An Unborn Hero

"So if we dance while transforming, we get a third stronger?" asked Grace, the entire magical girl squad having got back together in the evening for a meeting.

"Ish. It varied," explained Kellela.

"... Why?"

Mystery replied with an extensive explanation about proper behaviour, the situation of someone standing in front of her wanting to know about magical girls being such an emergency that she completely forgot she was speaking the wrong language.

ding

You have used [Translate] to translate to a foreign language, instead of to your native one, upgrading it with [Two Way]. Level cap of [Translate] increased by 10.

For learning a new aspect of translation, [Translate] advances to level 5.

Alas, despite her new sub-skill, she was still burning through words so quickly that her low-levelled [Telepathy] only made one in ten comprehensible, leaving everyone in the room clueless.

"Because Mystery," answered Kellela, far more succinctly.

"Fair enough. Still, it could be worse. At least I can dance without looking or sounding like a complete buffoon."

Kellela's eyes flickered downwards, suddenly finding the carpet the most interesting thing in the universe.

"... Can't I?"

"Well... This is Mystery we're talking about," carefully answered Kellela.

"Okay, so it's some dance from her home world. Utterly obscene. Involves flashing my underwear at everyone. Am I close?"

"Maybe it's best if I... demonstrate," she continued, the blush already tinting her cheeks.

"Oh goddess... I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"No," answered Kellela with perfect honesty.

ding

You have successfully emoted over a telepathic link, upgrading [Telepathy] with [Empathy]. Level cap of [Telepathy] increased by 10.

For discovering a new aspect of intersoul communications, [Telepathy] advances to level 7.

All five magical girls looked up as they felt something prod their minds. "Did Mystery just pout?" asked Rose.

"Face it Mystery. Wherever you are from was weird."

"No. The last [Hero] to be born of Earth was actually fairly sensible," disagreed Rrillandral. "I am afraid it is just her."

"It may be weird, but at least it works," sighed Kellela. "For friendship and justice, demon slaying magical girl Lotus Pink, transform!" she exclaimed while... dancing. For a very lax definition of the word. Her movements continued while her transformation progressed, the usual motes of light seemingly taking part in the display as they shifted colours, elongated and twirled around her as she spun. One moment she stretched upwards, grasping at the heavens, the next she crouched, touching her own toes. She finished up by holding her hand in front of her face, elbow pointed out, fingers separated into a v shape in front of her eyes as she smiled.

The smile was slightly forced.

"... We are all going to die," commented Grace dryly. "We're going to run into an arch-demon, and there's going to be a choice between death and that, and I'm going to choose death."

Mystery's concerns about enemies attacking during the transformation sequence were actually somewhat misplaced. Maybe, in the future, when the world grew numb to such displays, it would become a problem, and something like a time stop spell would become necessary. The first few times, however, anything intelligent would be too busy staring in dumbstruck confusion to take advantage.

"Don't be such a grouch," said Rose. "Let me try."

She did so.

"That was... impressive," said Grace carefully. "But how did you make the light do that?"

"Do what?"

"Twirl around you, like Kellela did? I assumed she was using additional magic."

"I... didn't? Oh wait..." She stared at something only she could see. "Awesome! I got a new sub-skill for that! Uh... Can't read it, though."

"Yes, it says [Transformation Sequence]. It doesn't really translate well," said Kellela, once again refusing to meet anyone's gaze. "Something like... 'choreographed motions to make while transforming in order to look cool'."

"Cool?" asked Grace with a not insignificant amount of incredulity.

"You got it too?" asked Rose, ignoring her new friend.

"Yes..." Kellela answered, still staring at the floor.

"You wouldn't be so embarrassed over just that," pointed out Hayedalf.

"Oh! Did you get a new occupation too?"

Hayedalf thoughtfully stroked his chin. "You've been unemployed for a while, and were half-exiled from the capital. If anything, it's a surprise you've held on to [Court Mage] for as long as you have."

"Yes, fine. I lost [Court Mage]. I now have an occupation I can't read without the aid of [Translate]. [Magical Scholaress], and it gives something like 'young female sage who battles evil using the magical transformation powers of friendship'. I don't seem to have lost any mana or skills, and since it's not quite the same as Rose's, I got [Pioneer] too, so I think it's more upsides than down."

"Oh goddess..." mumbled Grace for the second time of the conversation. "No... Losing [Court Mage] makes sense, given that she lost her job... And Rose was already on the verge of a class change, so evolving her class was perfectly normal... It's only those two... It's fine..."

"What are you mumbling about over there?" asked Rose.

"I think she's worried about losing [First Princess]," answered Hayedalf.

"What's wrong with that?"

