They had stood looking at each other fidgeting for around ten minutes already, Elizabeth had been brought back from her reverie as she felt someone prod at her shadow walls from the outside.

  That made her remember that one, she was in a public setting, her shadow walls probably were being a nuisao someone.

  And two, that she had e here to practice her skills and prepare for the big match against Akira, she wouldn't fight him unless he wanted, but since she was the top one, he would o fight her if he wao cim that spot.

  She knew Rossie would defend her should the need arise, she had no doubts about that. But even so, she still didn't want to leave that responsibility to her.

  She didn't want their mana to i, at all, if she could help it, so she o be ready.

  "Right, we came to practice...Do you o practice?" Asked Elizabeth as she opened a few eyes across the shadow wall to make sure everything was all right oside.

  A few yelps and one random fireball thrown at her shadow wall was the answer she got, overall everyone seemed to have given a wide berth to her shadow wall.

  But no teacher came to che them, or not any she could find at least.

  "I'm fine Eli-Eli." Answered Rossie, but that gave her more questions.

  How did Rossie fight?

  She khe pink-haired girl could fight, she had a few clues about that, for starters. Everyone seemed to fear her lovely bunch of joy that was Rossie.

  You didn't inspire fear by being adorable, cute, lovely, and the epitome of ess... Well you could, but that would be by being a psychic hazard.

  And....no actually Rossie may be a psychic hazard...Dang it, now she o know.

  "ar?" So she asked as much, Elizabeth wao make sure her girlfriend could survive a fight against Akira should it be necessary.

  "I mean, we if you want... But you may o recall those shadows, you will hem." Rossie said as mana flooded her body and she turned her [Shift] On.

  Transf herself into [Sylphie Starheart], she hadn't dohe t thing, nor done anything else to prepare, and even so, she could feel the mana thrum in the air as if preparing itself to mold into anything Rossie needed.

  That was...."Kinda hot...." Mumbled the blonde girl, only to focus herself ba what was happening.

  "Sure, get ready then...." Said Elizabeth as she called to her own mana ahe power course her veins, the skill was ready to be called upon, so she did. " [Shift - Stardust Weaver]"

  The transformation was the same as before, her body covered in mana slowly shifted from the mortal coil to one made of mana, her clothes transformed and ged, part turning into a frilly sailor dress and others turned into hard metal armor that covered part of her.

  It was unlike Rossie who was full of pink pastel colors, both should offer the same level of armor on some level, but hers was different in the way that her shift linked her armor not only with her mana, but with the body armor her father had given her so long ago.

  It was still hidden within her [Shadow Haven] fueling the defense of her shift. Letting her mana focus on other things, "Are you ready?" Elizabeth asked as she dismissed the shadow wall.

  The people oside noticed this and turheir attention back to this side of the arena, "[Sylphie Starheart] IS FIGHTING AGAIN! CALL THE HEALERS!" someone screamed as they ran away.

  "SHE IS FIGHTING THE NEW GIRL! I SAW HER SHIFT AT CLASS SHE IS THE NEW NUMBER 1!" Another one said.

  Rude. At least remember the name!

  "I'm ready if you are sure about this [Stardust Weaver]." Her lovely Rossie said, she seemed to be preparing-

  No wait, "Stop giving me information on what Rossie is preparing to cast while we have this match." She ordered the shadon in Rossie's shadow.

  It wouldn't do, that would be cheating, she would, however, remember to ask for this kind of information when fighting against Akira, that would be useful.

  "Whenever you are ready [Sylphie]." Elizabeth said as she started expl the mana pathways in her shift, she felt different parts of her armor as if they could be fed mana to create effects.

  Should she do this while fighting? No.

  Was she doing it anyway? Yes.

  And before she could think of anything else, Rossie poi her and without anything giving it away "[Holy]+[Amp]+[Bolt] = [Amped Holy Bullet]" A small bolt of white and yellow energy got shot at her.

  She had weaved quite a work of art without letting any mana leak, at all.

  Perhaps she should have let her scout tell her ells Rossie reparing after all, but it was too te to worry about that, and she should prepare to defend. Even if [Holy] was the element with less offensive damage of the advanced elements, it was still an advanced element.

