"Wake up, little Ameno! Wake up!"

 

... What kind of noise is that? I'm sleeping peacefully, please do not disturb me.

 

Aww! Something is poking my side! I am very sensitive there, please do not do so!

 

I turn around to avoid that annoying object, but it do not leave me alone for long. After several second, something attack both my armpit...

 

Ahaha! It tickle! It tickle! Please spare me! Leave me alone! Ahaha...

 

Damn, no matter how I struggle again that devilish object, I cannot escape it reach. It even skillfully follow my body's outline, assault all of my sensitive spot. I toss and turn around, until the surface beneath me suddenly disappear. And I fall freely, until my whole body collide with something tougher than the previous surface.

 

It is not that hurt, but still hurt enough for me to be knocked out of my previous half-sleep state. I slowly open my eye while sitting up, and see a familiar girl. She has shoulder-length black hair, pitch black eyes, medium nose, and thin red lip. Her skin is the same color as limestone, with a face that can be called as "just a bit pretty" - my close friend, Sakamoto Fumino. And, for some reason, she is wearing a white mage robe...

 

Well, I understand why. She was a big fan of fantasy genre novel, and, as she've always wanted to, we has been summoned to an fantasy world yesterday. It is easy to guess what she want to wear... Is it only me, or everyone would feel this situation unreal? A fantasy world of magic suddenly summoned me out of nowhere?

 

If not for the fact that I'm clearly lying in an unfamiliar room, maybe I would think that it is a dream... one that is a bit realistic.

 

And, the "friends" who've just harassed me earlier, is looking away from me, while scratching her head apologetically:

 

"Uhmm... I'm sorry about that... but it is also partly your fault for being so cute while sleeping..."

 

... If it were you, could you forgive someone by a simple apology, after get an tickling assault on sleep? And the reason for that is solely "because you was cute"?

 

Well... This is not the first time this thing happen. I might be very angry back in the first time, but after the second, the tenth, and the fiftieth, I no longer feel as annoying as before. And... I cannot deny that it feel a bit good. Fumino's skill in tickling me has grown a lot after numerous practice. 

 

But if it is annoying, it is always annoying. Even if I has gotten used to it. I retort to her angrily:

 

"Do you remember how many time you use this kind of reason?"

 

"Uhm... I cannot remember... but sorry... "

 

Right when she complete that sentence, she give one hand toward me. Lean on that hand, I slowly stand up, and sit down to the bed:

 

"Please do not repeat that again. Wake me up like a normal person would do"

 

"I understand... Wait a minute! We need to assemble at the big hall downstairs now!"

 

... What?

 

Ah, ah, I recall it. The measurement. They said that we need to go to the church for magic measurement and Gift - related stuff.

 

Meh, Fumino become lively in a sudden, just by remembering about it. She really look like a child who is going to open a birthday gift box... Well, a normal reaction of these "i-se-kai fan". Maybe she though that she is about to receive cheat skills.

 

... I'm a realistic person, so I never believe that you can receive cheat skill for free. Every power must come with a cost, be it either hard work or losing something important to you. You can only get the thing that are equivalence with things that you spend - that is how this universe work.

 

... While I was losing on though, Fumino has already stripped my sleeping outfit and toss them away:

 

"Hey, Ameno, you need to change now!" 

 

... This is sexual harassment! I immediately try to cover my body, but it cannot escape Fumino's evil hand...

 

***

 

... Finally...

 

After a fierce struggle, I can finally regain my freedom... with telekinesis. Second application of psychic ability, and the most widely used in the world of psychics - according to mother. 

 

Currently, I'm sitting in the hall that our class discussed our future action last night, in the familiar uniform outfit - as a girl, it is pretty annoying to wear the same clothes with yesterday without washing it, but I'd rather not wear weird clothes. In my left, there is a Japanese girl named Fumino, who is looking downward with an unsatisfied expression:

 

"Where's my cute loli maid..."

 

... Well, she has saw that maid outfit in my closet. I will left the rest for your imagination.

 

And in my right, there is an American girl with curly blond hair, deep blue eyes, and the same uniform as me, with the name Liliane Beryl - or, to be short and convenient, Lily. She is looking at both of us with a frowning eye, and finally, decide to ask me:

 

"Did you borrow a maid outfit somewhere and show her?"

 

... I have neither time nor energy to explain to her about that. I just look around the hall. From what I've seen, seem like it is still very soon - the sun have just risen, and there are only a dozen of people here.

 

In a corner, there are Touma, who is reading a book. And, Jin Hayaneo is sitting in another corner dozing off. A bit faraway from us, there are the "otaku triplet" Lucas Blanc - Tanaka Tanya, and Ilya Parkinson.

