"Go, Sapphire! You can do it!" Alice cheered for Magical Girl Sapphire during her promotion test. Magical Guardian Green Harvest took on the role of MC once again.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Magical Guardians' Promotion Exam for Rank E! After several months of hard work, our girls and boys have finally reached this point! They have slain numerous monsters, helped citizens, and promoted peace! Now is the time for them to climb to the next rank! As anathemas grow stronger, so will they! Our opponent this time is one you might be familiar with—the boss monster from the fifth dungeon in the Magical Girl Sunset Rebellion game: Arachnomantis! Also known as the rookie killer. Many at Ranks F and E have fallen to this vicious monster! To advance to the next rank, our guardians must prove themselves and defeat this Arachnomantis!"

"Now, Number 1, Magical Girl Sapphire, has entered the stage. How will she fare against the deadly Arachnomantis? Let's find out!"

"Oh… she's moving differently than usual," commented Red Flame. "Your training seems to have borne fruit."

"10-1. She still has a long way to go," I muttered.

"You need years of training. There's no way she can match you; you won a silver medal in Eden's championship. She's only been training for a week, after all," Alice said with a wry smile.

For this occasion, Sapphire brought a longer staff from her vault. Fel mentioned that staff alignment varies. The one she used now was either STR or DEX-aligned.

"Why are most staves Willpower aligned?"

"Staves and wands can enhance your magic. That's why most mages use Willpower-aligned staves. But since this is a battle and not a healing contest, she brought that one."

Thanks to her stats, Sapphire held her own well. After five minutes of fighting, she emerged victorious. She slammed her staff on the Arachnomantis's head when she had the chance, and once the anathema fell, she ended its life with another whack.

"Finally, after failing six times, Magical Girl Sapphire has proven her worth! She is now a worthy Blue Magical Girl Rank E. She has finally caught up with her friends! Oh, how wonderful! What friendship. The trust and care her friends gave for her have moved her forward! Let's give applause to Magical Girl Sapphire!" Green Harvest gave exaggerated praise to Sapphire, whose face turned red, but a smile still crept up on her. Alice, being the all-loving leader, raised her hands in cheers while Red Flame smirked and patted her shoulder, giving encouragement.

"Next is number 2, Magical Girl Iceflower Witch!"

A petite girl with a blue pointed hat appeared (her robe was red, though). She defeated a Black Tyranno by bombarding it with spells. Ice shards formed in her hand, flying toward the Tyranno at high speed. The Tyranno then burst out its flame. She rolled out to safety, but motes of light appeared on her body, signifying she had received some kind of burn damage. After another exchange of ice and fire, she lost. Her shield aura broke and she zapped out. In reality, she would have been burnt to a crisp, but the screen only showed her turning white and disappearing with a flash of light. This was the first time I saw a magic duel.

"I haven't used any magic…"

"What are you talking about. your clones are counted as magic. Well, the traditional standard fireball is in the Fire Grimoire level 1 if you want. Unlocking it costs 1000 points. This grimoire has three spells costing 500 points each to unlock: Fire Bolt, Fire Wall, and Fire Grenade."

“Ah, there are support grimoires, defensive grimoires, and offensive grimoires. You took on healing, right, Sapphire? Most lower-ranked grimoires consist of three spells." Shining commented after Felicia explained about magic to me.

"Yes. They are Water Heal, Shield Buff, and Stamina Regen."

"I have opened the Fire Grimoire. But slashing with a sword was more efficient. I have low Willpower stats," Red Flame also commented. "But I could enhance my sword with magic if I had the Fire Grimoire and a basic enchantment skill."

"Eh? What about Icerail?" I tilted my head toward a weapon that Felicia had offered me before.

"Ice Rail is STR-aligned. Even if you use its magics, it will still be powerful because it is affected only by your STR stats. But I still recommend raising your Willpower stats, as it gives you more mana to work with. Each cast costs about 50 mana, after all."

"I see. Good then."

"Number 11, Magical Girl Black Lily! Our new rising star. Well, as she said before during the F-rank promotion exam, this test is very safe. Even if she fails, there is no harm in trying it out. It will be a good experience! Let us give her an applause!"

I lay down in the sleeping pod and my body floated back in space, landing on a street with an apartment building on its side. Before me, a Queen Arachnomantis and her five Arachnomantis were present.

"Fel. Wasn't the Queen Arachnomantis D rank?"

"Guardian Command might not approve you to climb the ranks so fast. That's why they made this harder."

"Was Zenith okay with it?" I raised an eyebrow at their apparent unfairness.

"Yes, as long as they don't overdo it. More experience is better, after all. And we don't know what might happen on the battlefield."

This week, I purchased an Icerail Naginata, another Poseidon Harpoon, another Darkeater Naginata, and another Zeus Javelin. I also unlocked a Kinetic Handgun to open a Harpoon Gun vault. Then, the Harpoon Gun inside, called the Hermes Harpoon Gun, cost a whopping 100 points despite being from the common vault. It was a compound weapon, after all; it needed both a spear and gun vault to open. All in all, it cost 860 points.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I had planned to buy the Kinetic Handgun vault anyway, and the Harpoon Gun was a bonus. Fel explained the advantages of a harpoon gun. Since it can be shot, it could reach quite a distance. However, a normal harpoon would have better penetrating power since you need to stab the opponent directly with it.

