"For starters, you need to know that Akira is more powerful than he should be." Rossie started saying as she summoned a blue screen.

 

It was one of Akira, except...it seemed outdated, the level was different and the skills weren't of the same level. Some were missing even.

 

"This is what I got when I used [Identify] on him after the fight." Rossie pointed to the information on the blue screen. Then she summoned another blue screen, this one had the same information she had collected before. "And this is what you showed me, see how the level and skill configuration are different?"

 

It was indeed different, for starters "Yours seems to be missing some levels, and even skills." Said Elizabeth while comparing both screens.

 

"This probably is the work of [Camouflage], which is an illegal skill to have or to even learn. You only are supposed to have it if you are either a [Licensed Hero] or a part of the Army." Rossie pointed at the skill in question. And a new blue screen showed up. "[Identify]"

That was interesting, so the only reason she got that information was because her [Scouts] pierced his mana defense?

 

What did that mean?

 

"Whatever you made your [Minions] do, they merged with Akira's mana wave and so, they breached all his [InfoSec] defenses and got us this...And this skill in particular explains how he almost defeated me at the start of the year." Rossie pointed to Akira's skill [I'm Justice]. "When we were fighting he suddenly got faster and stronger. I managed to win since my [Cardinal Demon: Temptress of Lust] shift is fueled by [Emotions] and that allowed me to increase my power without using mana."

 

...She wasn't fueled by mana?

 

"Your [Shift] doesn't use mana? How does that even work?" Asked Elizabeth confused, as far as she was aware every skill or magic used mana in one way or another.

 

"That is the reason why Agatha made me take the [Familiar] classes earlier to make sure I was fine, it seems that [Shift] touches upon [Demonic] territory. Since it is fueled by [Emotions] instead of Mana, so long I have a way to get emotions either directed at me or offered by me...I can get more power." Answered Rossie, then pointing at Akira's blue screen she said "And since I had Akira's bare emotions pointed my way and Rena's [tainted] emotions to tap on...I barely had enough power to defeat him."

 

She had Akira and Rena's emotions as fuel?

 

But she was...Oh..."I see, that makes sense." Said Elizabeth nodding her head while taking stock of her current status and skills, as well as how many shadow minions she could summon and strategies to use. "I will go and kill him now if you excuse me..."

 

Elizabeth couldn't believe what she had heard, oh. Well, really, she could believe it. Rossie was hot after all.

 

....

 

.....

 

"Eli-Eli? You were angry before and now you are blushing, is something the matter?" Asked her girlfriend as Elizabeth lost her line of thought after realizing that she had empathized with Akira, even on something so obvious as how hot her girlfriend was. That still made her stomach recoil.

 

Not because Rossie wasn't hot (She was extremely hot), but because she had found common ground with Akira.

 

"It's nothing Rossie, so you took their [Emotions] to fuel your [Shift] and that was how you defeated him?" Asked Elizabeth once more for confirmation.

 

"It isn't as simple as that, that [Shift] allows me to tap into those [Emotions], turn them into mana, and then redirect it to my [Shift], [Spells] and [Stats]. But the emotions as such never actually enter my [Soulscape], Agatha theorized that I only managed to achieve that because I had a [Affinity] to [Emotions]." Rossie smiled at that mention, "My [Origin] shifted to [Emotions] before the [Advent] because I wanted to understand them better...Then after the [Advent] I mutilated my soul trying to fix my mistakes and lost the ability to understand them..."

 

And then she got told that she had been able to access that [Shift] because of her understanding of emotions? That was...ironic if nothing else.

 

"But..." Elizabeth started saying worrying for her girlfriend, she could feel emotions, right? She told her that she loved her after all...Love is an emotion...

