

“You’ll come to learn, one day,” She said, “Order as you might like but Fate touches each of us in her own ways.”

Bianca pouted. “There you go giving me a sermon again.”

“Sermon huh? I suppose you could put it that way.” Rose laughed, patting the head of her little sister and ruffling her hair

As the girl before her continued pouting, the world blurred away once more and Rose found herself seated upon the bus.

‘Another memory. . .’

She frowned because she now felt a growing wave of warmth for her maker. As the memories came, the sensation increased. It was the love a sister felt for her sibling but it was something she did not want. After all, her creator was someone who believed her life was worthless and that she existed only to be used. Rose disagreed with that.

'I'm not Rose Blake,' She affirmed to herself, 'I'm Rose Ausra. I'm myself.'

In the midst of her thought, a hand reached over and grasped hers.

She turned her stare to see Elsa.

"Deep in another thought?" The girl asked.

Rose smiled. "I'm alright."

"Gotcha," The girl nodded, "That's good to hear."

Though she said that, Elsa did not let go. Feeling her warm hand, Rose thought it was a good way to tether herself to reality.