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Hearing Sheena’s explanation, Mister Milton laughed bitterly, “Heh-heh-heh… one-of-a-kind? Not anymore…”

And then everyone turned their attention to me…

“Ah… um… uh…” I don’t know how to react at times like this and started stuttering, but then Mister Milton just suddenly laughed out loud.

“Hahaha!! Miss Sylvia… isn’t this amazing?! I hear you’re still a beginner mage? To have such a powerful spell in your arsenal, as expected of a Hero!”

“Mister Milton…” I felt kind of guilty for stealing Mister Milton’s signature moves, but there’s nothing I can do about it… the spell sequence is already registered in my consciousness. Continue reading [Vol 2] Chapter 7: Importance of Spiritual Power →

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“It’s name is…… Lightning Flame!!” Mister Milton announced the name of his strongest spell very proudly.

When Sheena and Albert heard the name of the spell, both of them were dumbfounded, but since I do not understand how powerful or rare this spell is actually is, I was unfazed.

“L-lightning Flame you say…?!” Albert and Sheena were so surprised that they jumped up from the sofa.

I thought that they’ve had more than enough surprises for today and wouldn’t be affected by any more surprises… but apparently, I was wrong. Continue reading [Vol 2] Chapter 6: Power Ranking →

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After everyone finally calmed down, we get back to Mister Milton’s office. Sitting in front of me is Mister Milton, Sheena and Albert.

They are all looking at me with a serious expression, demanding an explanation for the abnormal phenomenon that just occurred a moment ago.

I am sitting with my back straight, with both hands on top of my lap. I decided not to tell them the whole truth yet. Naturally, I will let Sheena know later since she is technically my “Master”.

“Miss Sylvia!” Mister Milton had a VERY serious expression on his face when he shouted my name and continued, “I think you have kept enough secrets from us already. I will ask you again, just… what are you? First… you race is questionable, and then there’s the Dark attribute and now that strange ability…” Continue reading [Vol 2] Chapter 5: Confession →

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“Is there anything else you want to know, Miss Sylvia?” Mister Milton asked hurriedly.

“Well… let’s see… I am a little curious about the so-called Wannabe Mage. How do they draw the mana from the surrounding just by swinging their staffs around?” I only asked out of pure curiosity, but Mister Milton seems very delighted with my question.

“Hahaha… that is a good question, Miss Sylvia! Allow me to enlighten you!” Mister Milton seemed really proud and puffed his chest before he continued, “We are not merely waving our staffs at random while casting spells!”

“Oh? Interesting… tell me more about it!” My eye shone with the light of curiosity. Continue reading [Vol 2] Chapter 4: Wannabe Mage →

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“Miss Sylvia… just… what are you?” Mister Milton broke the silence and pointed his staff at me. It seems like he will attack me at a moment’s notice.

I wonder if someone with darkness attributes is treated as a villain in this world. Well, I guess that’s only normal… because everyone is skeptical like that. But judging someone purely based on their attributes is just plain stupid. I don’t believe in the light is justice and darkness is evil kind of crap.

“Hahahahahaha” I lifted my head, used my right hand to cover my eyes before I started laughing madly! Continue reading [Vol 2] Chapter 3: Demon Lord, Logia →

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Yup… I guess I should apologize first, “Sorry… I will explain later. More importantly, is the Guild Card ready?”

Sheena heaved a sigh and said, “It’s just right in front of you…”

“Huh? Already? How much time have passed?” I tilted my head in confusion, and Sheena said, “About 30 minutes…” before she moved out of my field of vision, revealing the card and equipment placed on top of the table.

Wow… 30 minutes have passed already? It only felt like a few seconds have passed since I closed my eyes… and sitting on top of the sofa at the other side of the table is the Guild Master, Mister Milton!

“Oh uh… Mister Milton… how come you’re here?” Since Milton seems like a busy man, I didn’t expect he would have time to sit down and chit-chat with us.

“Hahaha… I came here to personally present you the reward of course!” Mister Milton said that nonchalantly.

“Huh? But why? Why would a busy person like you personally present the reward to a newcomer like me? Aren’t you the Guild Master?” I was suspicious of him, he must have some ulterior motives!

“Hahaha… oh come on, it’s not everyday you get to meet a Hero after all. I’d like to have the opportunity to personally give Lord Hero the reward!” Mister Milton said something non-sensical.

“………………Huh?” After a long moment of silence, that’s the only word I was able to spout.

“Hm? From your expression, I take it Lord Hero does not know anything?” Mister Milton asked me in return after seeing my confused expression.

“Would you care to explain?” I asked honestly.

“Hrm…………” Mister Milton squinted his eyes, and look directly into mine for a long while before he said, “Alright then, it seems you really do not know.”

Then he just turned his head to Sheena before saying, “As her Master, you should have explained these things beforehand.”

Sheena just lowered her head in embarrassment, “Sorry, she just fainted after we completed our contract, and I was too excited that I forgot to explain to her properly. Allow me the honor of explaining it to her!”

“Well better late than never I guess…” Mister Milton nodded his head in agreement.

Then Sheena, who was sitting beside me suddenly turned to my side and grabbed my hands that was on top of my lap. I turned to face her before she continued, “Okay… listen carefully. Since a few decades ago, Professor Colbert collaborated with the Void Mage to study their familiar summoning, and he successfully developed a Hero summoning ritual!

The Hero summoning ritual require a ridiculous amount of mana so it requires a few dozens of people to successfully summon a single Hero. Therefore it cannot be used consecutively.

The summoned Hero are mostly intelligent species, and most common are the humanoid familiar. These summoned Heroes were also granted unique powers when their contracts are sealed!”

Sheena stopped here to catch her breath, and remained silent for a while. I broke the silence and asked, “Hero summoning……? Did you summon me with similar methods?”