 

"Yes Eli-Eli, I am whole again. When you pulled my [Soul] into your [Soulscape] I was healed once more, really...If I knew that you could do that I wouldn't have waited so long and would have [Pledged fully] to you before." Rossie said as she grabbed Elizabeth's hand and put it on her chest, "See, my heart beats faster because I am feeling your warmth, this is a proof of all the emotions that you evoke in me. Affection, passion, desire, warmth, gratitude, happiness, joy, comfort...trust...Love."

 

It was true, she could feel Rossie's heart beat fast, and she was sure her own heart was also beating faster at the idea of where her hand was right now... She hadn't felt like that before either...

 

Was this...was this how one felt when one didn't want to think about anything but the [Desire] to jump into the bed with someone?

 

Rossie was amazing for being able to control herself, she wasn't sure that she would have been able to do the same for almost two years in a row now.

 

"I see...." But Elizabeth had made a promise to herself, she would not enjoy and allow herself to be lost in pleasure and amusement so long she was aware of how much Rena must be suffering, "So do you think I can defeat Akira as of now?"

 

And before Rossie could even think of answering she manifested her own [Status sheet] and showed it to Rossie.

"Elizabeth, dear...I love you from the bottom of my heart." Rossie started saying as she compared both status sheets. "And while if we go by only status you would win..."

 

And then Rossie brought the status sheet of Rena, "If Akira activates the same [Skill] that he did with me, he could defeat Rena one-on-one...Can you defeat Rena right now?"

 

...No, she could not.

 

But what was the option here? She didn't have an easy way to increase her power like Akira did, she may be a [Hero], but then what was his [Hero]'s Skill?

 

Akira had a few of those, and Michael, Rena, and Rossie had expertise too. From Magic to swords and finally Rossie with her [Healing].

 

What did she have?

 

"What am I good at Rossie?" Elizabeth asked.

 

She was having trouble thinking about something that made her a good [Hero], if she was to defeat Akira, then she needed to be that... Her stuff as a [Inheritor] was something she had been born with, not something that was granted as a [Hero].

 

And she suspected it had mostly to do with her past life, another hand me down from [Alexanders]. Then her [Shadows]?

 

She...guessed that it could be that, then was she to be a [Hero of Shadows]?

 

What was even that?

 

"You are good with mana manipulation, magic formula, magic creation, imitation, deconstruction, and construction." Rossie started enumerating, half of those were things that she got as [Talent] from Alexanders though, "Also you have a mastery over shadows that isn't reflected in your levels, if you told me that your [Shadow Manipulation] level was 50 I would believe it."

 

Was it that extreme?

 

She didn't think it would be that extreme.

 

"When was the last time your [Shadow Manipulation] skill leveled up, and what were you doing?" Asked Rossie seeing her doubt.

 

What was she doing and when was it?

 

"When I fought against Michael?" Asked back Elizabeth, she was almost sure that it had been that time.

 

"And did you use your shadows in any place for anything else before or after?" Added Rossie to her questions.

 

Did she?

 

No... most of the time if she needed something done with her shadows, she either delegated to a [Minion] or used free will magic. She didn't depend that much on her [Skills], most of the time she did because it was a shortcut.

 

But if she could do it easier with free cast? She would.

 

"See, that is my point. You only ever use your skills at fights, so you haven't noticed it. You see, most of us got a skill proficiency rush when the system came in, most jumping to high levels because of our use. Some stayed low yes, some even advanced slowly because they were getting used to how it worked now." Rossie started saying as she drew a magical circle in the air, "Most Magical girls and powereds are on this one, but the people at the top? The [Nine Stars] for example, they rushed past to the top in days."

 

So that's normal, she expected no less from Papa and Mother's former colleagues...

 

Then? "So, I should what? Use my [Skills] more on a daily setting?" Asked Elizabeth as she manifested a blob of shadows that morphed into a small figurine of Rossie that stood in her palm. "Like this?"

 

And as if answering her call, a blue screen manifested in front of her.

"What?" Elizabeth couldn't believe it.

 

Was it this easy? Something must have been wrong somewhere, even going by Akira's status sheet he should have more levels too if it was this easy!

