After making sure everything was in order Elizabeth relinquished the effect her [Skill] had over her own body and over Rossie's body.

 

Now that she knew how she would move forward the only question was, how much could she improve before the exhibition match started, she would need to get some experience. The question now was...how?

 

She hadn't gotten that much nowadays, so maybe she could try and fight?

 

"Rossie, how do people level up nowadays?" Or asking her smart and beautiful girlfriend.

 

For her part, Rossie turned her attention to her and put on her thinking face, with a cute frown and one eye closed while the other darted all around the room.

 

Yep, Rossie was cute today too, even if her body seemed to have a few screw loose here and there!

 

Now Elizabeth couldn't help but notice how her legs seemed to rub each other from time to time...

 

No! Focus Elizabeth!

 

"Most fight other people or go and try to learn new ways to use their [Skills] or [Magic]." Was the answer Rossie gave her in the end. "Like the new skill you got, that should have given you some experience. Have you checked your notifications?"

 

Elizabeth had indeed not checked if a new notification had come after her awakening as a [Dragon], actually, that part hadn't shown in her status screen had it?

 

Besides the [Dragon Inheritance: Active] part on her status screen, but focusing on it she tried to find any hidden notification on her status screen.

"Rossie?" Elizabeth said while staring at the screen, not sure what she should be feeling. Anger? Because the thing seemed to be slowing down her progress. Or be happy about it? Because the thing seemed to for one, want what was best for her.

 

Because the message seemed to imply that since her leveling speed was high the thing didn't want her to suffer from it.

 

And it even stated that should she wish, and be confident about her body she could take those retained levels.

 

But this brought new questions to mind...

 

"Can the [System] slow your leveling speed out of....care?" So she asked her smart and beautiful girlfriend.

 

"...No?" Was the first answer Rossie gave, "I have known that some people that tried to trick or [Game] the system ended with weird mutation and there was this one guy in Sidney who exploded his arms and legs after dumping 40 stats in [Strength] at once while having only 10 in [Constitution]."

 

That was one interesting tidbit of information yes.

 

"But besides that, I don't think anyone has ever found that, why?" Asked her lovely girlfriend, "Did you get some help from [Odyssey] slowing down your leveling till your body acclimated itself?"

 

That was a very good point, had Mother done this?

 

...No. If anything both Mother and Papa had given her a boost to her leveling speed, and while it was fast enough to catch her peers at the MPI, she hadn't gotten that feeling that it was that [FAST] compared to before.

 

If anything, she felt it was about the same speed as before. So then what was this?

 

"I accept the consequences." Elizabeth wasn't sure what was the deal here, but for now, she accepted and prepared herself to receive the backlash from the sudden increase in power she would get.

It hadn't been that bad to be honest, if anything Elizabeth felt more weirded out by how much her skills seemed to grow in a single instant, and while five levels were about 100 stat points...

 

She was still far below in points than Rena, hell, if Akira ever activated his bullshit skill at the fullest he would be above her (Even if barely by about 500 points). Even at the bare of the buff he would still be above her (This time around 50 stat points).

 

But something like that was still bullshit if she was being honest.

 

"So? How was it?" Asked her girlfriend with a barely hidden magical circle of [Healing Magic]. "Do you feel any level of backlash coming?"

 

Oh right, she needed to put her new points somewhere right?

 

She now was dreading the moment when she would try to equalize her status (If she ever attempted to do that) but for now.

 

"5 to [STR], 50 to [Wisdom] and 50 to [Intelligence]." Elizabeth decided and felt her mana pool grow just a little more, both in-depth and in size.

 

But besides that, she didn't feel anything else.

 

"Nothing, it seems the system was overreacting about this. That or it was trying to screw me over again." Elizabeth was betting either that the [System] underplayed the effect her [Body] and [Dragon Inheritance] played in all of this.

 

But then again, the growth her mana pool had gone through seemed impressive enough and she was starting to feel some feedback from her mana veins.

 

Perhaps she would need to increase her [Constitution] in the next set of level ups... She doubted that it could be dangerous in the short term, but if her body. The [Vessel] that supported her [Soul] and [Mana] cracked under the might of her own [Mana]...

 

"I will focus on the next points in [Constitution] though, it doesn't look like it's dangerous yet. But I think that it would be the safe bet." Elizabeth vocalized her opinion to her girlfriend and doctor for life (And beyond this life if she had something to say about it).

 

"Yes, that would be the best, all my diagnoses say that your body is tolerating well enough your mana density. But it seems that is mostly because of your constitution. I don't think many could tolerate such a drastic increase of mana density in one go..." Rossie said while moving the diagnosis spells around her body, changing the spell formulae to search for other things.

 

From mana leaks, to mana breaks and moving to different mana sicknesses, she even saw a node that searched specifically for mana poisoning brought by a higher density of mana that the body could tolerate.

 

Had she jumped too many status points in one go?