  And even if that one fed off the [I] and [Beliefs] of the caster, she didn't want to find out if Rossie sidered her shadows as something [Evil] or not.

  So first... "[Shadow Shield]!" She fed some mana to the is in her left arm, those started shining blue and soon enough a shadow buckler materialized on her arm, she quickly raised it against the bolt of white and yellow energy that was flying towards her ahe impa it.

  Her arm had a meter on the opposite side of the buckler that showed the ption of mana of her shield, and that attack had taken 20% of the mana she had fed on it. It wasn't that bad, but it definitely was more than she had thought it would take.

  A smile started blossoming on her face, her Rossie definitely wouldn't be a damsel in distress, but it was her turn now, fog on what she was feeling on the mana pathways, this shift seemed to favor more her shadoution and mana manipution.

  So she fed mana and shadows into a pathway on her right arm, a flush of information was fed into her mind and she uood what she needed, a small targetiicule formed in her sight and it locked into Rossie's.

  She knew how she o move her arm and point to make sure it would hit, "[Shadow Bullet]" And as she intoned and raised her arm toward the pink-haired girl, from within the is in the side of her right arm five shadow bullets got discharged.

  They all flew in arcs toward the pink-haired girl, she had seemed somewhat surprised at her attack, had she thought she would use something else?

  The surprise didn't st long as the pink-haired girl quickly weaved another pound spell "[Divine]+[Guard]+[Wide]= [Sacred Wall]" and as soon as Rossie finished casting her spell a shining wall formed around her.

  As the spell name implied it gave a sacred divine feeling, but unlike what she expected, she wasn't seeing the emblem of [Odyssey] nor [Framework] on it, instead...It was a heart, a heart with a small star in the middle of it.

  The ored wall blocked her shadow bolts, but she was too busy admiring the work of art that ainted in the wall decoration, small dragons seemed to course the wall blog the attacks, they weren't her shadons of course.

  But they seemed...simir enough with them.

  As if they had been turned into something else, as if this was what they could bee, should they materialize using other element that wasn't her shadows.

  "Weird," Rossie said as the st bolt had been blocked, "The spell ged again...stupid [Divine] mana."

  The spell ged again?

  "What? Shouldn't you be more worried about your spell ging?" Asked Elizabeth momentarily stoppitack, there was a small meter on her right arm that said that she still had some mana remaining and could refill it (Should she wish) to leave it ready for more attacks.

  But she was worried more about her girlfriend's words.

  "Yeah, [Divine] mana 't be geed by humans, so it is granted by gods...Or so the [Bishop] and [Priests] like to say. But I never worshiped any god at all, so my [Divine] spells usually are weaker, a few months ago the spell gained power, but they ge from time to time." Rossie answered as she flexed her mana within the barrier, she dismissed it afterward though. "Sometimes the emblem of [Framework]would show up, sometimes [Odyssey]...A few times a [Tree] would show up...But this is the first time [Dragons] and that heart showed up."

  That was ing, "Should we stop?" Asked Elizabeth, she wao find out more about that phenomenon. Maybe go and pin at the church again?

  "No, this isn't the first time it has happened, it is probably a signal to stop using something as fickle as [Divine] Mana." Rossie said, and then without warning "By the way, look to yht."

  As Elizabeth turned her head, the pink-haired girl raised a hand and cast a spell at her, if it wasn't for the mana she felt, or for a [Shadow Eye] that she opened on reflex to keep the pink-haired girl in her sight...

  "[Bolt]+[Amp]+[Affix]+[Ahesia] = [Knock down Shot]" If not for any of that, she may have been hit by that.

  But as it was, she saw the pink-haired girl's hand movement and so, Elizabeth fed mana into the pathways that went to her wings. As soon as they got mana they started shining blue and from the numerous exhaust ports in her armor an azure fme burst out moving her out of the way with more speed than she had expected. It was only because her [Shift] seemed to have a limited AI on it that she didn't end up as a spt in a wall.

  Not that she would have been hurt by that, she was used to being thrown against walls after all...

  "[Sylphie]!" Elizabeth pined as the attack missed her and hit some poor soul who hadn't been paying enough attention to dodge.