Sheena frowned for a moment and said with uncertainty, “I don’t know…… I don’t think what I did was that different from the rest of my classmates…”

Mister Milton suddenly raised an eyebrow, “Could it be?! Are…… are you a Void Mage?! T-the… successor of Josette?! Hahaha I don’t believe it! Today has been a great day! Not only did I get to meet a Hero, I was able to meet the Legendary Void Mage too!”

Sheena suddenly stood up and waved her hands in front of her, “No, no, no! Mister Milton, I am not a Void Mage! I can still use elemental spells!”

“Oh…” Mister Milton seems obviously disappointed, but he still lifted his mood and continued, “Well, doesn’t matter. Let’s just proceed and get this ceremony over as soon as possible then. You guys need to get back to the Academy by today no?”

Then Mister Milton prompted me to take a look at the equipment on top of the table first. There were a set of breastplate, a shoulder-pad, a belt, a pair boots with white knee-length socks, and lastly a pair of long white gloves with arm guards attached. They all have the same silver color and gold outline.

“These are…” After examining the armor, I looked at Mister Milton in confusion.

“Your reward. This set of armor is called the Silver Gold! I thought they’d go well with your one piece white dress!” Mister Milton happily introduced the equipment to me and end with, “This armor is best suited to a beginner like you. They are what we call the growth armor, they will grow stronger along with the user!”

Upon hearing Mister Milton’s last word, my jaw dropped and I started to hesitate, “Such…… such a good set of armors… A-are you sure you want to give this set of armors to me?!”

“Hahaha… pay it no mind! Let’s just say this is my investment in you. Being an Adventurer is a dangerous job, you never know when you might die!” Mister Milton make up an excuse and laughed it off as usual.

“Die? But Mister Milton… doesn’t the Guild Card provide a life insurance?” Hearing Mister Milton mention of death, I couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes that is very much true but… there are scenarios where you can get killed in one shot. Or when the teleportation failed to activate in time. It does provide a sense of security but it’s not flawless so you have to be careful!” Mister Milton warned us that this Guild Card is not onmipotence, so we have to be careful even if we have the protection if this card does provide us with a chance of survival.

“I see… something like that could happen huh……” I understood what Mister Milton was trying to say, and consented by nodding my head twice.

“Now then… let’s proceed to sealing this Guild Card with your blood then! The paper works are all done, you just need to drip your blood on this card, and everything will be settled!” Mister Milton said so while pushing the tray on the table in front of me. The tray contained the Guild Card and a needle.

“Aw… I hate these blood contract thing…” I pouted but I still took the needle, and lightly pierced the tip of my finger.

I dripped a single drop of blood on the Guild Card and it glowed dimly. After a while, the light dispersed, and my picture along with some basic information was displayed on the card. Fantasy is truly amazing! It reminds me of how people used to print photos in the old days, with the film and all.

I was only slightly surprised when I saw the age since if I think about it, I am currently an elf. Being 163 years old should be normal.

But I frowned when I saw the Race and Attributes! Seems like my suspicion was right… I had attributes with Darkness and my race even indicates me as a Spirit, not an elf!

Everyone was curious after seeing my expression, so they took a peek at the information written on the card.

Their body shook involuntarily. Sheena and Albert fell on the sofa while Mister Milton just stood in front of me, looking at me warily and asked, “Miss Sylvia… just… what are you?”

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Author’s Note

Welp… that card took a while to make… 😮

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1. N/a

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With that, we arrived at the Guild Hall safely, along with Mister Milton and his Elite Adventurers.

Upon entering the main hall, Mister Milton immediately parted with the Elite Adventurers, he seems to be very busy. Well I guess he is the Master of the Guild after all.

But before he parted, he didn’t fail to say this to us, “Enjoy your stay here. If you want to register at the Adventurer Guild, please do so at that counter over there. I’ll be sure to inform the clerk to give you a little reward for helping us stalling and subjugating the Abyss Beast.” Continue reading [Vol 2] Chapter 1: Analyzing Elemental Laws →

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“Accept it!!” Sheena grabbed both sides of my shoulders strongly and shake me twice, then she looked into my eyes with a powerful gaze.

I feel like answering to her call but I feel that I shouldn’t. I will surely regret it if I accept that proposal… and besides, just because she is my Master does not mean I have to listen to her every command, I have to make my own decision. And a good servant should not blindly follow orders from their Master, but to help them develop into a better person. ⌈¹⌋

With that thought, I shook my head, “No… I’m afraid I can’t accept your proposal, Mister Milton. I appreciate your consideration, but I’m afraid I am not ready to take on the responsibility of an S Rank!”

Sheena’s expression was ugly to behold and she grabbed my shoulders with even more strength, “What are you talking about!! It’s not everyday you get an offer to be an S Ranker! Just accept it!! Do you know how much benefit you can get just by being an S Ranker?!”

Benefits? There are such things like that too huh… but I still look into her eyes and said firmly, “Master… no matter the benefits, I still can’t accept it! Think about it, if I am given the title of an S Ranker, I would probably be forced to go on an almost impossible quest! What do you expect me, a newbie who doesn’t even know his ⌈²⌋ left and right yet, to do? I can’t even protect you, my Master, properly! How do you expect me to finish an S Rank quest? I’d rather start at the bottom and climb up slowly like everyone else! Only when one achieved something through their own hard work will there be meaning.”

“Muu……” Sheena puffed her cheeks and didn’t say any more.

“Hahaha… is that so? That’s such a shame… I was really looking forward to request something of you…” Mister Milton said resignedly.

What?! So he really have something in mind… Oh am I glad I rejected his proposal.

On the other hand, Albert was laughing out loud, “Khh… HAHAHAHA!! Oh god… Hahaha… I don’t believe it, there is actually a familiar capable of refusing to follow the Master’s command! Hahaha… oh… phew…”

Albert wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and continue, “I guess there’s a first time for everything…” And then he patted Sheena on her right shoulder once.

