Chapter 26: It was fluff all along….
Now if this was a story or one of the different worlds Mother had told her about. And she was the [Hero] of said world, then she would have woken up almost late.
With the heroine in her bed sleeping comfortably, both of them cuddling together. She would then admire and be smitten by her looks. Then tons of non-safe-for-work stuff would happen and they would live happily ever after!
But fortunately (For her chastity) this wasn't one of those worlds!
So she woke up in time for her afternoon classes.
More meaningless stuff about magical theory and reaffirming their [Shift Spell] for those that hadn't managed to do it.
For her and Rossie though?
They just spend the class reaffirming the spell and ironing out the kinks of it in their soulscape.
It seems that so long you don't alter it, you can prevent the projection from coming to life.
The teacher didn't tell them about how to rein the projection, so she would need to take the word of the blonde asshole for now.
Anyway, the class was pointless for her since she had an almighty system working the spell for her!
She still studied the theory of it though. Since that would be part of the theoretical side. And even if she managed to use the spell (Or skill in her case) a foundation was needed or she wouldn't be given a passing grade.
So she spent most of the time studying the theory while Rossie frowned her cute forehead trying to solidify the image of her spell.
Also, there was a blue hair smartass in the background trying to look aloof and mysterious (And failing at it) but she didn't paid too much attention to him.
She already had two people with weird titles stuck to her (And an extra one that thought of her as stuck up). So she didn't want a fourth one.
So she ignored him!
She ignored him while he stood in one of the corners at the back of the classroom. She ignored him while he projected a few magical circles all around himself. She ignored him while the teacher fussed about him being a genius for making one of each element.
And she also ignored him while the teacher made snide comments about the true genius and hard labor beating talented mages that didn't put in the effort.
Even if Mother was like that she also studied, she had tons of books in her personal library (Half of them written by her) to prove it!
Not that she would defend her mother, but she did act like a spoiled cheeky brat sometimes...Most of the time...Her mother had no face to defend at this point, to be honest...
Maybe she should also manifest a few magic circles in defense of Mother...?
A quick look at the smug face of the smart ass didn't convince her about doing it...
But she so wanted to do it...
"And also students, don't try to be discouraged by the effortless look Mister Shepard gives. He has both the talent and the dedication to magic to achieve this. " Said the witch once again singing praises for the smart ass.
"He came personally to my chambers asking for the correct books to study and further his knowledge. Unlike others in your class that only used the foundation laid by your predecessors." And she kept going on and on.
She kept also giving quick looks her way.
Maybe she had a thing going for her?
Perhaps she was too self-conscious since Rossie kept invading her personal space.
She had smelled her aroma in her room when awakening this afternoon after all.
No evidence of her presence. And perhaps if her status were lower she wouldn't notice it.
Not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things. Since she did share a living area with her so it was normal for her scent to go all over the place.
"Now, mister Shepard has achieved his [Shift] already. So since his was the first to be officially accepted he gets top marks for the first exam." Wait what?
You had to register that to the school?
"If you manage your shift in the next days, go to the headmaster of your dorms to register it. They will guide you through the process." Said the witch while looking smug, like she had managed to get a fast one over her imaginary adversary (Probably mother).
"You will of course need to present your exam, unlike Mister Shepard. Since he already achieved his [Shift] you all will fall as if he guided you under the eyes of the school. Since you will no doubt ask him for bits of advice." And so finished the witch her class.
She of course didn't ask him for advice. Since she was sure her shift was better than his anyway.
Rossie didn't even bother to look at him either, just chatting with the blonde girl about useless stuff. The cute thing.
So like that both girls went to the headmaster of their dorms and registered themselves. As expected there wasn't anyone else registered in the girl's rooms yet.
And it seems that last semester there were two exceptions one for males and one for females. But this year it had been reduced to only one in a rush a few days ago.
A shame if nothing else, not that it would affect her. Since she couldn't miscast the thing anyway. It wasn't a spell after all.
There had some magical components to it, but her skill took the brunt of it.
So after confirming their respective shifts and logging on their names, they continued away their day.
Rossie's was evident enough with her [Hearty Shift] her name...Did give Elizabeth some second thoughts.
But if she wanted to carry that one, who was her to stop her?
Not that she would achieve stopping the pink-haired girl.
She of course registers herself and her magical girl shift. And under the scrutinizing eyes of Rossie registered her name.
Somehow she found the spectating eyes somewhat hurtful when the pink-haired girl found that her [Shift] didn't include stars on it.
Her magical girl suit had enough underlying themes of stars already!
And she had enough fanfare of multicolored stars on her transformation, what else more did this pink-haired girl want from her!
In the end, she and the pink-haired girl carried on their way back to their apartment.
"You could use a more cute name!" And so this was their conversation at dinner.
"Rossie, it isn't about a cute name or not. If we go by that, what part of your focus is in that name?" Answered the blonde girl striking back at her pink-haired friend.
"But I thought you would use something like that in your name so we could pair!" Said the pink-haired girl striking at one of the heartstrings of the blonde.
Yeah...
She could see a good idea of pairing names with a friend, they could even make a duo or something while in classes.
Still, she stood strong!
"I will stand by my chosen name for now Rossie. There is a meaning behind it and it will come clear when we move into spell casting." Said finally the blonde girl.
Of course, the eyes of the pink-haired girl could only shine at that declaration.
How could they not, her friend declared she choose that name because of spells!
"You can cast already?!? No one in our class has made that declaration!" Shrieked the pink-haired girl.
