She hadn't found anything of use from that meeting, besides finding out that Agatha seemed to be more helpful than she had thought, also less judgmental than she expected.

 

After what happened in the schoolyard she half expected to want to murder the woman, but instead, she was quite...conflicted by how she reacted. Not so much for the fact that she was judging her relationship with Rossie.

 

But more because she seemed to think that Rossie was either abusing or forcing her into the relationship, was it that common?

 

From the fact that the first one she had brought to attention was Akira, she imagined it was indeed common, or common in her current year. And yet they did nothing?

 

Why?

 

What the hell was happening?

 

She was aware that the student council knew, as Evangeline asked her if her quest was the same as Akira and company, and Selen actively wanted to do something. And yet... they didn't.

 

Because as a [Hero] surely Akira had a mission from [The World], goddamned cultist not wanting to tamper with the powers to be.

 

But then, why did the teachers do nothing?

 

Perhaps...

 

"[Give me a status report on Rossie and search for students with evidence of tampering in their Souls by hostile skills. Use my Eyes if needed just offload the information to the Royal Mages or something]." Elizabeth transmitted into her Shadow.

 

The answer was both quick and to the point, "[The Consort has not experienced any difficulties on her Mission, we are currently offloading some of the mana needs of the Consort to the royal mages that are free. We can't use the scout's service since the Consort is actively trying to find us... Do we have permission to reveal ourselves?]" But it was problematic...somewhat.

 

She didn't want Rossie to expose the [Minions] within her shadow since they were meant to be a last defense. "[No, do not expose yourself unless needed. Not here at least, continue monitoring.]" She ordered the Minion that answered.

 

At least Rossie was safe, now what should she do... She was trying to not pay attention to the fact that the [Minion] hadn't actually told her what Rossie was doing. And a [Minion] helped her in that front as the next report came to her.

 

"[There is evidence of some mild tampering in some students around Mistress, mostly on females with a certain body type... The tampering in Males is minimal, only those that live with a female with a certain body type have evidence of tampering and even that is mostly minimal.]" So only a certain body type?

 

"[What is the body type?]" Elizabeth asked the Royal Mage that had spoken to her.

 

"[Body Type is:

Gender: Female

Age: Between 15-20

Build: Slim.

Proportions: 75-90, 50-70, 70-90

Hair color: High amount of blonde and Pink-haired ones, low number of red, average number of green, blue, black, silver.

There is no strict correlation in the males affected besides having close ties to the females affected.]"

 

The report was quite precise for something she just had ordered them, "[Did you have this ready? Also, what do proportions refer to?]" Elizabeth was doing her best to not focus on the last parts of the report.

 

"[We marked Akira as a target of interest after our Awakening, so we have been offloading work to the idle Scouts. The information registered in the library marked him as a dangerous individual, should we not investigate him? There were previous orders to monitor him from before our Awakening.]" The Royal Mage answered.

 

..."[Leave him marked as target of interest]" Was the answer Elizabeth gave, "[Also introduce monitoring to those around Akira and let the scouts that are resting to rest.]"

 

For now, she would use the information and not complain, "[As for the proportions they refer to Breast, waist, and hips. Most of the females around here in the range of Akira's interest tend to gravitate to either the 90-60-90 mark or the body types closer to what you Mistress and the Mistress Consort have.]" Added on the end the Royal Mage.

 

Yeah, she was aware that her body was quite close to perfection, as so was Rossie's even if she was somewhat on the...petite side.

 

So that Akira was using other girls as replacements for both of them made her sick, she really would need to deal with him, wouldn't she?

 

Perhaps it was time to prepare for war, she had earned two extra levels from her [Draconic Awakening], her mana was purer than ever and more [Dense], so to prepare she would need to practice or fight.

 

So with that in mind, she decided on her next destination, but first "[Tell me when Rossie is returning, give me at least 10 minutes to prepare.]" She ordered to her [Minions] to guard Rossie, they gave her an acknowledgment and so she moved to the arena.

 

The walk was calmer and normal, she didn't teleport this time since she needed time to think and prepare for it, so on the way some other students called on her and she did took some time to chitchat with them.

