The young lady is at it again!

Like any normal day inside the estate, the soldiers train, the staff see to their duty, the mages are still as workaholic as ever and have never stepped out of their workroom. Lady Sterne on the other is enjoying her holiday from both training and lessons.

The morning started uneventfully until she decided to barge into the mage's workroom. While on the corridor she met Pietra and Lucian carrying stacks of food boxes.

"Good morning, milady." The two teenagers greeted.

"Morning everyone. Is Viktor in?"

"Chief is inside buried in a pile of garbage. He kept on drawing up designs for a transportation matrix. When he heard that the Magic Bureau recently acquired a new genius and began research for teleportation, he suddenly went mad shouting that he would not be outdone and so he began to research one." Lucian, enthusiastic type couldn't help but blurt out.

Pietra, the stoic and reserved among the two added in a cynical tone. "I'm sure that so-called genius is up to something to have those old codgers develop that preposterous idea. I'd rather hear some random mage successfully make it than those people from the Magic Bureau"

Ah, the resentment is deep. Sterne thought. 

But a transportation matrix though. She does have something like that inside Lost Recipe but the spell script for it is still hard to reach. Unless she finishes studying those lower level ones, she wouldn't be able to touch higher and rare recipes beyond.

That Viktor, he's probably torturing himself over it. His enmity with the bureau may seem to have mellowed a little but once they are mentioned, he flares up. 

"Do we have a name for this said genius they acquired?"

"Not yet, milady." Lucien shook his head. "Gramps did not disclose it perhaps because the bureau kept it at a suspense." 

By gramps he meant former grandmaster Mordred who is still residing in the royal capital. Over these years, he not only provided the lads information but also imparted some bits of life knowledge like an old father. Especially to Viktor whom he is most optimistic about.  

"You know their lot," Lucien said again, "They were so keen on competing for the royal favor they would not so easily reveal the identity of their ace." 

"I wonder if this so-called genius they are so enthusiastic about can live up to the praise." Sterne murmured thoughfully. 

"Oh, he must!" Lucien said exaggeratedly, "With a wealthy background even if he cannot read a spell for shit they must make him look like a prodigy." 

Sterne covered her mouth before erupting into fits of giggles. 

Pietra sighed and kicked Lucien's shin, "You are in the presence of a lady, watch your language." 

"Begging your pardon, Lady Sterne. I got carried away." Lucien stiffened and slapped his mouth. 

But it's true though. It made her wonder how true the claims of the Magic Bureau about this young inventor were. Viktor is a talent no doubt about that, however, because of his lack of strong backing, bloodline and wealth those old superiors ignored his potential. They even conspired to kick him out as he was a threat. Now they suddenly hear news of a 'young genius' those old prunes are most optimistic about. 

Perhaps, Lucien's thoughts were right. He must be so rich to have those old men looking at him like a sweet pastry.

Tch, what a very displeasing thought. 

But forget about that for now, she has her own agenda for sneaking in their workroom.     

"I'll trouble you both for just a little." She smiled slyly.

Lucian looked at her suspiciously, long ago the Chief banned this little lady from coming into the workroom because of her amazing ability to disrupt their workflow. She would sit there all day peering from one mage to another asking about every little thing snatching away their concentration.

"I promise I'll be quick, I am not going to do anything."

The two teenagers sighed in resignation and led her inside. True to her words she did come in quietly and left immediately… well, that is after snatching the relic Spatial Pouch from ten mages who are currently studying it.    

"Where's the pouch? Has anyone seen it?" One mage asked.

"I thought you had in you."

"No, I placed it on the table—"

"Bleedin' hell, the little lady stole it!"

 

To create a vast space inside a limited container. Normally. Sterne only needs to toss out the idea over Viktor and the rest of the mages, have them tinker with it and see the results in the end. But since she noticed the changes inside Lost Recipe, she decided to study it herself first. With the pouch on hand, she dashed madly leaving the mages behind.

"Milady, please give it back." shouts of heartbreak trailed behind.  

"Oh? You have been staring at it for a month already, let me have my turn!"

They did promise her that but they could hardly even bear to part with it yet when they hadn't finished ogling it. This is a Legendary class item for goodness sake! For every mage and soldiers, the value and rarity of items acquired are almost as important as one's professional rank.

Rarities are categorized into six classes from Handmade → Common → Rare → Epic → Legendary → Mythic

Nowadays, it's already an honour to own at least one Epic class item. What more of this Spatial Pouch? It is one of those nearly extinct Legendary class items not even the wealthiest person can afford to buy! You'd be a fool not to appreciate its true value.

Well, except for a certain little girl with a head full of questions. Unlike the mages' almost fanatical devotion, Sterne cannot wait to dismantle the thing to study it. Her statement almost sent the poor mages on their knees to beg her not to do such blasphemy.     

With a mischievous smile, she turned to them.

"A promise is a promise and gentlemen like you should not dare break it!"

"There is always an exemption to the rule when it comes to a valuable piece of research." She heard Rickon.

Then follows Callaghan, "I-It's because we need to carefully examine it first."

"You said only a month, it has been more than a month. Stop cheating me." With that said she disappeared in a flash.

"Lord, she…"

"That's unfair milady." 

To go as far as using Shadow Walk on them. Hateful child! 