 

Lucas is a German, with a short light yellow hair, bloody red eyes, and an average face. Tanya is an Japanese, but he have white hair, emerald eyes, and a face that do not lose to any movie idols. He is even more handsome than the pair of celebrities in my class: Hayate and William. Well... but he is not as famous as them, for some reason. And the remaining is Ilya Parkinson - a Russian. He has black hair, brown eyes, and also an average face like Lucas.

 

... Actually, unlike many people think, no one discriminate again these so-called "otaku" - at least, in my school. Everyone have rights to have hobbies, and as long as it do not severely impact their life or other people's life, it is always acceptable. And, Lucas and Ilya's mark is usually high, unlike Tanya, so there are no reason to criticize them.

 

But, since no one can understand what they usually talking about, no one can join their group. Therefore, outsider will think that they are being discriminated again.

 

... If my current observation is correct, then the one usually talk is Tanya and Ilya. Lucas rarely say something, he just nod or shake when the other is talking.

 

And, a bit away from these triplet, these are the "exemplary students group": Disciplinary Commite's Vice Leader Iori Tesla, typical Japanese young miss Tousaka Rin, the never-be-seen-studying-but-usually-high-mark Amakawa twin, the hard-working English Selendis Faraday, and the young French athlete Koyla Ivanos. All of them are sitting together, without talking anything, only look at Jin Byul with eyes full of curiosity, and a bit of hostility.

 

... I wonder, why do they look at Hayaneo like that? Did she do anything to offend them?

 

... Wait, didn't these "exemplary student group" is also members of the "Supernatural Phenomenon Researching Club"? And, more ironically, Iori Tesla is that club's leader. I can understand if she entered that club as a member to monitor them, but became leader?. I know that I should not judge people by their hobby, but this is too much contradiction. 

 

Well, it is not my business anyway. I unconsciously look around. The pine forest is all tilting a bit under the gentle breeze of nature, but the sand yard lies between two white and pretty modern building is not affected... If I haven't saw the medieval-like interior of the palace last night, maybe I cannot link this world to an fantasy world just by this scene...

 

"Good morning, heroes. It is good when a lot of people wake up pretty early, but we need to call the rest now. Today, we need to visit the Church for the measurement, and Gift appraising."

 

... And the mage-like old mister that the King called "Cromwell" is here. Like yesterday, he still wear a white mage robe that extend past his shoes, and get its tail dragged along in ground. 

 

... Do they even think about the effort required to clean that part? Or they do not care because it is not their duty? 

 

Well, I should not think so much right now. Let's call the other classmate, who still be stuck in the realm of dreams.

 

***

 

After the blue light of the teleportation device fade away, I can finally see the Central Cathedral of the Church.

 

Well, to be short about what has happened from earlier, Cromwell lead us to an dangerous-looking round wide podium, which he called "teleportation device", with obvious black aura and various strange pattern, shine in blue light. It do not resemble a "magic circle", but more of an electronic circuit. Then, some careful person asked about the Church, and he only reply by "Don't worry. They are pretty friendly, but ... well, just see for yourself.".

 

And then, we step on the podium. By active something on it, the whole podium shine in a blue light... and we are already standing here now.

 

... The hell is this?

 

The Central Cathedral... I'm pretty impressive with it now.

 

It is not some ancient-style building, with pointed top, colorful glass and various religious decorating pattern, which we usually think about a cathedral. In contrast, it look like an five-story giant school building, with flat roof, white wall, ans a system of glass pipes that run across the whole building. In the side that we are facing, half of the wall was replaced by transparent glass, including the wall at the big front door. Around this building is various strange facilities, all of them give off an modern vibe. The roads that separate these facilities from each other is paved by modern-like asphalt.

 

If not for some weird floating stone above some facilities, maybe I have though that I've returned to Earth. And the podium in this side look the same as the one in the palace, and stay right next to the Central Cathedral. It also emit a dangerous-looking black aura...

 

"May I ask, are you the "heroes" that the royal family of Neutrino kingdom mention with us earlier?"

 

A soft but serious voice sound up right behind us. Naturally, I turn around to the voice's direction...

 

... Beautiful.

 

There are a young woman standing there with a serious face, from who know when. She has a short, bob-style brown hair, a pair of topaz-like blue eyes, an beautiful face with porcelain-white skin. She is not very tall, maybe only 20 cm taller than me, and a completely flat chest - which make me have some sympathy with her. But, the most important thing is the pair of fluffy brown fox ear in the top of her head, and a big pointed oval shaped fox tail that is about the size of my hug, with the upper half in brown and the lower half is pure white. For some reason, it is leaning on her back and point toward the sky.

 

... Fox woman.

 

Even though I has prepared to this, seeing a beautiful fox woman in reality still make me surprised. And, seem like the existence of half-animal woman also caught the interest of my classmate: some are trying to take a glance while looking away, some are staring at her rudely, only a few that doesn't care.