“Fuuuu………” Sheena let out a long breath and looked at me again before saying, “Okay, fine… I understand. But at the very least. you have to register at the Adventurer Guild. Even if it’s the lowest rank, there’s still a minimal benefit that can guarantee your safety.”

“Huh……? Guarantee my safety? There’s such a convenient item?” I was secretly surprised! I have never heard of any such things that can guarantee a person’s well being even in the fantasy novels that I like so much!

“Yes…” Sheena took out a card from her pocket and showed me, it looks kind of like an identity card. There’s the picture of Sheena on the card, her name, her race, her age, her attributes, her guild rank and total amount of money.

“This is…?” I peeled my sight from the card, and asked.

“A Guild Card.” The Guild Master of Swinford moved forward and said so.

“A Guild Card?” I tilted my head in obvious confusion.

“Yes, that is a Guild Card. As you can see from the surface, it function as a sort of identity card and credit card. You can store your money in the card and use it to purchase items at any affiliated store ⌈³⌋.” Mister Milton stopped momentarily to clear his throat.

And then he continued, “Ahem… aside from that, card holders of any rank gets the benefit of life insurance!”

“Um… can you please elaborate further?” Clearly not understanding what does Milton mean by life insurance, I asked him to go into more details.

“Gladly! You see… this card is bound directly to your soul, so that even if it is stolen, other people won’t be able to use it. But more importantly, it can detect your life force and display it in the corner of your sight. If your life force falls below critical value, you will be teleported to the closest Adventurer Guild to receive medical treatment!” Mister Milton seemed really proud when he spoke of it.

I was flabbergasted and it clearly showed on my face with the jaws opening so widely. Even Sheena and Albert seemed to find it funny and started giggling on the side.

“B… But how?! How in the world did you make something like this? It’s impossible, this is too cheat!” I still find it very hard to believe and ask for an explanation.

Mister Milton was delighted with my response and opened his mouth, “Hmhmhm~ This is all thanks to the wealth the dungeons brought us.” Then he just stopped abruptly!

“Dungeons? What does dungeon have anything to do with this? Please stop leaving me in the dust and pause every once in a while just to see my reaction!” I pouted unhappily due to Mister Milton’s obvious response.

“Alright alright~ I get it, I will stop teasing you already! I apologize for that, you are just too cute!” Having teased me enough, Mister Milton apologized sincerely. However, that last remark is unnecessary!

“Hehehe~ I know right~” And Sheena joined the fray.

“Geez! Stop teasing me already, hukhukhuk…” I cried. Well… not literally, there’s no tears coming out. Just a dry tear. ⌈⁴⌋

“Alright Alright~ I will tell you. It’s actually nothing much. We just incorporated the technique and materials found in the Teleport Labyrinth into these cards. As for the vision of your life force, that’s just an illusory spell.” Mister Milton finally explained after he have had enough.

“Guild Master! We have cleared the Abyss Beast and is ready to set out!” One of the Elite Adventurers reported to Mister Milton.

“Alright, good. Now let us head back to the Guild Hall!” With a wave of his hand, all the Elite Adventurers head toward the Adventurer Guild immediately.

I took a glance at location where the monster was supposed to be but there was nothing! Nothing at all, not even traces of blood! What did they do?! Then I turned my head towards Mister Milton with an inquisitive glance.

He took notice of it and laughed, “Hahaha, this is also one of the benefits for the Card Holders. All the monsters or bandits they kill or subdue will be teleported to the administration hall, then the loot will be distributed amongst all the party members equally. Naturally the loot and gold will be stored at the Guild Storage. They can use the gold stored in the Guild Storage by presenting their Guild Card at any affiliated stores, but to withdraw the loot and gold, they’d have to go to the Guild Hall directly, unless you’re D-Rank and above, you cannot withdraw them directly via Teleportation.”

We were talking about various things on the way to the Guild Hall, and I received a lot of new information from Mister Milton. This world feels more and more like a game now for some reason. All these convenient tools and function where you can normally only find in the game actually exist here in this fantasy world!

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The monster rushed toward Albert and Sheena at lightning speed while bellowing in rage, “Rooooar!”

Sheena and Albert quickly grabbed their magic gun, and started firing rounds after rounds of magic bullet at the monster.

Albert’s aim was not bad. At least it hits the monster, but Sheena on the other hand…… missed one after another. One of many magic bullets fired by Sheena even grazed my cheek.

Yikes!! Just a few more centimeter and it’s gonna be a head-shot! But thanks to that, I finally regained a little bit of my composure. Continue reading [Vol 1] Chapter 16: The Awakening Powers →

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After Sheena gave the Silver coins to Sebastian, we said our thanks and left the store.

On the way I asked anxiously, “So… how much money do we have left?”

“Let’s see… we have spent fifteen Copper coins to lodge in the inn last night and six Copper coins for dinner and breakfast. The Teardrop Earrings and Mana Stone cost us ninety-five Silver coins. With that, we only have four Silver coins and seventy-nine Copper coins remaining.” Sheena looked into her purse and sighed.

I feel kind of guilty since more than 90% of the money were spent on the Mana Stone and Teardrop Earrings for me, “I’m sorry…… because of me you have to spend so much money.” Continue reading [Vol 1] Chapter 15: The Abyss Beast →

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I looked at Sheena and Albert expectantly. Waiting for them to explain the secondary function of the Mana Stone.

“Fu… Alright. Listen well, cause I’ll only say it once!” Sheena let out a mouthful of breath, and start to explain, “The original purpose of the Mana Stone is to recover the user’s Magic Power using the mana it collected from the surrounding.”

Albert continued from where Sheena left off, “But, the Mana Stone can also act as a secondary mana tank for the user!”