 

"How many levels did you get?" Asked Rossie as she smirked at Elizabeth.

 

"Ten in [Shadow Manipulation] and [Mana Manipulation] ..." Answered Elizabeth while making the notification visible to Rossie too, "Then why is Akira also at low levels of skills?"

 

"Because, he doesn't use the skills either, he mostly uses pure strength, and when that doesn't work he uses his stupid [Skill] to steamroll everything on his way." Answered Rossie once more highlighting the skill [I'm Justice]. "You would find a better example in Rena for this."

 

And sure enough, Rossie summoned Rena's status sheet, then pointed to the skill section...

 

The same skill section that she hadn't paid too much attention to since most of it was full of things that spoke of a girl who was in a dangerous situation. "Ignore those ones, while interesting and giving me some ideas to test later, they aren't important. These are the important ones." Rossie then highlighted most of the skills Rena had that were at level X. "These are the skills you need to focus on [The Sword of My Heart], [Sword Sheath], [Swordsman Armory], [Legacy of The Sword Demon], [Legacy of The Sword Saint]."

 

All had the level X indeed, were they capped then? Or was something missing for these skills to continue leveling up?

 

"And in less importance, these are important too: [Regeneration], [Blood repository], [Strong Body], [Pain Immunity]." Rossie then pointed to some of Rena's skills that had numbers, big numbers but numbers nonetheless, "Mostly because these mean that she has been tempering and surviving with the use of the skills available to her."

 

So then, what? "So Rossie trained her [Skills] almost every day and capped most of her skills, so I need to do the same and use my skills on a daily basis to be better than Akira and have a chance?" Asked Elizabeth as she played with the small shadow Rossie she had made. There was something missing there...

 

"What? No, no matter how much you level your skills. Chances are you will not be able to get a skill that increases your status as much as Akira's does." Said Rossie turning her hopes and dreams into dirt. "What you need is a strategy that will let you win even with this disadvantage."

 

Oh...yeah that made sense.

 

"So, I need to think of a way to make sure Akira can't defeat me even if he could turn me into mush if he so much as manages to land a hit." Said Elizabeth confirming her suspicions.

 

And sure enough, Rossie nodded her cute and adorable head at her prompt.

 

"My suggestion is that you work in your [Shadow Manipulation], there is something that could be useful in that. But not as a defense or way to attack, but as a way to dodge attacks." Rossie stated as she brought her phone and put the recording of her fight against Michael when she did the admission test. "See? You tried to use a shield to defend and barely managed to stop Michael's attack. But when you used your shadows to escape..."

 

The video moved forward and showed how she almost effortlessly teleported away, "You didn't have troubles," it was indeed as Rossie said.

 

Her focus seemed to be more on dodging than on tanking attacks, so was she supposed to be some kind of [Assassin Hero] then?

 

What was the term that Mother used to speak of those types? Glass Cannon?

 

"Now...as for how to do that...I have some...Suggestions." Rossie seemed unsure about this part for some reason, but in the end, she fished among her belongings and brought a drawing, a very detailed drawing of herself. "This is my idea..."

 

Her Girlfriend seemed embarrassed at the drawing, and Elizabeth wasn't sure why, if anything she should be the one feeling embarrassed, after all-

 

"Your idea is for me to dress in skimpy clothes that show 90% of my skin and seem to be made of threads?" Granted, if Elizabeth would only be seen by Rossie she wouldn't mind doing so.

 

But this was a plan to deal with Akira, and while Rossie could harness [Lust] to empower herself, she didn't have that skill.

 

"What? NO." Rossie quickly shook her head at such speed that she feared for the neck of her lovely girlfriend, "I mean if you want to use that design I wouldn't mind..."