 

"Did I put too many points in one go?" Asked Elizabeth as she noticed the magic spell for mana poisoning hovering above her belly button. Was her mana core in there?

 

A quick scan from her senses said that...no, her mana heart was superimposed to her actual heart, then what was Rossie scanning for?

 

"Yes, you jumped the gun too much. I'm not sure how your core is even stable." Her girlfriend was frowning at her belly button. As if it was the worst enemy she had ever found.

 

"Rossie, my mana heart isn't there. It's here." Said Elizabeth pointing at her chest. "What are you scanning my tummy for?"

 

"Oh I know, I am checking our compatibility." And that was all the pink-haired girl said about the topic. "But yeah, your mana compatibility didn't seem to have changed, if anything your mana felt purer than before. While it was more [Shadow aligned] before, it feels that now it is ready to embrace other elements and change as needed. The core seems to be still be [Shadow-Lighting] oriented though."

 

"What does that have to do with our compatibility?" Asked Elizabeth confused about the first half of that message. "Not that I'm complaining about being compatible with you or anything Rossie."

 

"Well, if your mana turned different after the power-up. Or it became more harsh, then I would have problems healing you. Or meshing my mana with yours for... Any spell or activity we incur in the future." Rossie answered, that seemed fair.

 

As a [Healer] Rossie surely had her ways to deal with that, but if she was able to make her job easier, then Elizabeth was happy to do so.

 

"I find it annoying that your mana seems to be reactive enough to almost anyone, this means that your mana and by extension you. Can cheat me in a second and suffer no problems from it." Rossie grumbled while frowning her cute and adorable face (CUTE).

 

"I would never ever cheat on you, Rossie. Even if my mana wants to mesh with someone else it will be only to [Devour] whatever they have that can be used to help us both okay?" Elizabeth said while hugging the pink-haired girl.

 

She felt Rossie shudder at the contact and then blushed a little at that. She was painfully aware of what that shudder meant and wished to not know it.

 

How was she supposed to interact with her girlfriend if she knew what her touch made in her!?!?

 

Was she supposed to not touch Rossie for a year and some?!?

 

How was she supposed to survive that long without a dose of Rossium!?!?

 

"Thank you Eli-Eli, for pampering and consoling me in my weird fears." Was the answer Rossie gave her as she placed her hand above hers.

 

The pink-haired girl seemed to no shudder anymore, but Elizabeth felt an undercurrent of [Healing] mana under the skin of her girlfriend. Was she manipulating her own muscles using [Healing] magic to control her reactions?

 

...that was worrying, because it implied that Rossie had such control over her magic that she could manually control herself...

 

And because [Healing] magic as a rule of thumb was able to bypass most of the automated defenses one has over foregoing magic. So in theory Rossie could make her enemies choke themselves with their own bodies.

 

That was...kinda hot.

 

No! Focus Elizabeth! (Again!)

 

"There are no weird fears, if anything that you care this much is good. It means that you love me that much!" Elizabeth said smiling at her lovely girlfriend.

 

No wait, they were actually girlfriends now!

 

They had swapped rings and everything!

 

"Oh..." Right, they had swapped rings and everything...She had skipped the part where she asked Rossie's hand to her parents...

 

Then..."Rossie...Are your parents...Traditionalists?" Asked Elizabeth feeling the dread settling in.

 

Rossie seemed surprised by the random question, then she looked at her ring and smirked at her, "Getting cold feet now are we?" And did she look more lovely while enjoying her suffering... "But no, they aren't what you call a [Traditionalist] family, or well. They would for their daughter, but I'm adopted remember? I don't have any claim to the family fortune and was mostly brought in to keep the image of success."

 

...that made her angry.

 

"Not that I mind it, my adoptive Mother is getting pregnant or is pregnant already. Hard to tell, but they want to make sure their new daughter is born safe and sound. So they will not get in our way in any way or form. Nor will any form of government for that matter." Rossie carried on either unaware or uncaring of her feelings on the matter. "The [Singh] have wormed their way across the board after the [Advent] since most of our retainers showed the right type of skills in this new world we currently found ourselves."

 

So the [Singh] wanted to create a monopoly?

 

And would do their best to not get in their way? Why were they that forgiving?

 

Wouldn't having their daughter be caught in a scandal such as having another woman as a lover a problem to their image? Granted with the [Magical Girls] having made popular Girl's love it wasn't as damaging as it could be.

 

But it was still something that only mattered in a setting where no one knew their identities. In a public setting? Yeah, it could damage their reputation.

 

"I still don't understand why you think they will be forgiving of us," Elizabeth said unsure of how this would go.

 

At first, she had some confidence since Rossie had never said anything about her family, but now? Knowing they seemed to be powerful and wanting to expand their domain over different markets?

 

She feared for the reprimand that may come.