“A secondary mana tank?” I tilted my head while poking my right cheek with the index finger. Continue reading [Vol 1] Chapter 14: Teardrop Earring →

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After a period of awkward silence.

“I see…… my condolences.” Albert said consolingly.

“Hahaha! What for?! It’s not like she’s dead. She’s just in a coma, that’s all!” Sebastian tried to lighten the mood.

Wait… the legendary artifacts bound themselves with the soul of owner right? If that is the case, then doesn’t that mean the soul of the previous owner is already long gone? Can you really call that being alive?

I wanted to retort but doing so would only make the mood heavier so I held back.

“Haha! Now now, let’s not talk about that anymore. Let’s just drip a tiny drop of your blood on top of this dual bow-gun and it’s yours, lass.” Sebastian ended the topic with that and passed a needle to me.

“Mm… alright.” I took a needle offered to me by Sebastian, and reluctantly poke the tip of finger with it.

“Ouch!” The needle pierced my skin and a little bit of blood starts flowing out from the opening. I dripped the blood on top of the weapon, and they glowed dimly for a few seconds.

“Shiiing! Shiiing!”

“Huaaa… What is it? Morning already?” A voice rang out in my mind as soon as the weapon stopped glowing.

“Hm? Did you say something?” I looked at Sheena as I asked, since she is the only girl here other than me.

“No? Did you hear something?” Sheena answered while tilting her head.

“No…… never mind, maybe I just misheard.” Seeing Sheena’s innocent face, I don’t think she was lying, so I just shrugged off as my imagination.

“Well then! Now that we have your weapon and with plenty of Silver coins left, I guess we should get you some Mana Stone.” Since we didn’t spent a single penny on this weapon of mine, Sheena wanted to get me something else. She wanted to get me something with her own money to celebrate our life-time contract.

“Mana Stone? What’s that?” Upon hearing the unfamiliar term, I turned my attention to Sheena and asked.

“Mana Stone is basically a stone that can store mana to recover your Magic Power. Seeing how much Magic Power your special ability consumes upon activation. Having one or two Mana Stone wouldn’t hurt.” Albert explained in her stead.

“Hahaha… if it’s Mana Stone you want. Then you are in luck! I have one Mana Stone with 10,000 capacity left. Normally it would go for one Gold coin but for you, I’ll sell it for ninety Silver coins!” Sebastian rummaged through his stock and grabbed the Mana Stone from under the counter.

“So expensive!! Don’t you have one with lower capacity?” Upon hearing the catastrophic cost of the Mana Stone, Sheena couldn’t help but cry out in shock.

“I’m sorry lil miss, these Mana Stone are high in demand. You would have to wait for another few months before the next stock of Mana Stones are available.” Sebastian felt helpless that there was nothing else he could do.

I pulled Sheena’s sleeve lightly, and whispered softly in her ear, “Um… perhaps I don’t understand the value of money in this world, but just how expensive is this Mana Stone?”

“Sigh… Alright, let me put it in a term that you can understand. Let’s say one Bronze coin in Halkeginia equals to 10 USD on Earth. How much do you think a single Silver coin is?” Sheena heaved a sigh and used the money that I am familiar with as an analogy.

“Um… let’s see…… if one Bronze coin equals 10 USD, then ten Bronze coins is 100 USD…… one Silver coin is equal to one hundred Bronze coins, so that means… 1,000 USD?! SO EXPENSIVE!!” I shouted in the end after finalizing my calculation.

I mean, I can’t help it right? Ninety Silver coins are equivalent to 90,000 USD!! Even in my previous life, I don’t even have more than two-tenth of that amount! It’s way too expensive!!

“Uh… um… Sh-Sheena…… umm… you know… you don’t have to force yourself to buy that for me you know?? I mean… it’s too expensive! Even if you get it for me, I would feel WAY too insecure to carry something THAT expensive on me…” I try to convince Sheena not to buy it.

“Before we decide…… can we borrow that and let Sylvia recover some her Magic Power first, Uncle Sebastian? If we encounter some monsters or rogue on the way back, with her Magic Power as low as it is now, she will only drag us down.” Sheena requested Sebastian to let us borrow the Mana Stone for a while.

“Hahaha sure, go ahead and take as much mana as you want!” Sebastian handed the Mana Stone over to me.

“Eh? Won’t the value of this Mana Stone decrease if I drain the mana out of it?” I was reluctant to do it. Since I am basically draining one Bronze coin for each unit of Magic Power!

“Hahaha! Don’t worry about it lass, these Mana Stone have a function to draw mana from the surrounding like the Magic Staff, they can collect the mana and store it within them over time.” Sebastian explained briefly regarding how the Mana Stone works.

“Oh… is that how it work?” I was truly amazed, this is truly a fantasy world, there are so many interesting things that cannot be explained with logic here!

While I was still mesmerizing at the wondrous world before me, Albert said, “Yeah, the Mana Stone usually fully recovered after ten hours.”

“Phew… then don’t mind if I take some mana out from the stone.” I grabbed the stone and then stared at it. After one awkward minute of staring at the stone…

I asked, “Uh… So how do I recover my Magic Power?”

“Pfft-ahahahahahaha!” Sheena, Albert and Sebastian broke out in laughter.

Eh? Did I say something funny? They probably knew that I do not know anything, and kept their silence to watch my reaction. How mean!

“Hahahahaha! Oh lass! It’s quite simple, really! You just have to put that stone in front of your lips and suck the mana out of it!” Sebastian is the first to snap out of the laughter and explained.

I did as he told and kissed the stone. A moment later, I can feel a surge of mana flowing into my body, rapidly recovering my Magic Power.

“Wow, I feel so refreshed!” After feeling the supply of mana is no longer flowing into my body, I pulled the stone away from my lips.

Sheena, Albert and Sebastian all stared at the Mana Stone wide eyed.