 

The theme of conversation mostly gravitated to preparations for the end-of-term test and the fights they would have, most ended the talk with questions about whether she would mind if they challenged her...

 

And some concerns about if Rossie would do...things to them should they attempt to challenge her.

 

"It's okay, Rossie isn't that bad. So long you are clear about why the challenge is done she will not mind it, you can even challenge her while being clear about it if you want to!" Was her usual answer, and most accepted her reassurances (After she promised to high heavens to protect them if Rossie found fault at them).

 

Really that was kind of funny because if they did something that Rossie qualified as a bad thing, chances were that she would find that distasteful, so they would need protection from her too...

 

Not that she would tell them that of course, she wasn't a psycho!

 

Either way, she ended up speaking with some classmates here and there, most didn't want to come with her to the arena though, as it seemed that at this time it was mostly occupied by high-ranking members of the school. Both from their classroom and from others.

 

And sure enough, when arriving at it she found herself with explosions and mana bursts here and there.

 

"Please if you wish to enter either use an [Armor] or activate your [Shift]." Said one of the teachers that was preventing them from entering.

 

"[Shift - Stardust Weaver]" So Elizabeth activated her shift and felt the [Skill] pull from her mana as it powered itself, this time however, it seemed to pull more and more.

 

More than usual, while the [Shift] of before barely consumed between 10-20% of her mana pool, this one seemed to siphon more and more mana, it didn't stop till it consumed 50% of the mana she had available.

 

And while her new [Heart] seemed happy enough to pump new mana easily enough... "[Why is the shift taking so much more mana?]" She still queried her Royal Mages, the ones responsible for helping her manipulate mana.

 

And the main reason the skill seemed to be more mana hungry than before, "[We are fueling and fixing some inefficiencies in the design, the skill was designed to take more mana than it is taking, so we are stress testing it. We will save the extra mana remaining and allow the use of the skill without taking extra mana in future uses Mistress.]" So she hadn't been using the skill like it was intended?

 

Had Alexanders designed the skill with an increased mana pool in mind? Why?

 

He had no reason to believe she would get more mana, and if so, he would have told her...right?

 

...Unless the asshole gave her a hand-me-down and the skill was meant to be used by either someone else or in a different setting...And the lazy ass just tweaked it and throw the skill her way...

 

Yes, she could see him doing that.

 

"Hmm....let me see...Here it is, [Stardust Weaver] yes? The [Shift] seems stable enough...Even if you seem to have a denser [Mana Weight] than recorded...Well, it should be fine, have fun. There is a passive spell in the arena that will teleport you as soon as your [Shift] is canceled so go and have fun!" The teacher at the door said as soon as her [Shift] finished.

 

She felt...more. As if this [Shifted] body was her real one and not a mana construct, she hadn't felt like this since... Alice. Was she developing another [Persona]?

 

..."Hello?" She thought inwardly, not towards her [Shadow Haven] or to any of her [Shadow Minions] but to her [Soul], nothing answered of course.

 

So instead she checked her [Shift] for changes, her body seemed more [Solid] than usual and her armor weighed her down, not in the hard-to-move meaning, but in the [I'm here] meaning. She could feel each part of the armor and the multiple exhaust ports.

 

She idly noted that most of the meters that adorned her armor were either full or on the way to full, it seemed that most of the extra mana capacity that her Royal Mages referred to was being used towards those parts.

 

And while she understood that it would be better to have those ready for use instead of charging them as needed...It still annoyed her that they did it without asking her first.

 

She wouldn't say no to them of course, this extra edge was just the kind of thing she needed, so she would have accepted...But having half of her mana pool eaten away was annoying.

 

Being able to [Shift] without losing mana was a good thing though, and the fact that she would have a fully powered [Shift] at the ready was even better!

 

But either way, she would experiment with that later, "[Stardust Weaver]! Over here!" A voice woke her up from her introspection, she turned to search for that voice finding a blue-haired robe mage waving at her.

 

He had a few magical circles hovering around him spitting [Earth Needles] towards floating [Ice Barriers] that seemed to move at random.

 

Was...was he randomizing the movement of those barriers and then using another different series of spells to try and track those without input from him?