 

... Wait! She is wearing something that I'm sure do not match this era! It is a knee-length white coat, the type that employee at the hospital usually wear! Together with a white pair of laboratory trouser, she give off the vibe of an modern scientist - well, since animal girl is s symbol of fantasy world, these figures do not match a lot.

 

... Oh, I do not notice the little girl who is standing next to her. She is a bit shorter than me, with long and smooth black hair that extend to her waist. Her face is full of childish feature,with chestnut colored skin and eyes closed, but also very cute. She is also wearing an laboratory outfit similar to the fox girl, obviously in a smaller size. And also, her asset is the same as a child should be! Great!

 

Seem like even with eyes closed, she can still sense our gaze on her. With a cute smile on her lip, she turn toward us.

 

"Dark Elf..."

 

When the familiar voice of Fumino ring up next to my ear, I notice her long pointed ears that stick out her black hair.

 

... Maybe Fumino is right. Long pointed ears is a symbol of the Elf race, at least, that is the standard of Earth. But it may not be necessary to be the standard of this world.

 

While i was thinking, the fox woman has stepped up, to face Cromwell. She smile - a business smile, and speak with a soft but serious voice:

 

"Mister here might be Alexil Cromwell, Royal Mage Commander of the Neutrino Kingdom, right? So did it mean that these young people is the Heroes that you speak of?"

 

And mister Cromwell answer:

 

"Yes, they are."

 

Immediately, she turn to us with a business smile, while looking around us:

 

"Nice to meet you, heroes. I am Rosete Carmilion, a fox-kin, and Archbishop of the Church, but I'd prefer you to refer to me as miss Rosete only. And, this is one of my students, Nicole Armanous, a Dark Elf. We was responsible with guiding everyone to the measurement device, and record the result of measurement. We hope we can get your corporation in this matter..."

 

She immediately stop when her eyes meet me:

 

"Wait. The little girl with platinum hair there, please go home. And also the black hair little girl there. There will be no measurement if they are still here."

 

... Me? Are they have any problem with me? Why couldn't me get measured?

 

Under the confused gazes of my classmate, the fox woman named Rosete continue with confident - and her gaze toward me is full of sympathy and... it is similar to a gaze that you will send toward a lost child:

 

"We do not want to see these small children participating in war. They should stay at their home learning, eating, sleeping and playing, going to war and killing people is adult's duty. Now, can you please send these children back... well, if you cannot take responsibility for your irresponsible action, let the church shelter them for you."

 

... I see. She see me as a small girl, so she do not want me to go to war. Seem like even a fantasy world still respect children's right, unlike these "light novel" that Fumino like, where a child protagonist become heroes of war. Do they not have emotional scar, or their train of thought is different from normal human?

 

And, suddenly become an center of attention like this, it fell not really good. Everyone is looking at me with weird eyes, some with sympathy, some with laughter, some is indescribable. And mister Cromwell... he is looking at me indifferently. 

 

In the middle of silence, Touma - the other person that she mention - step out and reply her:

 

"I know that I really look like a child, miss Rosete. But, formally, I am 15 years old, which is in the same age with all other people here. Of course, if in your eyes, that age can still be consider a child, then I will back out now. Ah, also that platinum hair girl, she is also 15 years old."

 

... Oh, thank you for defending me and yourself by an very convincing speech - if he do not use the high-pitched childish voice of a little girl. If I do not know him beforehand, maybe I has mistook him for a little girl who is pretending to be an adult.

 

For some reason, I can hear a lot of small giggle around me. Even the majority of my classmate - who obviously know the truth - is covering their mouth out of politeness, but do not suppress their small laughter. Some of them is trying to desperately hold back their laughter, but it only make their face look funnier. And in the middle of them, Touma is looking directly into Rosete's, with his usual expressionless face...

 

I bet that he is very annoyed now.

 

Miss Rosete seem like she do not believe what Touma has said, since her eyebrow is wrinkled, but the little girl next to her is different. She open her eyes widely in surprise.

 

And just by that action alone, she immediately shut down all of out small laughter. Unlike her lovely feature, her eyes is very scary - it is ghastly white, with no pupil or iris. There is also a faint flame-like blue aura emit from that eyes. Just by a look, she can send a chill down anyone's spine. And the contrast between her skin and eyes only make it much more scarier.

 

When her eyes closed once more, I can hear breathe of relieve all around me. With a childish voice, but full of confident, she speak:

 

"He do not lie. They are really not underage, sis... mentor."

 

"Are you certain, Nicole?"

 

"You know that my eyes can never be fooled, sis... mentor."