Hm…… why are they so shocked? Did I break the stone? I turned my sight to the stone nervously and let out a sigh of relieve, there doesn’t seem to be a crack on the stone.

But it is too soon to feel relieved… about one-tenth on the surface of the Magic Stone seems to have turned grayish. I wonder why… did I break it after all?

I lifted the stone in front of my face, holding it up with my palm. I looked at the grayish part of the stone and asked, “Um… this is……?”

Sheena put her right hand on top of her head and shake it twice, “I don’t believe it…”

“To think it would consume that much Magic Power…… I guess this is what you call mighty power comes with great cost……” Albert was also shaking his head while he let out a sigh.

“Uncle Sebastian, we will buy this Mana Stone after all…” After looking at the stone, Sheena finally give in and decided to buy the Mana Stone.

“Ehhhhh?! Why? Did I break it after all?” I panicked.

“No…… but your innate Magic Power and the consumption rate of your skill is too high. A normal Mana Stone would be consumed immediately.” Sheena denied the claim and explained.

“That’s right, normally, a basic elemental spell usually only consume around 10 unit of Magic Power, and a beginner mage usually have an average of 200 unit of Magic Power in total.” Albert supplemented.

Then Sebastian continued, “From the looks of it, around one-tenth of the mana has been consumed within the Mana Stone. That means around 1,000 unit of Magic Power has been drained by that special ability of yours in a one go. You get what I’m implying here?”

So… that means I have at least around five times more Magic Power capacity compared to your average beginner mage, but since my special ability consumes too much Magic Power to register itself for instacast, I had no choice but to rely on the Mana Stone.

“I see…… that is bad indeed. That means I won’t be able to register high level spell for instacast.” I lamented at the thought of it.

While I was lamenting at my inability to instacast high level spell, Sheena shouted, “That’s why we need this Mana Stone all the more!”

“Why? Does it have some other function other than recovering the Magic Power?” I was surprised when Sheena suddenly said that. I know that I need the Mana Stone now, but how does that help me in regards to register high level spell for instacast?

“Hahaha! This lass truly have good insight, she caught on frightening fast!” Sebastian was delighted at my keen intuition.

“Oh… so it does indeed have other function. What is it? Tell me already!” I looked at Sebastian with gleaming eyes. My arms are in a “v-shape” in front of my breasts, and my fists are clutched tightly.

“Hahaha, you guys explain to her. I’ll do some modification with this Mana Stone.” Sebastian pushed Sheena and Albert to do the explanation while he moved into the workshop at the back.

“Oh, does that mean the other function cannot be used with the Mana Stone just as it is?” As I thought of that, I turn my head over to Sheena and Albert looking for an explanation.

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1. N/a

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After a long period of silence…

“J-Just what was that?!” Sheena broke the silence.

“How did you do that just now?! How were you able to shoot so accurately while in the midair!! No! Before that! How did you even jump that high to begin with!” Sheena stormed me with one question after another while I was still on the ground. Sitting there with my knees together, with my body leaning against it.

I looked at Sheena, and complained with teary eyes while rubbing sore butt, “Uuuu… That’s the first thing you ask? You could at least worry about me you know?”

Just as I was saying that, Albert was already standing in front of me and offered a hand. I grabbed his hand without second thoughts, and he pulled me up from the ground.

“Th-thank you……” I was surprised, Albert collected himself way too fast. Just a moment ago, he was standing beside Sheena with the same stupid expression as her, and a moment later, he was already in front of me as his usual self. Calm and composed.

“That was most impressive Miss Sylvia. I am awed all over by your performance earlier! Splendid marksmanship, and a user of instacast to top it off! Indeed, the magic gun is an excellent weapon of choice!” Albert praised me over and over. It’s a little embarrassing to be praised so much, seriously.

“Ah… ahahaha… thank you Albert…” I bashfully responded to Albert’s words of praise.

Sheena cuts in between us, “Hey! Don’t ignore me, answer my questions!”

“Uh… even if you ask me… I don’t know how to answer…… natural instinct maybe? Hahaha……” I laughed awkwardly and scratched my cheeks.

“Sigh… Alright fine, let’s just go inform Uncle Sebastian that we are done with the test already, and choose an appropriate weapon for you. As promised we will get you two magic guns.” Sheena gave up the questioning and cursed silently, “Kh… Natural instinct huh? I hate those genius who achieved good results without even trying hard. I worked so hard to get to where I am today…”

***

As we re-entered the store from the back door. Sebastian noticed us and started, “Hahaha! So the lass’ test is over now is it? How did it go?”

“She passed with rainbow colors.” Sheena seems a little bit displeased.

“Her marksmanship is most impressive, I’ve never seen a marksman with such impressive sharpshooting skill as her. Her magic aptitude is off the charts too. It is unfortunate that we can only test her aptitude for one element for now due to the high Magic Power consumption of a peculiar ability at work.”

“Hoh… special ability is it? What is it?” Sebastian was interested in the special ability and asked.

“Hmhmhm! Hear this and be impressed! My familiar is the second known user of instacast in the entire continent of Halkeginia.” Sheena’s face suddenly brightened up, and proclaimed to Uncle Sebastian proudly.

“Hahahaha!! Instacast is it? That’s impressive! Impressive indeed!” Sebastian laughed out loud.

“Muu!! I’m not joking you know?” Sheena pouted.

“Haha! I know, I know! This is just perfect! Wait here for a moment!” Sebastian told us to wait, then he went to the innermost part of the store.

After a while, he got back with two bow like gun on both of his hands.

“Eh?” I was surprised. Why is that here? Where did he get it from? Those bow-gun look exactly like the one I saw in my vision.

Sheena turned her head over to look at me, “Sylvia… is that?”

I did the same and looked at Sheena, I didn’t say a word and just nodded slightly.