Grace stopped mumbling and stared at Rose, her face flickering through several emotions. It started with a brief look of incomprehension followed by a flash of anger, before bursting into a great bout of laughter, tears streaming from her eyes as she leant against a wall just to stay upright.

"Uh... Did I break her? Please tell me I didn't break her," exclaimed Rose, slightly panicked.

"It... is a stressful time for all of us," said Kellela carefully, still in her magical girl form. Grace's behaviour didn't leave her inclined to release the spell.

"Ah..." gasped Grace, trying to get some air into her lungs. "I'm fine. Sorry. It's just... I hate you so much right now."

"Huh?"

"I really wish I hadn't met you. I was happy before I met you."

"Huh?!"

Grace shook her head, sighing. "Ignorance truly was bliss. But no, you just had to go and teach me what freedom was, and how little of it I had. And as if that wasn't enough, you just can't stop rubbing it in my face. And it's not even malicious. That's the worst part; you mean it!"

"One does not simply quit being a member of royalty," explained Rrillandral in response to Rose's continued blank look.

"I don't think you get to talk, gallivanting across the world like you do," snorted Grace.

"On the contrary. Just like you, I am here because of the orders of my father. Every time monster activity in the forest rises even slightly above average, I get sent to check if a new demon lord has spawned. Every time one does, my father orders me to direct the resulting conflict away from the Vale by any means necessary. I find my freedom in how I carry out my assigned tasks. Joining the party of a [Hero] is my choice."

"Really? Fair enough, then."

"No it isn't!" exclaimed Rose. "You can't just go 'fair enough' after that outburst. I... Uh..."

"You're seriously thinking something like 'how can I help', aren't you?" sighed Grace. "Why do you have to be so... so... nice?"

"Well, how can I help?"

"You already are! Why do you think I'm staying here, rather than back at the palace with a legion of servants at my beck and call?"

"Because... you wanted to keep the team together?"

Grace snorted. "Of course not. It's because you don't treat me like anyone special. Around you, I can be myself, and get a taste of the freedom you have. I've never really had a 'myself' to be before..."

"Wait, I thought you hated me?"

"I do!"

The other three magical girls peered at the conflicted [First Princess]. "What strong alcohol do we have in the building?" suggested Rrillandral. "I feel that such would be helpful to her."

"That's... not a good idea? Probably?" answered Hayedalf.

"Of course it's not!" exclaimed Grace. "A drunk, underage [First Princess]? I can imagine the scandal already. Now answer the damn question."

"But..." started Rose.

"Here," said Hayedalf, summoning a glass bottle from a storage ring on his finger. An amber liquid sloshed inside. "Whiskey. Strong enough for you?"

Grace answered by grabbing the bottle, pulling the stopper and taking a swig. Then, after she'd finished coughing and spluttering, she transformed herself into Jasper White and had another go, her increased general resistances allowing her to down half the bottle at once. Apparently, bikini armour logic applied even to the wearer's insides.

Rrillandral watched in fascination, while the others... perhaps 'in horror' would be more appropriate.

"Ah... I needed that," she sighed. "Give it a minute to kick in, and I might even be able to face... dancing."

Hayedalf eyed the level of liquid remaining. "Once that kicks in, I'm not sure you'll be facing anything other than the bowl of a toilet."

"You might have forgotten, what with all this insanity, but I am a healer," pointed out Grace, taking another swig. "And Rose, if I end up doing anything inappropriate to you tonight, I apologise in advance."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

Grace didn't answer, being too busy finishing the rest of the bottle.

"Seriously! What do you mean?!"

Lilith watched the crowd of humans dragging Melcrinash's corpse back towards the city. Not that they took it through the gate; they'd apparently learnt a lesson from Xry'kl's trap, and weren't going to repeat their mistake. Still, it was a pity. A few of the humans had died in the fight, but no-one who looked particularly important.

Lilith hadn't believed for a second the [Hero] would actually leave the walls of the city alone. Or, as close to alone as was possible, given his age. She had hoped Melcrinash's ploy would trigger some reaction, though, or at least generate valuable intelligence. Instead, an ancient arch-demon had died for practically nothing, and it seemed fairly likely the [Hero] didn't even know.

She had to admit, she'd underestimated the humans. A human—even their strongest—fighting an arch-demon on equal terms was laughable. But a hundred humans, given ample time to prepare? This far from the forest, Melcrinash couldn't draw on its miasma to empower herself. Yet she had set up no defences, summoned no monsters, nor had she tried to hide. A mistake. The humans hadn't fought on equal terms. Still, that in itself was valuable intelligence.