 

... So it mean she really have some kind of lie detecting ability? Or... something else? I have a feeling that her "lie detecting" is not as simple as I think. When looking at her ghastly white eyes, I felt like that eyes could see through my bare soul. And the confident in her voice also further prove my hypothesis. But... I need an investigate in order to confirm it.

 

The fox woman Rosete immediately bow to us:

 

"My sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding earlier. I hope for your forgiveness."

 

Old mister Cromwell answer her:

 

"Worry not. We do not take such misunderstanding seriously, since the motive is good. Do you have any problem with it, heroes?"

Before we can reply, the handsome class rep Hayate has already reply:

 

"We have no problem with that. Actually, we also feel glad when knowing that the children rights was respected in this world too. Shall we not waste any more of our time for this problem?"

 

And miss Rosete smiled:

 

"If everyone do not take this seriously, we will also excuse us on that. Please follow me to the measurement machine."

 

After say so, she turn toward the main laboratory-like building and walk. The little girl named Nicole also follow her...

 

For some reason, when I look at the big and fluffy tail of miss Rosete, which is lightly swaying from left to right, I can feel a terrible urge to caress it...

 

What would I feel if I can immerse myself onto that fluffy tail? Will it softness melt away my mind immediately? What will she reach if I do that?

 

... No no no! I should not do that! She's an Archbishop, the position that I should not offend! But... the tail look like it is asking me to touch it! It is swaying!

 

Should I do? Should I not? 

 

"I also want to give that tail a hug..."

 

Yes, you are right, the voice inside my head...

 

Wait a minute! Who is that voice? How can you talk inside my head?

 

"Ah, I am your conscience. We do not talk much nowadays."

 

... Have I ever talked with my conscience? Can it even talk at the first place? Or it attained an awareness because I was a psychic?

 

"Believe it or not, it is up to you. Goodbye."

 

Hey! Does it think that my mind is a place for it to speak nonsense as you like? Come back here!

 

... Damn. That voice shut down. I do not even have enough time to track it down.

 

But... I can feel some closeness between me and that voice. It feel like that voice is a member of my family... I'm not sure. I am the only child in my family, so there definitely are no other brothers or sisters.

 

Then, what is that voice? Is it really my conscience that get to live? So, can it be considered my child?

 

"Hey, Ameno? What are you dazing out for? Everyone has gone with the fox, do you know?"

 

Someone tap into my shoulder while asking that. I immediately turn around, and meet Lily's oversized chest... No, not that. She is looking at me with worried eyes, hand point toward the group of people walking not far from here. 

 

I see. I lagged behind. I just reply Lily with a nod, then run toward that group of people. But the long leg of Lily can still reach them before me.

 

***

 

Currently, we are walking in an asphalt-paved road - which clearly do not match this era. And, even more anticlimactic, there are an grey thin pole at the side of the road each ten meter - and they look exactly like modern neon street light. Around the road is row after row of modern-looking building, with a road run between each of them - just like I'm walking inside some kind of university on Earth. And I've never seen any monument of god or something similar. occasionally, we meet groups of people with lab coat go in the opposite direction, some hold a stack of paper, some bring along a covered box. All of them stop each time they meet us, and continue walking after exchange a simple greeting - thank to that, I can know almost all of them are cleric member.

 

... I can feel the image of an religious organization slowly collapse inside me. They do not look like cleric, they look like scientist!

 

Just by one glance, I can see many amazed face among us - and Fumino is the most obvious. Seem like she is still having a hard time accepting the existence of this modern-like scenery in a world of knight and mage.

 

I also feel nostalgic about them. After all, a shining magic stone suit this era more than a neon light... but it do not match with the scenery. Well, I bet I should ignore them.

 

Suddenly, a soft bot serious voice rang up in front of me:

 

"May I ask you whether you know anything about magic, heroes?"

 

Not all of us reply to her, but the one who reply only reply with "no". But reaction of miss Rosete and the little girl Nicole is different from what I've expected - instead of calmly continue, they stop abruptly and turn to us, with a shocked expression:

 

"Wh... What? You do not know anything about magic? How can it be?"

 

Obviously, since we have just gotten summoned to this world yesterday, how can we know about magic yet - is what I want to say, but I decide to not. And the expression of everyone else in my class also indicate that they think something similar. Finally, as the class representative, Hayate answer her:

 

"Excuse us about that, but we come from a world without magic. For that reason, we do not know about magic yet. We hope that you can overlook our inexperience."

 

... I think his word is enough for her to understand the situation, but the shocked expression in their face only transform into confusion. They turn to each other and talk with a low voice - but with my hearing sense temporary enhanced with psychic power, I can still hear them:

 

"A world without magic... Can it really exist, Nicole?"

 

"It is again the first axiom of the theory of relativity, state that every laws of physic is the same for any observer in any inertia frame of reference relative to one another, but a fact is still a fact, sis. But both his statement and the axiom is true... Did my eyes malfunction?"