“Oh? Have the lass here seen this weapon before?” Sebastian was surprised when he saw our expression.

I turned my head back to look at Sebastian, then at the two bow-gun that he laid on the counter in front of us. After that, I told him, “Actually… I can’t really say I have seen them before, I just saw them in my vision. That’s all…”

Sebastian had a very grim expression when I told him that, but he instantly changed his mood and said, “Hahaha!! Then this must be fate!! I found these weapon a little over ten years ago in the dungeon! For some reason, they come in a pair and won’t separate for more than a meter.”

“You found these in a dungeon over ten years ago? Does that mean… during the first dungeon exploration with my father?” Sheena asked.

Sebastian’s expression turned grim for a moment, then he immediately reverted back to the happy-go-lucky mood, and patted Sheena’s head, “Hahaha! Don’t worry about it. Let’s not talk about that for now.”

“This weapon… I will give it to you as a gift, lass.” Sebastian pushed the pair of bow-gun towards me.

“Eh?!?! But why……? How can I accept such a gift?! From what I heard, the dungeon is an extremely dangerous place. This weapon must be worth a lot!” I tried to refuse the offer since I would feel very bad about it, they sacrificed a lot during that first dungeon exploration from what I’ve heard, but Sebastian refuted.

“Hahaha! Don’t worry about it, this weapon is totally worthless!”

“Eh?!” I was dumbfounded, how could something excavated from the dungeon be worthless?

“True, this is a legendary artifact. But no one can use it effectively, no one other than you that is!” Sebastian exclaimed.

“What do you mean……?” Sheena, Albert and I looked at Sebastian with suspicion.

“You see…” Sebastian explained to us how this bow-gun can only be fired once, since each time you refilled it with magic, only a single magic bullet in the form of an arrow was formed, so it cannot be used continuously.

He also explained about how he used this bow-gun as a model to create the first prototype of the magic gun, and derived to what it is today.

“I see… If that’s the case, then it’s true that this weapon is not optimal for a mage. The only reason why a mage opt for magic gun is because of the ability to shoot it continuously without the need to chant for a spell.” Albert consented.

“I agree……  Furthermore, unlike magic, this bow-gun also do not have auto target assist like the rest of the magic gun, it is a single target weapon, and only have two shot at best since they come in a pair.” Sheena also agreed with Albert.

“And that’s why I want you to have this, lass! This weapon no longer serves any purpose to me. I’m sure it would be happier to be used instead of sitting here to eat dust.” Sebastian tried to push the weapon to me.

“……………” I was in deep thought for a while.

“With your instacast and remarkable marksmanship, you can fire this dual bow-gun continuously! It’s the perfect weapon for you, lass! Hahaha!” Sebastian continued to convince me to accept it.

“Alright… if you insist, I will accept your generosity. Thank you very much, Uncle Sebastian.” I bowed respectfully as I received the dual bow-gun.

“Hahaha! Good! Good!! Now you just need to soul bind the weapon, and it will be yours!” Sebastian was very delighted when I accepted it.

“Soul Bind?” I titled my head in confusion as I asked.

“That’s right, all legendary artifact require you to bind your soul with it for them to recognize you as their true owner. You just need to drip your blood on top of the weapon and it will be bounded to your soul.” Sebastian explained.

“Um… what happens if I did not bind my soul with the weapon?” I asked.

“Then you won’t be able to wield it, probably.” Sebastian answered.

“Wait… if you need to be soul bounded with the weapon in order to use it, then how do you know about the usage of this bow-gun?” Sheena thought it was strange, so she asked.

“Does that mean…… this bow-gun previously have an owner who soul bounded with it?” I asked as if that was the most natural thing in the world.

“Sigh…” Sebastian’s expression turns grim again, “That’s right…… this weapon does indeed have a previous owner. She might not be an instacast user but she is quite talented in magic herself as she is a shortened incantation user.”

Judging from his expression, I have a feeling I shouldn’t press on this matter anymore. I already have a general idea of the fate of the previous user by now. Most likely she is already……

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“Bang!”

“Eh…? I missed.” I say that with a disappointed expression.

Well, of course the world isn’t such a nice place where you can be perfect in everything on the first try… I need to work hard…

“Well… the result was…… worst than I thought.” Seeing that I didn’t even hit the target dummy, Sheena heaved a sigh.

“Wait… just wait a second, let me have another try! Please?” I begged Sheena to let me have another shot. She seems unconvinced.

“I feel like I can get it right if I just try a few more times. It feels like the time when I was riding the horse.” When I was learning horse riding from Sheena, I was very bad at it. However, I get used to it very soon. I get a similar feeling when I was holding the gun.

Sheena seems convinced since she saw how bad I was at horseback riding for the first few minutes, “Alright, try as many times as you want. We have plenty of rubber bullets here anyway. You know how to reload the gun right?”

I scratches my head awkwardly, “Um… well…… actually I…… have never really held a real gun before…… Hehehe.”

“Sigh… Albert.” Sheena gestured Albert to come over and teach me how to reload a gun.

After learning the basics, I got into the proper position, took my aim, and start firing the gun.

With each shot, I feel like my aim is getting sharper and sharper. Sheena was not too surprised to see my improvement in such a short period of time, but Albert on the other hand…… was amazed.

“It’s amazing how she improved so quickly. Is this the innate ability of the elf? Their marksmanship is amazing indeed!”

“That’s enough. Now try shooting with your non-dominant arm. After  you get used to it, we will raise the level.” Sheena stepped forward and prompt me to continue shooting with my other hand.

The result was almost the same as with my dominant arm. At first, I missed the target but my aim gets sharper over time.

Eventually……

“Sylvia!” Sheena called out to me.

I turned over to look at her.

“Catch.” She throw the other gun that she was holding earlier to me.