 

And Rossie left her words trail off as she looked her up and down and nodded to herself, "I mean no... I do want you using that but..." Then with a strength of will that surprised Elizabeth, she refocused, took a deep breath, and said, "No Eli-Eli, what I meant is that you can use your shadows to try and puppeteer your body. If you focus all your stat points into magic stats, then use your [Skill]s to move your body you could surpass Akira easier that way."

 

That...was an interesting way to see it, "You will only use two status [Wisdom] and [Intelligence], while Akira will need to use [Strength], [Agility], [Dexterity] and maybe [Constitution]." Finished saying, Rossie.

 

So, while she would use two attributes of her status, Akira would need to use either three or four. It had some valid points, and while it seemed weird point of view it seemed worth a try.

 

"How did you come to this idea Rossie?" Asked Elizabeth as she started to expand some tendrils of shadows across her body, first, she tried to get them over her clothes but since it was awkward and made her skin itch when the fabric was compressed against her skin she ended up extending the tendrils below her clothes.

 

"...I wanted to eat dinner with you in February..." Mumbled Rossie in a low voice.

 

"What?" Elizabeth however, hadn't heard it clearly as the other girl barely made a noise while speaking.

 

"I WANTED TO EAT DINNER WITH YOU ON VALENTINE'S DAY!" screamed Rossie with her face flushed.

 

What had that to do with...oh..."You wanted to puppet my body to go on a date?" Asked Elizabeth as she finally got the full picture.

 

That...that was..."So cute." Maybe it wouldn't look like that to someone else, but to Elizabeth that spoke of dedication and love, also she wouldn't mind it as long as Rossie was happy.

 

She knew that the past year she had been in a very dark place, so if she got some reprieve like that, she wouldn't mind at all, besides, "Wait, did it work?" Elizabeth asked as soon as she noticed a blind spot in that.

 

If Rossie managed to puppeteer her body, then why had she woken up with most of her muscles atrophied?

 

"...No, your body naturally rejected my attempts at moving it, it ate the mana thread I tried to use, and even stimulating your muscles didn't work since it seemed as if your body was drinking the electric currents." Answered her girlfriend with a downcast face.

 

"Yeah, that checks..." Was what Elizabeth said back as she finished setting all the shadow tendrils on her body, she could still move as if nothing, and if anything, it felt more like she had an extra underwear besides her normal one. She may even start using this as support while doing exercise... "Let's test your idea then Rossie."

 

And like that Elizabeth sent a command to her new shadow under armor and her body started moving on its own...Or well, using her commands instead of her muscles, it was such a weird feeling to be moving her body but at the same time not doing it with her own body.

 

She of course followed the motions with her muscles, but when she wanted to start the motion her body was already doing it, and if anything, it felt more like she was being toyed around than anything. But...

 

"It seems to be working, even if it feels weird." Said Elizabeth as she continued moving her body with this new application of her shadow skills, and her efforts were answered as a new blue screen showed in front of her.

 

And wasn't that enough to make a girl smile?

 

"Did you get a skill from it? This quickly? As expected from you Eli-Eli!" Rossie said as a smile bloomed on her face.

 

And yes, she would probably not try to do this without using the skill either again, "Yes I got one, take a look." Said Elizabeth sharing her blue screen with her girlfriend as she [willed] one of those [Shadow Nodes] the skill described.

 

And while Rossie read it she turned it into a ring, a beautiful obsidian ring with azure decorations and a black gem on it, she designated Rossie as a target of this particular [Shadow Node], and while Rossie was reading her blue screen she took the pink-haired girl's left hand and put the ring on her fourth finger.

 

The commonly known as the ring finger.

 

Rossie must have gotten a new blue screen as the girl turned her face to Elizabeth and she felt the [Skill] slowly changing, she allowed the skill to sink as deep as it could into her body too.

 

"There, now if I ever am sleepy or too tired you can make sure I assist with any important date we have." Said the blonde girl with a smile.

 

Was this wrong? She wasn't sure but at the very least...Rossie would get a romantic date on Valentine's Day next year, no matter if she was in a coma or not.