 

... Why does I feel like the axiom that the white eye girl talk about is really familiar? I swear that I've read it somewhere... 

 

But they have ended their discussion about that axiom already. Miss Rosete turn to us once more:

 

"Excuse me, for show you such immature behavior. Since the road is still long, and you are unfamiliar with magic, do you mind if I give you a brief explanation about magic and the machine's function while walking?"

 

Magic. It would be a lie if I said I do not care about that, but it is not my top priority now. Even so, it will do nothing bad to know a bit more about that. I'm also curious, how will magic power fare again psychic? 

 

... I can see Fumino's eyes light up when she hear that, so I decide to block her mouth before she say something rude. But a lot of member in my class also show great interest toward what she said, luckily they do not let it out rudely:

 

"Please do so."

 

"If so, I will start now. Magic power is a special kind of energy, with unique properties that differentiate it from other energy like themal, kinetic, chemical, light and eletrical energy. It have powerful influence with normal matter, but do not get influenced by them. Magic power is everywhere and anywhere, with a bit of fluctuations every now and then - but it do not impact our life so much. And, even though natural magic power is abundant, they are not usable for us mortals. Only when magic power get absorbed inside our body, and transform into our own unique magic power, it can be controlled and utilized to cast magic.

And, magic is a technique of using magic power stored inside your body to realize corresponding phenomenons in the matter world, like summon a fireball, heal a injury, enhance sense, reaction speed and strength, blow up a planet or stop time... Actually, the last two is a joke, that feat is known to stay outside of humanity's reach."

 

... I feel like this answer step out directly from a philosophy book. Only after a while, I can understand it.

 

So,in general, magic power is similar to psychic energy in term of principle. Both of them use energy stored inside a body to realize a phenomenon in the matter world.

 

I wonder... can magic power also twist the structure of reality, and rewrite laws of science permanently, like psychic power do? Of course, I know the amount of energy and control required for that is quite costly, at least for the case of psychic power.

... And, I want to have a compliment for her joke anyway. Mother can easily blow up a planet or stop time, so that feat is not that impressive for me, but it really shocked the rest.

 

... Better not think about it. I do not have enough knowledge to find out the answer anyway.

 

"No one know exactly where did magic power originate from. Even the Goddess we worship only answer vaguely about "snap of Doctor Omega" and "hope to preserve the existence of life when the last star die down". But this is not important, since magic power have existed even before the first God in history. No one can even confirm whether these oral story is true or not, so better not care about that."

 

... I see. When the last star die down, energy source required for life also get cut down completely. Even if they try to exploit energy from a spining black hole, it can only delay the inevitable. When them evaporated, there will be no energy left.

 

But, magic power can be controlled by mind, a property that no kind of energy can have. So,it can clearly help them...

 

Wait, isn't it too convenience to be natural? Did it have any chance to be an artificial energy? If it be, the who make it, and how?

 

And what is the snap of Doctor Omega? What can a snap do? Did that doctor used a certain gauntlet with six stone attached on it? Is this Doctor Omega a titan with purple skin? 

 

Come to think of that, mother really likes that unnecessary action. She always snaps every time she use her power just because it is "cool". I can't even understand why does that stupid action "cool".

 

Stop. I should not let my mind wander away like that. Let's focus on the present:

 

"As I've said earlier, magic power will automatically accumulate inside a living body, but there are a maximum capacity. Magic power can only be accumulated if the amount of energy inside a body is lower than it capacity. Therefore, we have a concept called "magical level", which indicate the maximum capacity of a body. It can be measured by a simple device, but its measurement limit is very low. That is why we need to bring you here, since it need a much more complex structure in order to get an high limit, so complex that it is very troublesome to move.

 

One more thing to note, magic level is not static. It can grow, although very slowly, through training. Even so, have a large capacity also accelerate the speed of growing, so the initial value of magic level is also important. But, if you become subjective just because your initial value is high, and abandon training, the the other will surpass you in no time. Remember, laziness is the root of suffering."

 

... I see. So, no matter which world, effort is required to success. 

 

"Ah, even if you have high magic power capacity, there are no point if you cannot control it. The technique of wielding magic power is very hard, even if you use a medium. Therefore, remember, magical level is only an aspect, it do not fully determine your strength. Never looking down on other."

 

... Control. So, basically, all special power need control, nothing can be given for free. The universe is pretty fair, I guess.

 

 And, to think that I will have to learn control from the very beginning, it make my head ache a bit. When I've just practiced controlling psychic energy, it always ended up became a war. Psychic energy always opposed its user's will, and I had to spend a long time before it completely surrender, and became obedient like today. Now, I will have to fight with magic from start...