I caught it frantically and shouted with discontent, “H-hey!! That’s dangerous! What if somebody got hurt?!”

Sheena turned her head sideways, “Humph…”

“Eh?? What did I do?” I was confused at Sheena’s fit of temper.

Could she be jealous at how I can do something that she couldn’t so easily?

I looked around and noticed Albert is not around so I asked, “Where’s Albert?”

Sheena didn’t say a word and pointed behind me. I turned to look and saw Albert walking over from a distant with nine additional target dummy floating in the air.

“Eh?” I was confused, I have no idea what is going on. Why are there so many target dummy?

“Now let’s proceed with the final test. If you pass this test, then we will acknowledge your marksmanship, and get you two guns as promised. If you fail, we will still get you one gun but you won’t be using that as your main weapon.” Albert walked towards me and explained.

“So… how are we going to test my marksmanship?” I asked interestingly.

“Simple! Can you see the colors of the mark on the dummy?” Albert pointed to the dummy.

“Hmm… yes… and?” I looked at one dummy after another as indicated.

“I will control five of the dummy with red mark using levitation magic while avoiding you, your aim is to hit them with the rubber bullet.” Albert explained.

“And I will control the other five with blue mark, obstructing you. But you cannot attack them. Once you do, you fail!” Sheena curved her lips upward, “Be careful~ I will occasionally ram into you, hehe.”

“Oh… moving targets… just…… perfect…… and I have to avoid hitting those with blue marks too……” I am not so confident I can hit moving target yet, so I feel rather dispirited.

Furthermore, with two guns occupying both my hand, trying to reload the gun will be difficult, unless I have super godly reflexes. Magic gun is another story since I can just use instacast to instantly reload the gun, but these guns are different, I have to reload them manually.

Each gun can load up to ten bullets, that means I will have twenty shot with two guns. In other word, I can spare five bullets per dummy. I can do this, I have plenty of bullets to spare!  If I really can’t take down five targets with twenty bullets, I really have no rights to hold a gun.

“Ok, let’s begin then!” Upon my signal, Sheena and Albert simultaneously used levitation magic to lift the target dummy to surround me.

With the blue dummies blocking my view in the front, while the red dummies at the back are floating left and right, up and down.

When I pointed a gun at the red dummy, the blue dummy came into view.

Whoa!! How am I supposed to shoot the red dummy if the blue dummy keeps blocking me. Seems like I can’t stay in one place forever. I will have to get behind the blue dummy to aim properly.

With that in mind, I started running towards one of the blue dummy.

The blue dummy tried to ram into me, but I side stepped and narrowly dodged the blue dummy’s reckless charge.

“Skid…!” With my left hand and knee on the ground, I immediately pointed my non-dominant right hand at the red dummy and pulled the trigger.

“Ding!”

“Score!! One down, four more to go!” I shouted in joy as my aim was right on the mark.

“Tsk!! It’s not over yet!” Sheena suddenly commanded all five of the blue dummies to encircle me at high speed.

“Damn!!” I cursed silently as I was trapped in the center of these five blue dummies.

I saw a gap in between the blue dummy so I pointed my gun at one of the red dummy that is floating around aimlessly behind one of the gaps, and waited for the right moment.

“Bang!”

I pulled the trigger again, and with a “Bang!”, I hear the sweet “Ding!” sound which indicates I hit the target. Oh sweet! Another one down, three more to go!

“Khhhhh!!” Sheena seems infuriated that I was able to hit my target in that situation. Then all of a sudden, three blue dummies charged toward me at high speed.

Without any time to think, I jumped up into the air to avoid getting squashed by the three dummies. I jumped higher than I thought and avoided the dummies by a hair’s breadth. The dummies rammed into one another while I was still upside down in midair.

I took a quick glance at my surrounding and saw two red dummies at the distant. I quickly spin around my body while still upside down in midair, and saw the third dummy at the opposite side.

Without losing my momentum, I spread out both my arm and focused like I never have before, and then I pulled the trigger one time, two times, three times, while spinning around in midair.

“Ding! Ding! Ding!”

That signals the end of my marksmanship test! All five red dummies are down, and not a single blue dummy were shot! But I don’t have time to rejoice at the moment, because I’m losing altitute, and is about to fall to the ground head first!

I tried to balance myself by doing a somersault, and turn my body into the upright position. Then my feet touched the ground first, and I am standing upright with my arms spread. A perfect landing!

As if! I landed hard on my butt first!

“Owowowowow! That hurts!” Tears are welling up in my eyes as I rubbed my sore butt.

Although that took a while to explain, only a few seconds have passed in reality.

Sheena and Albert stared at me wide eyed from the distant with their jaw dropped. I guess I couldn’t blame them. What I did just now even surprised myself. If I was the one watching from the sideline, I probably would have the same expression as them right now.

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When Sheena and Albert recovered from their shock.

“In…… Instacast!!” Sheena and Albert shouted at the same time.

“Wh-Wha…? Why did you shout so loudly? Did I do something wrong?” I was covering my ears with both of my hands for a while. Since the both of them shouted so loud, I feel like my ears are still ringing.

“You… that was… that was AMAZING!! I’ve never seen anyone casted magic without chanting before! This is just amazing!!” Sheena was holding both of my hand and jumping up and down excitedly while praising me.

“Indeed… I’ve only heard rumors, the only other person able to instacast in the entire continent of Halkeginia other than you is the Vampire Queen, Evangeline A.K. McDowell.” Albert explained calmly.

Hm… he’s quite composed despite how he was utterly shocked out of his mind earlier. As expected of a Crown Prince, he’s able to adapt to any situation quickly and analyses things in a composed manner.

But wait… Did he say Evangeline A.K. McDowell? Isn’t that the name of the immortal vampiress from Mahou Sensei Negima? Just what is this? First I found myself in the world of Halkeginia, now even the name of the Vampiress pops up.