But the blue-headed smart-ass could too...?
Or not?
He didn't claim to be able to. On second thought...
He only showcased a few magic circles...
Crap...
She made that declaration planning on using him as an excuse...
"Yeah..." Said the blonde girl while sighing.
"I can cast a few elemental spells already, not many of the common use ones though. Since I haven't found one that I like yet to study." Said the girl, she had ignored most of the commonly used ones.
Like the majority of [Force] spells, like force ball, force wall, force spike, and so on.
She could see some use on them of course. Like if a mageling mastered the [Force Ball] spell he could probably get away with using it as a pseudo-holding thing for a bag or something.
Maybe even use it as a discounted [Light Ball] if he somehow tweaked the spell circuits to increase the light it gave.
But at the end of the day, that spell wasn't meant to be used that way, and wasting that much time on it wasn't something she could see herself doing.
Especially if her spell casting was closer to programming than actual building spells.
She didn't have a clear idea of how everyone else did it, but couldn't really ask if they already thought of her as someone that had spells, could she?
"Can you show me?" Like this, her pink-haired friend was looking at her with heart-shaped stars in her eyes.
She really needed to work on her mana running amok since it could bust her cover.
Either way.
"Fine...Just don't spread it around...Promise?" Answered the blonde girl while preparing one of the most sacred oaths one could give.
One that wasn't even one step below a [Geass]!
"Pinkie promise!❤️" Answered the pink-haired girl while interlocking her pinkie with hers.
The blonde girl just sighed herself and stood up from her seat.
Since she was still eating. Even if slowly because of the chatting.
So might as well use that as an example.
So placing both of her hands on both sides of her plate she closed her eyes (For dramatic effect).
And intoned some random bullshit under her breath, low enough that Rossie couldn't hear nor understand it. But high enough that she knew that she was saying something.
It was mostly meaningless to disguise her true spell-casting.
"[Flame Manipulation] + [Wind Manipulation] + [Merge] = [Warm Wind]" Intoned the blonde girl while two magical circles were formed in both of her hands.
One for fire and one for wind. In the middle of her plate, an extra magical circle formed too. This one absorbed both of them and created the effect she desired.
The spell [Warm Wind].
It was closer to Lifestyle magic, a common even if ignored Magic School.
Almost no one seriously studied unless they either had plenty of space for useless spells...Or were retired.
"AMAZING!" So the surprise from her friend was understandable.
She didn't use the normal way to cast it after all.
"So that's why you choose that name!" Said her pink-haired friend while still fuzzing all over her seat. Even with all that fuzzing she didn't drop a single crumb of food somehow.
That was a true talent.
"Yes. I have terrible efficiency, the power is greatly diminished and I need dedicated magic circles besides needing to know the fundamentals of the spell. But I can cast plenty of magic so long I have the knowledge of what I want and the fundamentals to do it. "Said the blonde girl.
That was her plan, after all, to obfuscate her [Origin] so much that no one would suspect her true power.
She couldn't risk anyone having an easy way to enter her soulscape and seeing the stuff in there.
So many questions they would have for her, while she had so little answers to give...
Besides... Somehow she doubted the blonde asshole and the little girl would take kindly the invasion...
She didn't want to find out what they both would do.
She didn't know if they were real people or not after all...
If they somehow could exist outside her soulscape... And an attack allowed them to leave...
She didn't know.
She didn't know what would happen with her soulscape... Or if she could still use her magic and skills like she was doing right now.
The blonde man had claimed that he was a worker of some kind...
And the little girl claimed she was a librarian...
At the very least the blonde man could tamper with her skills. That was dangerous.
And the little girl claiming to be a librarian... A librarian is a caretaker of books, of knowledge. If her role was what allowed her easy spell-casting...
She would need to keep them there for as long as possible while figuring out what their deal was.
"Okay, Eli-Eli. I will forgive you since you are amazing and your idea was good!" But she was musing and the voice of her friend took her from her train of thought.
"Well well, so kind of you my lady." Said the blonde girl while acting like a peasant that was forgiven by royalty.
The pink-haired girl got flustered by a second by her response before devolving into laughter.
So she laughed too at the joke.
Even if her skills and magic were filled with uncertainty.
At the very least, at this very moment. Those problems were the last of her worries.
She was having fun and spending time with her friend.
She still had very little of those since only the pink-haired girl could be counted as one.
But then again, her week at this school hadn't ended...
Even if she had already had a girl that glared at her every time she could...
And a guy that thought of her as a stuck-up...
And another blue-haired smart-ass that thought himself smart...
Heh...
She couldn't wait to see his face when he saw her doing her magicks.
She was sure this would bruise his ego.
And maybe it would shut up the teacher too in one go.
Since this method didn't depend on talent and entirely worked in her knowledge of magic and mana manipulation.
Since she wasn't using her [Origin] to cast the spells, but using other spells to build the effect she desired.
It was brute forcing magic using knowledge after all.
Only possible with enough mana and an understanding of the spells...
Even if she was cheating by using her system to do the heavy lifting, the knowledge was still needed.
This was her solution to the problem of maybe one day finding the presence of the little girl more important than expected.
She only hoped it would work...
Wait...
Was that...a flag?
'Goddammit mother, did you curse me with this knowledge?'
Was all the blonde girl could think while laughing with her friend at silly jokes.
Even if she had flagged her future for trouble, at the very least she was having fun right now.
And that mattered.
That mattered to her.
...............She still wanted to laze around tho.