Perhaps she should have felt some guilt over Melcrinash's death, but it hadn't been Lilith's idea. What reason did she have to talk Melcrinash out of it? If she wanted to make such blatantly foolish choices, she was within her rights to do so. Lilith wasn't going to go out of her way to save people from themselves.

Instead, Lilith slunk back into the slums. Rather than Fylith's favoured assassins, Lilith had been scouring information brokers, flipping between disguises as she visited seedy bars, back alleys and gambling houses. Anywhere she could ask questions, and, with the aid of coin, cleavage or claws, get them answered. The scum of the slums had received a rapid education on how mugging single females was detrimental to life expectancy, and Lilith had received an education on the [Hero] and his—or rather, her—party. Putting the new information together with what Xry'kl had shared, along with the knowledge of other heroes she had built up over the centuries of her existence, she formed a plan of her own.

Lilith stepped into an alley, checked for watchers, and, finding herself alone, shrunk. A minute later, a young girl left the alley, wearing a ragged tunic, her skin dirty, her figure gaunt. She looked every bit like an urchin of the slums, with no features that would attract attention from a local.

From this new [Hero], though? Calculating purple eyes peered at the surrounding structures. Long hair, heavy with grime, barely moved in the wind, but its vivid violet colour was clearly visible through the muck. This [Hero] was apparently attracted to bright hair colours in much the same way as a dragon was attracted to gold. All she needed to do was arrange for the [Hero] to see her, and then volunteer her help, and the chances of the [Hero] biting seemed very good indeed.

And then she would simply need to bite back.

Yes, there was a wall between them right now, but there were far better ways of getting the [Hero] outside than blunt threats. The humans may have outwitted Melcrinash, but that was hardly a challenge. Lilith was certain that a bit of subtlety would be sufficient to get them to lower their guards and deliver her the [Hero].

In the palace, the [King] was in a meeting of advisors, discussing the incident of the arch-demon banditry. It had been his decision to not inform Mystery of the situation, not wanting the party to be pressured into entering the forest prematurely. Every level they managed to earn before they stepped into that deadly place was another small boost to their chances of survival.

Besides, he knew how important it was to Grace to finish her school year.

Suddenly, the conversation was disrupted by the door slamming open, a panicking Mercy pushing past protesting guards to enter the room. Half a dozen ministers stared in silence at the girl, who didn't even flinch.

"Well?" asked the [King]. "Given your intrusion, what you have to say must be very important."

Her eyes silently darted around the room, looking at the collection of advisors.

"Go ahead. They are all trusted. You can speak in front of them."

She took a deep breath in and out, calming herself as much as she could before sharing her terrible news. "My occupation just changed to [First Princess]."

Mystery (Human)

Age: -9 months

Occupation: Hero (L)

Skills:

- Soul's Eye (U) (35/100)

>> Sense Vitality (U)

>> Sense Soul (R)

>> Sense Mana (U)

>> Sense Light (C)

>> Sense Sound (C)

>> Pierce Illusions (U)

>> Sense Miasma (R)

>> Multi-focal (R)

>> Sense Spirit (R)

- Astral Projection (U) (22/60)

>> Sure Navigation (U)

>> Uncontainable (U)

>> Tether of Will (L)

- Robust (C) (20/40)

>> Hardened Soul (R)

>> Secured Mana (U)

>> Pain Tolerance (C)

- Stealth (C) (3/20)

>> Camouflage Vitality (R)

- Magical Girl Transformation (R) (20/30)

>> Age Correction (R)

>> Gender Bending (R)

- Light (C) (12/20)

>> Heterochrome (U)

- Increased Attributes (C) (10/20)

>> Mana Storage (U)

- Investigation (C) (3/10)

- Cosplay (U) (2/10)

- Mana Absorption (U) (4/20)

>> Drain Mana (U)

- Translate (U) (5/20)

>> Two Way (U)

- Telepathy (U) (7/30)

>> Reciprocity (U)

>> Empathy (U)

- Lightning Bolt (U) (2/10)

- Fireball (U) (2/10)

- Wall of Light (U) (1/10)

- Energy Resistance (U) (1/10)

Achievements:

- Early Bloomer II (R)

- First Skill (C)

- Journeyman (U)

- Survivor of Zarklaxxos, the Arcane Infernal (R)

- I Broke The System, And All I Got Was This Lousy Achievement (E)

- Astral Explorer I (R)

- First Spell (C)

- I Broke The System Again, And Now The Administrators Hate Me (E)

- Spell Forger (R)

- Demon Slayer II (E)

- Monster Slayer V (E)

- Curiosity (U)

- War Veteran (U)

- Royal Audience (C)

- Diligent Hero (L)

- Studious (C)

- Pioneering Guider (E)

- Royal Pervert (R)