  That one colpsed to the floor, it seemed that the attack had hit his nervous system as he seemed uo move, but his eyes stayed open and while he didn't seem able to speak he was still breathing.

  "CALL A HEALER! WE HAVE ANOTHER INCAPACITED!" Someone screamed.

  Another incapacitated?

  "Pay no mind to them, the spell is innocuous, it isn't even qualified as offensive magic by the system. Si only makes it so you 't move." Rossie said without a worry on her. "At worst you will not be able to move for a day till I cel it."

  ..."At worse?" She asked, not sure why she had asked, this seemed like the type of thing one shouldn't ask.

  "I mean, If I keep it going thearget wouldn't be able to move for a week," Rossie answered, that... That seemed like something that should be qualified as offensive magic. "It's okay [Weaver], I wouldn't let you stay like that for a week. Maybe one hour or two...I do o tamper it so the sense of touch is parsed right, as it is now you 't feel anything."

  That...why would you...Oh...Oooooooh, "Yeah, I see some useful things in managing to get it to work like that." Elizabeth nodded, she would look forward to it if Rossie mao make it work.

  "And?" Rossie asked looking at her from the arena, "How long are you pnning to stay flying, should I cast my flying spell?"

  "I'm not casting a flying spell though." Elizabeth answered, "Also, beware from below."

  "[Weaver] I'm not as credible as to-" Rossie started saying and then jerked herself backward by no-t casting a burst of wind in front of her.

  That wasn't enough to dodge it pletely though, as her loyal follower (Stabby) flew from the shadow of the pink-haired girl through the air towards Elizabeth.

  "Did I introduce you before?" Elizabeth asked as the spear settled itself on her hand, "Stabby, that is my girlfriend [Sylphie Starheart]. [Sylphie] this is Stabby."

  Rossie however, was busy standing up again, as the burst of wind had thrown her into the arena floor, so after standing up and dusting herself up, she sent a gre towards her.

  "No stabby, you 't have my hot girlfriend." Elizabeth admohe spear, had it truly asked her that? Probably not.

  "...We do o deal with your problem of giving personalities to inanimate objects, but thank you for saying I'm hot." Rossie said as she eled mana towards her dress.

  She hadn't hurt her, of course, but she had cut part of her skirt, the outer part, of course, it wouldn't do to expose her lovely Rossie to the masses of heathens.

  "...I mean, is it inanimate if it fly?" Asked Elizabeth as she let go of Stabby and it stayed floating, "Besides, most of my dragoo have [Souls], so maybe Stabby has oht Stabby?"

  The spear didn't answer, nor move, nor make any signal of being alive, it was, after all. A spear made of shadows, it would be ridiculous for it to have a Soul, a backstory, and a future reveal that would upend everything we know about random spears Elizabeth picked up on her soulscape.

  "...Please take this seriously [Weaver] we do have an audience." Rossie said, not even taking into sideration what she had said.

  Rude!

  "Fine," Elizabeth grumbled, Stabby was important!

  So instead, she fed mana into Stabby and then tried to feel a e towards her [Shift], to see if she could fuse Stabby into it, a spear didn't match her current [Style] after all.

  Soon enough she felt a pathway within the shift that seemed to be willing to take in Stabby, so she tied the mana of Stabby into it and the spear turned into motes of azure fire that flew into her back.

  "[Rhongomyniad System Online]" A voice spoke from within her armor, a full-fledged new part of her armor seemed to take a life of its own, "[Activate Spartoi Units? Y/N]"

  She tentatively focused on the yes part, and from her back she felt somethi, parts of her armor had separated from her and were flying around her as drones.

  They seemed to be feeding on her mana, not her shadow-aligned mana, but her lighting-aligned one, she knew she could use them to attack, scout, and overall harass her enemies.

  But..."So you have even more attack vectors now?" Rossie asked down below on the arena floor.

  Yes, she already had plenty of attack vectors avaible to her, this...She didn't think she would use them that often, everything this new part of her shift was able to do, was something she already was capable of, with more efficy too.

  The scouting part was iing, yes, but her shadons could do it better, the only way this would be useful was if she ever o infiltrate something without giving away her shadow mana.