 

Come to think of it, seem like all of my classmate is keeping silence listen to her. I've never seen them like this before, even when out best teacher is teaching. Well, I guess a lesson about magic catch their interest better than a boring lesson. 

 

Seem like miss Rosete is also pleased with our attitude. She let out a quiet laughter, and continue:

 

"It is good when everyone focus on the lesson like this, but our time is limited. The machine is not very far from here, and I do not want to waste time in front of it, therefore I will omit the detailed information about magic. Royal mage will teach you about the rest afterward. I will enter the subject of Gift from now."

 

She stop a bit, send a glance toward us, and continue:

 

"As i've talk earlier, magic is very hard to wield. But, there are another kind of power, which is much more easier to use, but have very limited freedom, and depend a lot on luck. It is Gift.

 

Theoretically, Gift is a kind of special ability, exclusive to each individual. Each person can only have one Gift, without any exception. Even though Gift also consume magic power, but after numerous experiment, the nature of Gift was proven to not entirely magic. Therefore, its origin is still a mystery.

 

There is two kind of Gift, active and passive. Active Gift will consume magic power to , but some of them can only active under certain condition. Passive Gift will automatically activate to assist its user on a corresponding action, while consume a little magic power. Of course, Gift cannot be activated if the user lack magic power.

 

Compare to magic, Gift is much more easier to use, but in exchange, it only have one or several fixed ability. The important part of using Gift is how to apply these fixed ability."

 

... It look like magic version of esper abilities, alien racial abilities, or something like that. 

 

Wait!

 

If so, is my psychic ability considered Gift? And if they are going to check my Gift latter, would it be revealed for my whole class?

 

If my power is something else, like freeze or electricity emission , maybe they would have some interest in it, but would not consider me a threat. But, it is psychic. It is an ability that can reveal all of their secret in an instant. I'm sure a lot of people in this world have several secret which cannot be revealed, especially people with power, and they would not want me to exist. Even if I become a hero, they would not need a hero who can unmask them easily.

 

If this is Earth, I dare say that I do not fear anyone... except aliens. But, this world also have an unusual phenomenon called magic, it ir uncertain that my ability is enough to resist.

 

The unrest feeling immediately takeover me. I try to keep my expression under control, and step forward faster than my classmate to ask miss Rosete:

 

"Excuse me, but, what is Gift appraising? Can I know its full ability when the appraising is done?"

 

She stop when hearing my voice, and turn around. Her eye looking at me is similar to a woman look at a child playing with its new toy:

 

"You look very excited when we are mentioning about Gift, little girl. But, unfortunately, the reality is always disappointed. The measurement device can only point out a Gift's name and rank, not its ability. You will need to find out its ability for yourself."

 

... Phew. Thank God. At least it will not be easily revealed. But... seem like I still cannot control my expression well enough. Luckily, she has mistake my unrest into excited.

 

Seem like she has noticed my sigh, and continue with a motherly smile:

 

"Disappointed? Do not worry. If your Gift's information exist somewhere in the Church's record, we will not hesitate to assist you in that aspect. But, if it do not, then... Well, you should think that exploration is a passion, instead of obligation. Like that, you will not feel discouraged."

 

To prevent her realize that my real emotion is different from what she thought, I immediately thank her before slow down, let the momentum of the group make me retreat back to where I used to. But, she only smile and continue:

 

"The last thing that you need to know about Gift is the ranking system. Each and every Gift would be assigned their corresponding Rank, and unlike its abilities which is unreadable, Rank can be readed by the machine. 

  

Only after she said that, I can finally notice the surrounding scenery. Among the modern-looking buildings, there are one that is pretty eye catching. Unlike other with rectangular shape, white wall, that building is cylinder shaped. Its whole surface was covered with 1-meter-square deep blue glass panels, like a satelite's solar plate. I estimate that its height should be five meters, while the diameter is about 20 meters - pretty big.

 

... Come to think of it, seem like glass is one of the main component in building here, or at least, all of Church's building have a lot of part make of glass. But why? Is that one of their tradition, or something else?

 

Well, it is not important right now. Miss Rosete has walked to the glass-covered building, and press her palm on one odd white panel. And, right after that, an phenomenon that I can never expect to be happen here. happen. From the panel that miss Rosete touched, various white line spread out in the shape of an electronic circuit. It quickly cover all the surface of this building, and right after that, the building open - literally. From a separation line appear at the middle, connect both roof and floor, all glass panels together with the wall automatically retract itself on the two remaining size, left a wide entrance that occupy a 180 degree of the cylinder. At the center of the room, there are a small pedestal with a glass sphere on top, and in the opposite wall, there are a much bigger half-sphere that embedded itself on the wall.

 

... I can still keep my calm, but two third of my classmate is opening their mount widely in surprise. But, I cannot even blame them at that.