Am I really dead after all, and this is just a dream in the after world based on my imagination?

……Oh well, who cares? Let’s stop thinking about difficult stuff and just enjoy the moment while it last.

But I’m still curious after all, “Um… Sheena, this Evangeline… isn’t she…”

“Your guess is probably right, she’s probably the same character as the one from the manga you once read.” Sheena confirmed my suspicion.

“Oh… so you read that manga too?” I was surprised that Sheena know about it. After all, not many girls read that manga due to the excessive fan service. But it is a good manga despite all the fan service.

“Sigh… My dad liked that manga, and forced me to read it ever since he learnt about the existence of Evangeline A.K. McDowell in this world. He suspect they might be the same person.” Sheena explained wearily.

“Oh… Did you learn anything about her?” I asked.

“Only that… she is an immortal vampire, and a very powerful mage. There’s probably only a handful of people who can fight with her on an equal footing. Even though she’s a mage, she’s good in close combat too. She’s just too powerful. And what’s more, she can even instacast now, she’s basically a cheat character!!” Sheena complained while grinding her teeth.

Wow, that’s the first time I see her like this. Maybe it would be wise if I never mentioned that name ever again, but what she said next surprised me.

“But, with this!” Sheena grabbed my hand again and continue, “With this! We can finally see a glimmer of hope! Magic are powerful, but they require time to prepare. If we have you on our side, we can finally win against her!”

“Wha… WHY?! Why do we need to fight against her? Did she do something wrong?!” I was surprised indeed.

“No… she haven’t done anything yet……” Sheena gripped my hands tightly.

“What do you mean…?” I was confused, if she haven’t done anything, then why do we need to fight her?

“Rumor has it that some people saw her using magic stone to summon the magic beast. People suspect that she might be the one who created the dungeons a few decades ago, and summoned the magical beast to keep people from entering the deepest part of the dungeon. She might be the mastermind behind all of these mystery.” Sheena conjectured.

“She’s the creator of the dungeon? But why?” I don’t understand the intention of this Vampire Queen, for what reason did she summon the dungeon? But the real question is, was she really the one who summoned the dungeons?

“I don’t know either… my father told me he met up with her once, but she wouldn’t say anything more unless he can hit her at least once. My father was pushed back easily, so he gathered a group of people to explore the first dungeon instead.”

Sheena loosened her grip, and heaved a sigh before she continued, “They managed to make it to the deepest part of the dungeon but… only a handful of people were able to survive in the end… My father wouldn’t tell me what happened in the depths of the dungeon, and told me to never approach it.”

“What?! The group that supposedly saved the world from a certain calamity! Wiped out just like that?” I shivers upon thinking about it, just how dreadful the dungeon is.

Sheena let go of my hand and clenched her fist, then she look into my eyes with a strong gaze, “That’s why! That’s why we will defeat Evangeline A.K. McDowell, make my father acknowledge me, and find out the truth from her personally!”

Sheena then stretches her right hand towards me and say, “Please lend me your strength!”

I hesitated for a moment and thought it might be impossible, I mean… she’s probably more than 700 years old and she’s an immortal, with our experiences and short lifespan, we might not even be able to beat her in our lifetime.

But I remember a famous quote once say, if you say it’s impossible, then it will really be impossible. The words you say will bound you and put a limitation on yourself. That’s why you should always believe in yourself and never give up before even trying.

There’s also another famous quote that says miracle is but another name for “hard work”. That’s why I need to work hard!

With renewed resolves, I take hold of her hand and shake on it, “I will work hard to exceed your expectation!”

“Um… I’m happy you girls are having a fun chat…… but should we continue the testing session?” Albert cuts in unhappily.

He’s holding two guns on his hands, I guess he went and borrowed it when we were happily chatting away?

“Here, these guns are for you. You said you wanted dual gun style right? These are just normal guns with rubber bullets.” Albert said so and passed the guns to me.

“Thank you Albe…… I mean Alby. Pfft…!” I almost laughed again when I called him Alby.I hurriedly cover my mouth with my right hand.

Alby… I mean Albert glared daggers at me and continued, “Are you really sure you want to use magic gun? With your instacast, all the advantages of a magic gun is nullified. There are no merits.”

“That’s right… it’s true the magic bullet are indeed faster than magic and have more penetrative power but they are single target weapon. Unlike magic where you can hit multiple opponent at once, you can only hit one opponent at a time with the magic gun.” Sheena supplemented.

“That’s not true… you say the speed and penetrative power is higher right? When fighting stronger opponent, speed and power is everything. If you cannot hit or injure your opponent, then it’s pointless. Now I’m not sure much about magic, but even with instacast, I still need a good amount of concentration. Let’s say if I want to cast a water ball with increased penetrative power and speed, I need some time to adjust it. But with a magic gun, I can just cast a simple water ball, and it will increase the penetrative power and speed for me. It’s killing two birds with one stone!”

Sheena and Albert were both speechless when I keep on yapping about this and that. Then Sheena started, ” Uh… you sure know a lot… do you have experience with this? You sound like an expert.”

I scratches my cheeks awkwardly and say, “Uh… hahaha… no not really… I just read a lot of fantasy novels… and played fantasy games……”

“Sigh…… Well, if you insist on having a gun, I won’t stop you. Go ahead and try it first before deciding. We need to test your dexterity first. Let’s start with one gun for now, do not be greedy, I will hold on to the other gun.” Sheena snatched the other gun from my hand while saying so.

And finally… we’re going to see test my dexterity. If I am able to shoot the target, I get a gun… or two, depending on my result.

If my dexterity is bad, we get one gun but it will only be used as a secondary weapon, then my main weapon will definitely be a staff or wand.

If my dexterity is extremely good, I will get two magic guns as my main weapons.

“Well here goes nothing……” I readied myself to start the test at any moment.

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