 

Fueling two basic spells then one extra for moving the targets and two extras on the attacks?

 

*sigh*

 

And besides all of that, he was waving at her like a puppy that found someone that he knew in the park. God damned genius, not that she had much to complain on that front since she herself was a genius too.

 

But still!

 

"[Sage]" Elizabeth said while walking towards the blue-haired mage, "Shouldn't you pay attention to that?"

 

The blue-haired mage shrugged at the spells Elizabeth pointed, "Heh, they are fine. I tweaked them so they would work without input from me, if [The Demon Slaying Sword] challenges me again I will need something to keep up with her after all." So that was why he was doing this kind of overly complex work.

 

"You will need faster targets if you want to simulate her, " Said Elizabeth eyeing the targets Michael was using, her eyes flashed into a deeper azure color as she channeled her [Dragon Eyes]. "Hmm....I think you could change the [Randomize] node and just overcharge the [Direction Node] to make it truly random."

 

"......We lost you too. I'm so sorry, I knew the [Ritual] books could do this...I am truly sorry." Said Michael as he lost control of his mana making his spells fizzle out.

 

"What are you speaking about?" Asked Elizabeth confused, she wasn't quite sure what was happening right now. She was lost too?

 

"Your eyes..." Said Michael as he conjured a sheet of reflective ice. "...I suffered the same disease so I know the [Call] is powerful, but you need to think about your family...your friends...And yourself, your future you will resent yourself should you keep walking this path."

 

Her eyes were bathed in azure flames and had transformed into eyes similar to those of her shadows, dragon-like eyes. She looked...kinda cool, but most important, she looked like one of those Edge lord characters her Mother always made fun of.

 

Oh...she looked like someone that wanted to look cool, yeah, she understood it "I will say it just in case, but I'm not sick or anything. This is part of my [Magic], a new aspect of my magic showed itself and it made this visual effect on its own. This lets me..." She started explaining herself for some reason.

 

"...Peer into the true darkness of magic to look into [The Root] or [Akasha] and understand the true workings of reality allowing you to twist it to your whims." Michael said while cringing at the words he said. "I know, I was there once too...The mistakes of my past still haunt me to this day..."

 

"...This lets me analyze magic and mana, so I can construct spells better." Elizabeth finished her explanation, "What the hell kind of magic would let you do that?"

 

That sounded like something useful to deal with [The World] and its meddling should she need though, perhaps she should invest in that after all?

 

"...You didn't design it like that?" Asked Michael surprised at her answer.

 

"Who would even willingly create something like that, it sounds like something that would be too broad or annoying to use." Elizabeth answered back.

 

"Right..." Michael said while scratching the back of his head. "...and it wouldn't work without proper understanding anyway, not as stated...Yours seems useful even."

 

Oh right, wasn't his three stages of ritual magic allow him to disrupt magic? It was similar enough to her [Dragon eyes] but hers seemed more practical if anything.

 

"Anyway, so you think I should try faster targets then?" Michael asked her as he seemed to regain control over himself.

 

She saw some of his magic wanting to course through some spell nodes embedded within his eyes, the magical circles on his eyes wanting to resurface and him squishing those back down.

 

"Here, let me... [Space Manipulation]+[Counter]+[Wind Manipulation] = [Reactive Wind Defense]" Elizabeth conjured the spell and she felt way less mana than she expected to be consumed.

 

If anything it was barely enough mana for a normal barrier, and this barrier was way more complex than it should have any right to be.

 

"There, this spell will teleport all over the place and fight back when you attack it, and since it is using my [Space Manipulation] instead of yours it should be harder for your spells to track it." Elizabeth was quite happy with the spell results, and was already thinking of ways to use it more efficiently.

 

None that would be used here of course, since that would spoil the surprise.

 

"Thank you [Stardust Weaver], I will use this chance to practice then. Do you require assistance with something?" Asked Michael as he started preparing his usual [Earth Needle] to attack the barriers she had conjured.

 

He would regret attacking more than one but she wouldn't be the one to tell him about that, "No, I was just wanting to flex some of my magic to burn some time while waiting for Rossie to return." Answered Elizabeth.