 

From the time I stepped on the Church's land, I have tried to not notice the similarity between this particular place and the modern world. But, this is another level. An touch-sensor based automatic door, and perfectly retract itself into the wall, together with various thing earlier, can this still be an medieval era? Have them already advance past that age?

 

... No. If they can really advance past the medieval era, there will be no need to have these armored knight with sword. Existence of such device may not necessary reflect development level of civilizations. And, there are no automatic device like that in the palace, therefore maybe these technology is exclusive to the Church, and not widely used. 

 

Luckily, none of my classmate even step up to ask about that. Seem like some of them even had an answer for themselves.

 

And, miss Rosete has noticed our expression. She let out a quiet proud smile, and open her hand toward the device:

 

"This building is the advanced measurement device that I mentioned earlier. Ah, all what you've seen here is only the visible part of it, the main processing core and magic circuit system is underground. Therefore, moving it without damage is very hard, so we need to ask all of you to come here. I sincerely apologize for that inconvenience."

 

... What? There are a processing core and circuit underground? Is this a magic computer?

 

Seem like my close friend Fumino cannot contain herself anymore after listening to that. She step forward and ask:

 

"May I ask you something, Miss Rosete?"

 

"Please go ahead." - miss Rosete reply, with a business smile on her face.

 

"I notice that a lot of devices, facilities, and even infrastructure of the Church is even more advanced than the palace, and... quite resemble ones from out world. May you explain to me the reason behind that?

 

For some reason, miss Rosete get taken back quite a bit. but then, she answer - with some pride inside her voice:

 

"Ah. That is because our Church is also an research center. We are the one who will complete the order that Goddess left in this world - that is, seek the hidden truth among the mass chaos of nature, and use them to meet her again one say in the boundless space. And, in order to do that, science and magic studying is the only choice. Also, it is natural when we can enjoy better technologies than the rest of the world, because we make them by ourselves."

 

She glance toward mister Cromwell, and continue:

 

"And, we fund our research by our own labor and effort, not citizen's. Yet, seem like people who serve nobles and royals waste their money and time better than us."

 

... Is it really necessary to provoke other like that? Even though mister Cromwell look just fine, it does not mean that he is fine.

 

But, she attract our attention by a cough, and continue:

 

"About why does it resemble your world... I apologize, I do not know enough to give any hypothesis. But, I do not think that problem is that important. The device consume a lot of energy each second it active, so I hope you can cooperate."

 

Then, she walk toward the big half-sphere inside the building, and continue:

 

"Its principle of working is very complex, so I will omit that part. You only need to touch the small glass sphere in the middle of the room, and your magic level, together with Gift will be displayed in both the small and big sphere. Since the device can only measure one person at a time, please align yourself into a line."

 

... I do not though that the culture of lining up also exist here. Even though a lot of us still confused, we quickly align ourselves into a line... not a straight one, since all of us want to stay under the roof, the "line" is curved a bit. But, since we still respect the order in the line, I guess miss Rosete do not mind it.

 

I follow my habit and choose myself a spot at the end of the line. Coincidentally, the one who is right in front of me is Jin Byul - seem like with her weak communication ability, she also sneak to this position, to prevent becoming the center of attention.

 

What, my close friend? They are somewhere at the middle of the line, and maybe is busying chatting. I have a hunch that joining them will create much more trouble, so I'd better not.

 

Suddenly, someone voice out another question:

 

"May I ask, if we get an evil-looking Gift, will we get punished for that."

 

Immediately, miss Rosete look at us, quietly sigh, and answer with a very cold tone:

 

"Please do not talk about nonsense like "evil Gift". Power itself bear no sin, only the one who wield that power to do evil deed is a sinner. Do not blame your Gift, because you can always choose what to do with it in the first place."

 

... Oh, I see. At least they do not discriminate again power weilder in the surface. Well, it is good when know that I will not be openly suppressed because of a Gift.

 

Miss Rosete continue:

 

"Now, we shall begin..."

 

And a stream of explosion sound cut off her word.

 

Instinctively, I turn to the direction of these sound. Thank to the wide entrance, I can see the source of that sound: a huge cloud of smoke is rising behind a faraway building. And, in the road, there are several group of people running toward that direction.

 

... What is that? A terrorist?

 

After a short while, the stream of explosion sound suddenly stop. Before we can recover, the little girl Nicole suddenly show a sign of distress. She murmur something like "shadow energy signal", and suddenly disappear in a black fog.

 

... What the hell is that? I don't understand! 

 

***

 

POV Swap: Mysterious Woman.

 

Puff.

 

In the middle of my house, from nothingness, a black fog suddenly appear and quickly fade away, reveal a "man" stand in the middle of it.