  But her shadow mana was very stealthy so the ces of her ever needing something like this was very low anyway.

  If anything. "Attack." They would only be used to harass enemies while her true attack was being prepared.

  Like right now, as the bits flew toward Rossie and started harassing her with [Lighting Bolt]type of attacks, they seemed to vert her mana into mundaricity and use that to accelerate and fly around.

  Iing.

  "[Area]+[Holy]+[Smite] = [Localized Smite]!" Rossie had been forced to use an area of attack to strike every bit around her after all.

  She felt her mana drop as the drones had beeroyed too, but it wasn't that much, and sihey seemed to work by using mundaricity, the efficy wasn't that bad.

  If anything, the only thing that seemed to be weird was the feeling her shift gave when they were destroyed, [Annoyance].

  Even after a flush of mana into her shift to recover the destroyed parts that feeling didn't leave, was...Was Stabby se? Sapient?

  She had meant that as a joke!

  "Should we move on to more big stuff?" Asked Rossie from the floor, she still couldn't feel anything from her, no sign of mana leakage or built formue.

  "If you want" Answered Elizabeth, she fed more mana into her shift pathways to prepare for anything.

  And when Rossie was about to move...

  "THAT'S ENOUGH!" A thunderous voice rained down on them.

  "[urgis's ]!" And purple s with thorns on them materialized around both of them.

  Weirdly enough the purple thorns didn't hurt her, even if they seemed to impede her mana manipution.

  "I know I told you to prepare, but any reason for the disturbance?" Agatha asked them as the teacher materialized in front of them surrounded by ethereal moonlight.

  That was a rick.

  "I know that [Sylphie Starheart] tends to overreact, but I didn't expect you [Stardust Weaver] to cause problems." Agatha seemed to be...angry at them?

  "But we didn't hurt anyone..." Elizabeth started saying, only to be gred at by Agatha.

  Rossie didn't say anything though, was she used to this? What the hell had she dohose few weeks that she attended school ?!?

  "Victim tally?" Agatha asked to no one.

  "[Current deceased by fight between Sylphie Starheart and Stardust Weaver: 0]" A meical voice from Agatha's wrist spoke.

  After ara sed it started speaking again "[Current wounded: 0]" If smugness could speak, Rossie's face would be an opera si this point.

  Agatha frow her, but that didn't stop Rossie from smirkiher. "[Victims: 1, Hit by a stray nohal spell. No responsibility held towards caster since victim stood within the bounds of the arena.]" ht, the guy that got hit by the ahesia shot.

  "...Fine, you aren't at fault. But then who called us?" Agatha asked as she released the purple s and looked around.

  No one was around, not even the guy that had been shot by Rossie's stray spell, "It seems to me, that someone had a happy finger on the arm, and thehat person notio one was going wrong they decided to leave." Rossie said.

  Her smile was so wide that she robably healing her cheeks from muscle damage, "We really weren't letting our attacks leave the arena, Agatha." Elizabeth added with her best puppy eyes possible.

  "...Just...Use a private areime okay, I will add you to the approved list [Stardust Weaver]." Agatha said with a sigh and turnitention to Rossie, "And you...Do something with your....Ugh...I guess you are already doing it...Just...Please don't murder a is hard enough to keep the school going."

  ...Rude!

  Her Rossie hadn't murdered anyone!

  ...Retly!

  ...Maybe!

  "We promise to not murder ahat doesn't deserve it!" Elizabeth decided it was better to st to justify things she wasn't sure about and to promise that instead.

  "...Just go ay in the park or something," Agatha said with a sigh.

  Taking this opportunity Elizabeth released her shift and grabbed Rossie's hand pulling her away, "Okay, thank you for your uanding!" And spriowards the Exit as she also released Rossie's shift.

  She of course wouldn't notice that she had trol over the irl shift, since she was busy running away from the se befatha took notice of her phrasing.

  She would, after all, try to either murder or incapacitate someone in the near future.

  And if nothing else, she was now sure her lovely and adorable Rossie could defend herself, she hadn't used anything heavy against her, but those sneak attacks of her should be enough to keep her safe and sound.

  Now she only o prepare for Akira.

  Surely that wouldn't be that hard.