 

"You don't understand Eli-Eli. My adoptive Mother and Father [Want] their new daughter to be born safely. My adoptive Mother has been having miscarriages since I was seven." Rossie shared that tidbit as if it was the most important thing.

 

"And why would that secure our relationship in their eyes? Wouldn't they want to live stress-free to make sure your new sister is born safely?" Asked Elizabeth, she wasn't feeling assured by this at all.

 

"Easy. They fear that other powers to be want to keep them in check, so my adoptive Mother can't use many [Healers]. Besides me that is." Rossie said while bringing a collar with a cross and a heart on it.

 

"Is that...?" Elizabeth felt her eyes flare with mana as they turned Azure in color and narrowed at the collar. She [felt] the mana within it link to Rossie and then travel far and long away from where they stood.

 

She could perceive a [Space] node on the making of the artifact, it seemed that it allowed Rossie to monitor and cast spells on someone far away.

 

Peering more into the makings of it she found...

 

A life, a small pitiful life that seemed to be on the verge of being withered away, a life that only seemed to survive by the occasional infusion of [Healing Mana] from the artifact that Rossie held in her hands.

 

She could feel the warmth of someone singing to this small life...

 

"Is that..." And Elizabeth wasn't sure what to feel at the realization of what that pendant was.

 

"This is what allows me to cast [High Heal] and [High Bless] to my sister. And the reason why my adoptive parents will do anything I ask of them, lest they want to risk losing another daughter." Rossie said as she smiled mockingly at the pendant.

 

"That's...." Elizabeth wasn't sure what she was feeling at the moment, but there was one thing she was absolutely sure. "...that's horrible."

 

It was one of the most hideous things one could do, to hold the life of an unborn child hostage to make sure one could get away with what they wanted? Could she do that?

 

...Yes.

 

If it allowed her to be with Rossie? She could probably do that too.

 

Hell, she would probably try to use one of the slots of her [Heroic Party] to make sure she could hold the reins completely over them...

 

Oh...

 

"...But I can't judge you for it." Elizabeth quickly added, "I would probably do the same, if anything I may have done something worse than that."

 

"No, you would never do something like this Eli-Eli." Rossie quickly came to her defense, "You are willing to go and save someone like [Rena], of course, you wouldn't do something like this."

 

Was that true?

 

No, she was saving Rena for her own hypocritical reasons, she was under no mistaken image of thinking herself as a [Hero], and her actions as a [Magical Girl] so far had only been kissing another girl and making out with her from time to time.

 

"Either way, I don't think this is fair Rossie," Elizabeth said as she summoned one of her [Shadow Dragon Assassins], it manifested as a normal shadow dragon with no armor or special aspects to it.

 

If anything it felt so mundane that she suspected for a second that she had summoned a normal dragon. "Do you know your [Mission]?" Elizabeth asked the shadow dragon.

 

It turned to look at her, then at Rossie, and finally it looked at the pendant. It nodded once and turned into an arrow made of shadows that shot straight to the pendant where it disappeared.

 

"Eli-Eli? What was that?" Asked Rossie as she eyed her pendant and cast some spells on it, "I don't feel any difference at all, besides a small blip in mana that I wouldn't have noticed if not because I had all my diagnosis spells running."

 

"That is insurance Rossie," Answered Elizabeth, "That one will monitor your parents, and make sure they don't get any ideas."

 

Rossie eyed her pendant and then a pulse of [Holy Mana] swept their surroundings, most of her minions were fine with it, but some shadows recoiled as the mana passed by them.

 

Those were [Scouts] and not the evolved forms that she had of course. So those hiding in both of their shadows didn't react to it.

 

"I can't feel it, neither on this side nor on the other side of the pendant...Is this one of those you used to monitor me?" Asked Rossie while looking at Elizabeth.

 

"No, that one was one of those I saved for emergencies, they specialized in stealth." Elizabeth said while turning to the shadows affected by the exposure of [Holy Mana] and giving them some extra mana to recuperate from the impact, "If your parents ever try to get any funny ideas it will make sure they know where they stand and will notify us about it."

 

She of course didn't elaborate on the fact that the shadow dragon was more than capable of bribing, harming, or threatening the pink-haired girl's parents for it.

 

"So like this we now both can say with confidence that we have a history as [Villainess], you by holding hostage the life of your unborn sister and me by having a [Assassin] stalking my parents-in-law!" Elizabeth said with a smile on her face.

 

She...didn't feel bad about that, if Rossie was to go down to the four planes of hell, then she needed to up her game to be ready and follow after her.

 

Not that she was planning on dying and visiting such a place soon, her Mother had lived around 200 years, and her father almost the same. Alexanders was also around that age if her information on him was to be trusted.

 

So...what stopped her from following in their footsteps? She was planning to live a long and very...Entertaining life with Rossie at her side. And if she needed to tie her life force to her to make sure her girlfriend could stay alive that long?

 

Well, what was stalking and placing assassins in the house of her in-laws compared to breaking the rules of life and death?