The mages can only grit their teeth and stomp their feet. Compared to the young lady's agile body, theirs that had been staying inside the workroom all the time could barely even scrape up a bit of energy to run after her. By the time they arrived at her corner, the door of her work room was already barred.

Ten boys are now wailing in protest and glaring at the owner inside. Oh, what are they to do if she really dismantles it?

Inside, the little thief shook her head laughingly. They are still so easy to tease.

Sterne lazily stretched her back then turned to her table.

Several items that accumulated over years of experimenting are neatly placed on shelves by the wall. Take the silver-mounted dagger forged in black steel, for example, one wouldn't appreciate its actual purpose and mistake it as a merely decorative item. The real value of this dagger is not its beauty, of course,  but the Phantom Gem embedded on it. Phantom Gem is quite a tricky material as it only recognizes one handler. If by chance some itchy poisonous hands try to touch it other than its owner, that person can only suffer endless nightmares. For that reason, it was appraised as Epic class equipment. There were only three of it in existence, Sterne did not want this little disaster to propagate so she limited it to one for herself and a pair for Dorn.   

Rarities held no huge appeal to her as it somehow lost its true meaning in people's eyes. More often than not, the item class became synonymous to a status symbol. Several ancient ruins have been dug up and defiled for the sake of owning those treasures. What she's looking for is their efficiency and power that most dug up relics do not have. The pouch held these characteristics. Unlike those empty husks they spent millions to acquire, Spatial Pouch has its spell script retained, a piece of information on how it was made. The only problem is that mages have no means of breaking down its components and understanding the process used. Without the Herald's Eye, replicating is only a pipe dream.    

Sterne kept her eyes peeled on the myriad of new scripts in her vision. Lost Recipe has undergone a huge change since the first time she saw it. Before, the spells and instructions just float around like unruly wisps of smoke, fleeting and dizzying inside her expanded consciousness. What she is seeing right now is an enormous pillar of light with motes of gold spiralling upward into the boundless void. She calls it the tower of knowledge where thousands of spells, blueprints, etc were recorded. The space in which she stood feels a lot more real than before, as if she was not sitting inside her workroom, it was as if she had entered someplace that did not belong to this world.    

Strange.

When she opened her eyes she was back again sitting in a familiar chair behind a wide vintage desk and the morning sun was pouring into the sunroom.    

Sterne placed her sight to the old battered Spatial Pouch atop the desk. First, she needed to write a series of spells inside a new medium, gather every last bit of both magic and particle components and compress them together.

Splaying out her palm upward, atop the drawn matrix Sterne slowly closes her fingers like petals of a flower. Carefully, she tried guiding all the elements needed in one place. It has to have a space of five hundred meters wide enough to fit an entire warehouse. Completely static. With the speed visible to the naked eye the written spells rapidly converge in the middle of the leather pouch turning into a black sphere the size of a pea.

A tiny black dot.

Sterne's eyes were instantly drawn to it and she was almost tempted to pinch it but she held herself. The curious little thing is suspended mid-air for a scant second before falling to the pouch creating a slight ripple in the air.

Once the preparation is done, she injected a little of her mana to set off the sphere. She watched carefully as it tore into the void, slowly, like opening a chasm making the inside expand and take on dimension. 

Her little heart jumped as she witnessed firsthand how the magic item is formed.  

In a single moment, a fluctuation in the atmosphere was felt. A swift surge of energy as the unfamiliar formation activates. Sterne was thrown out of her seat towards the floor. 

The whole manor was raised on alert immediately.

The maids working around the house momentarily stopped, the dejected mages who had chased the little lady halted on their tracks halfway back, and Sir Ahmose who was inside the gallery polishing the antique weapons curiously peered towards the young lady's workroom.

"What was that just now?"

"It appears Lady Sterne is on to another project. Nothing to fret about." A footman said with a casual shrug as though talking about the weather.

The head maid clapped her hand. "That was a huge one just now, can someone please call the carpenters? Milady is sure to need them as she most probably broke something again."  

The servants who passed by the gallery moved swiftly, registering none of the panic-stricken faces they had years ago. By now whether it is a new or old servant they are already immune to every strange phenomenon that happens within the manor. It was amazing how the frequent 'explosions' could toughen everyone's nerves. 

If there are those who are going to behave abnormally it is definitely those…

"Make haste, make haste, milady seems to have found a solution!" Rickon hollered at the top of his lungs as he informed his colleagues.

Mage 2 quickly reacted. "What!? It's only been an hour since and she's done with it?"  

"You can go and cry later, for now, do not block my way." Mage 3 complained while being jostled around.

Mage 4 "Damn it, which bastard stepped on my foot?!"

"Make haste!" Rickon called again. 

Sir Ahmose held his head as he watched a group of wild teenagers running like buffalos towards the young lady's workroom. Weren't they the same bunch who passed by here like mourners walking in a funeral march a second ago?

Such quick change in disposition.  

The door finally opened showing a disheveled child sprawled facedown on the floor. Gently, Sterne used her arms to prop herself up.

"Ugh, that hurts…"   

"Goodness, what happened here?" Gallaghan gaped, pushing the eyeglasses up his nose. 

The whole room looked like it was emptied by a very skilled thief. From the displays down to the carpets, nothing can be seen. Everything was swept clean. 

"I guess, it was a success." She said with a twitchy smile.