 

That sole mention of Rossie was enough to quiet the whole Arena for a few seconds, "What is it with you people and Rossie? She is a normal girl and you all act as if she was the second coming of a Demon Lord or something." Elizabeth said while glaring around.

 

"The second coming of a Demon Lord huh, that is quite the apt description," Michael said on her side, earning himself a glare from Elizabeth.

 

Perhaps she had been too lenient on him? He was, after all, a [Hero] too.

 

"I don't mean anything bad from that," said the blue-haired mage while his spell powered down, a shame that he didn't attack one of her barriers. "Rossaline Singh...is perhaps not the closest student to earn that title, but she is close up there, perhaps even closer than most [Villains]."

 

...Rossie a Demon Lord? That was ridiculous, her lovely and cute girlfriend wouldn't hurt a fly... She wouldn't think about if she would hurt other people, but at least she wouldn't hurt a fly!

 

"Are you aware of the kind of fame she has?" asked Michael.

 

She, of course, was aware, that one would need to be dumb or a birdbrain to not notice it, most feared Rossie. They didn't treat Akira like that and everyone seemed to be aware of what he did in his free time.

 

Then why did they threaten Rossie like that?

 

"Yes, not sure why. She hasn't done anything deserving this kind of treatment as far as I am aware." Answered Elizabeth, she modified some of the magic circles on the reactive shields she created and let them survive using ambient mana.

 

She would let them fly around till they fizzled out or someone used all the mana they could absorb faster than the spell could refuel itself.

 

"Yeah, in first grade she wasn't this bad...Oh right you were around, it all went to hell after the midterms." Michael said as he turned to look at one of the magic circles around. "You see, the school didn't want to let her go on her vacations, they told her that she would need to be a top scorer to get that kind of permission."

 

And yet Rossie told her that she was allowed to go so long she finished her studies here.

 

"So?" Elizabeth asked still mad at the mere idea of her lovely Rossie as a Demon Lord, like she could be one...Though imagining her dressed as a Demon Lord wasn't a bad image to have...Yes, she would see if Rossie was up for a little cosplaying.

 

"Well, she challenged us to a fight, all of us... And we fell for her provocation," Michael said with a small laugh, "Who would fear a [Healer] right?"

 

Oh...Oooooh...

 

Poor poor souls that knew not the height of the sky... Rossie was a [Healer] yes, but she also was one of the best at mana manipulation and compound spells she had ever seen. Also, she had some nasty [Spell Nodes] hidden among those she could cast.

 

Yeah, she could see how that ended.

 

"So she trashed all of you after you all decided to gang upon her, and yet dare to claim my lovely Rossie is a Demon Lord?" Elizabeth asked with a smirk on her face. "I could do the same you know, clean the floor with all of you."

 

She noticed some among the students in the room glare at her, so she raised her hand and snapped her fingers "Perhaps way more easily than Rossie. And unlike her, [I'm no Healer]." And with that, all the shadows in the room opened eyes and maws.

 

"And trust me, unlike Rossie...I'm an offensive mage." She let that linger as her shadows expanded all around, she of course took this chance to seed Michael's shadow with a new scout for monitoring purposes.

 

"That doesn't seem to be magic, oh right. You said that you used powered and magic in tandem..." Michael said as he poked with his mana the shadows around.

 

Unlike everyone around that was frozen in fear at the showcase of pure power he seemed almost... careless, "Don't glare at me like that, unlike the others around I have actually fought you. I know that you aren't like Rossaline, Akira, or Rena. You will not attack someone for no reason." That seemed to calm down everyone around.

 

*tch*

 

"Not that you don't have a reason since we are speaking ill of your friend," Michael said while shrugging. "And you seem to care very much about your friends."

 

"I do care about those that are my friends," Elizabeth answered, "But Rossie isn't a friend."

 

That seemed to take by surprise at Michael as he seemed confused by that statement.

 

"She is my girlfriend." So Elizabeth elaborated and Michael's face seemed to show understatement, while the other students around had the face of someone that had been told something that they couldn't understand.

 

Rude, they would all get bitten by her shadows for that.