 

... No, except me and my companions, no one else can consider him human. To be precise, he is physically not human, but a pure mass of shadow energy in the shape of a tall human. His whole body is pitch black, with smooth surface like a black pearl's, with the only exception is his ghastly white eyes, with a faint flame-like blue aura. There are also a faint black smoke emit from his body. make his figure much more mysterious-looking.

 

He is Shadow. One of the strongest member of us, "Alliance of Mutant" , next to Red Lotus and Sliver.

 

... And, each of his hand is grabbing a child by their collar. The moment our eye meet, he drop both of them into the wooden floor, and speak. His echoing deep voice can make anyone shiver - of course, I was too used to it to be affected:

 

"I've bring these troublemaker back. Scolding them as much as you want, I have something to do now."

 

Then, he vanish in another black fog, when these "troublemaker" just sit up. One of them is a 13-years-old girl who've just hit her puberty, with curly blonde hair, light blue eyes, ivory-white skin. Next to her is a boy, who is in the same age as her, with pitch black hair and golden eyes.

 

... They are the pair Alicia - Bell. The most well-behaved among the child in our organization, thank to their noble background, and if we mention "troublemaker", they are the last people I would think about.

 

As today is a special day, they asked to "visit some friend" this morning. Because Shadow and me also wanted to come near the Church for some reason, we let them tag along. And, just after a hour, there are a big and continuous series of explosions in the Church's direction.

 

I'm sure these explosions is Alicia's product. After all, her ability is "destabilize molecular structure", which can turn any matter into powerful and highly sensitive explosive... I know that Bell's ability "force field" can protect both her and him from these explosions, but why did they need to do that?

 

Well, at least, the series of explosion have saved both of them, because it made Shadow notice and came for a rescue. But, it doesn't save them from a big scolding right now.

 

And, before I can say anything, Alicia has grabbed Bell's collar:

 

"Are you stupid, Bell? Why did you sneak to that forbidden area?"

 

And, the boy named Bell immediately return that action:

 

"You are stupid, not me! No one asked you to go with me!"

 

"How could I not go with you? You mentioned that there are hidden treasure there!"

 

"You made strange noise and let us get caught!"

 

"But I blew up everything before they can attack!"

 

"And it make a local attraction out of us! If uncle Shadow did not come, then we have been a corpse by now! Remember, I am the one who was shielding both of us from their, and mostly your attack!"

 

... I quickly step between them, and give each child a nice knock in their head. Only then, these two child can finally let go of each other and notice me. Both of them look at me with a teary eye - not that do so will save them from that scolding. I ask with intimidation:

 

"Can both of you state what has happened? Why does a simple friend visit turn into a battle?"

 

They still keep silence while turn to each other with spark between their eye, but after another nice knock, they become obedient and speak. After several minute, I can roughly understand what has happened.

 

In short, these child secretly visited their friend in the orphanage of the Church, who told them about some hidden "treasure". Thank to that, these two sneak into the main part of the Church using Bell's ability, hoping to see that "treasure". There, they encounter a group of high-rank cleric member, and overheard their discussion about that "treasure". That is when they get detected, and start to madly spam their abilities in order to survive.

 

... How can they be so stupid? Thank to a friend's nonsense, they dared to sneak into the central part of the Church - the most guarded place in this continent? And actually fight with them?

 

... Come to think of that, they were so lucky at that time. High rank personel of the Church is insanely strong, and they are not nearby when these children go on a rampage, otherwise these children cannot survive. If it was Shadow, maybe he could handle them somehow, but the Church's true power is still unknown.

 

But, both child really disappoint me. I need to give them a good scolding:

 

"Do you even know the consequence of what you've done?...."

 

***

 

After I completed my speech, the pair of troublemaker is hanging their head down in embarrassment. They don't dare looking up at me or retorting anymore.

 

... Did I go a bit overboard?

 

No. That much scolding is necessary for them, so that they wouldn't place themself in danger again. But it is true that I should stop now:

 

"Got it, you two?"

 

They can only reply with a weak voice:

 

"Yes. We apologize for our stupid action."

 

... Come to think of it, where is Shadow? He has teleported away earlier, and haven't come back yet. I need his mass teleportation ability to return to our base

 

Well, I can wait. Shadow is strong, he should not encounter any problem that endanger his life. And, moreover, these children has begun to reconcile already:

 

"I'm sorry Alicia, I has dragged you to danger"

 

"No, it is me who tagged along in my own accord. Also, it is my fault for get ourself detected."

 

"Anyway, thank you for protecting me, Bell."

 

"I am the one who need to thank you..."

 

... The air between them has became a bit awkward, so I decide to walk to the window to avoid them. 

 

Wait, there is one more thing I need to ask the pair:

 

"Hey, you two, what did these cleric call the "treasure" again?"

 

They answer in synchronization:

 

"They called it "Infinity Gauntlet", sister Margenta."