[Remaining Points: 394(1256-860)]

INVENTORY

WEAPONS

EQUIPMENT

Black Naginata

Zeus javelinx2

Darkeater Naginata

Icerail Naginata

Poseidon Harpoon

Hermes Harpoon-gun

None

I now have dimensional storage, so I can carry all these items without being weighed down. I intended to win; I had promised Kageyama and Shirayukis, after all. Losing might disappoint them.

I picked up my Darkeater and ran to the building. I was miffed since this weapon had broken before. But Felicia was right. It was unfair to compare this weapon against level 270 enemies. A flame ball shot from behind me, and I swung my naginata, sending the magic back to hit an Arachnomantis in the face. All of them abandoned their chase and assumed guard positions.

I quickly found a hallway and made my stand there. The spiders smirked upon seeing me. As they wiggled their abdomens, I realized I had made a mistake. I slammed my body against the wall, breaking it. Thankfully, it was made of gypsum, not concrete. Spiderwebs were strewn all over the hallway behind me. They rarely used it, so it hadn't crossed my mind, but they could shoot spiderwebs from their abdomens.

I continued to run and leaped out of the window. The Arachnomantis rushed over, and when they saw me outside, they also jumped out. Unbeknownst to them, I was waiting in ambush just beside the window. After they all jumped out, I attacked them from behind. An overhead slash bisected an Arachnomantis in two. I followed with a sidesweep, but although it managed to defend with its scythe, it was thrown back.

With perfect coordination, the other three Arachnomantis surrounded me while their queen kept her distance. But I was not alone. My clone jumped in and stabbed one in the back—a pincer attack. I charged and bisected the Arachnomantis, which was stunned due to the javelin in its back. Two down, three spiders and one queen left to go.

The Arachnomantis and the queen leaped away, trying to reorient themselves. The queen didn't forget to cast a lightning strike on me, but I deflected it with my naginata. The lightning continued on to hit another Arachnomantis, but it blocked using its scythe.

Sensing that long-range attacks were not effective, they charged at me. I made my clone run towards them recklessly, and they took the bait. My clone was stabbed and slashed by the scythes, but I took the chance and bisected two Arachnomantis in a single sweep.

They immediately took distance and climbed onto the building across the street, demonstrating their 3D movements. I picked up the javelin my clone had dropped and threw it toward the fleeing Arachnomantis, pinning it to the wall.

I opened my storage skill and picked up my harpoon gun, the Hermes Harpoon, and the javelin. The weapon was bulky, almost as large as my torso, and the long barrel was loaded with a huge barbed arrow. A purple light indicated that it was powered by mana. I aimed the sights at the queen anathema. Once its body was in the reticule, I pressed the trigger. The spear-like arrow soared straight toward the spider, leaving a trail of white mana line. It hit right in its spider abdomen.

I pressed the trigger again and felt a tug on the gun. The queen spider panicked and stabbed its scythe into the concrete wall for leverage. A game of tug-of-war began. If I had been an ordinary girl, the spider would have definitely pulled me towards its scythe. However, I am a Magical Girl now with over 100 points in STR stats. The ground below me and the wall under the spider cracked, but the line grew shorter, and I finally won the tug-of-war. The queen Arachnomantis flew toward me. As it approached, I picked up my naginata and slashed it, finally killing it.

"Test over. Black Lily, passed." A flash of white surrounded me, and I returned to my sleeping pod after I cleaned the rest of the spiders.

Silence permeated the entire exam venue as I walked back toward my friends. Somehow, the Snowco Company was at the front of the monitor. Had my uncle pulled some strings again?

"Ahem! What a wonderful performance. Despite insurmountable odds, Magical Girl Black Lily has triumphed against the Arachnomantis queen." I tuned out his voice from my mind. Sapphire knelt down in awe as she looked at me, stupefied. When we exited, a reporter from Snowco approached me.

"Greetings, Miss Magical Girl Black Lily. May I have a moment of your time? I'd like to ask about your superb performances!"

"Will it take long? I have another appointment with other Magical Girls."

"Ah, my apologies."

"Let's go accept some quests! We are tasked with patrolling Eden!" Alice exclaimed. "Let's go! Our salary depends on it."

"Salary?"

"Yes, we receive a certain number of points depending on what we do every month."

"Really?"

"Yes. It's called a monthly quest," Fel nodded.

"What's the quest?"

"Patrolling is one of them. Our job today is to circle areas 58 to 60."

"Alright. Should we use the Seinjet? Where are areas 58 and 60?" I asked Alice.

"..."

"What's wrong?"

*Sigh* "Well, we go by train from here. That building doesn't have a landing pad," she said, and we headed to the transport tube train.

We rode the elevator to floor 25. The entire floor was a futuristic train station. Tubes made of transparent material lined up cleanly, and trains moved from one end to another. LCD monitors displayed the timetable, showing when trains are expected to arrive and their destinations. It felt like I was in an airport. Maybe the standardization was the same? They are made by the Zenith, after all.

"Alright! Let's go to area 58!"

Alice led me to one of the tubes, and when we approached, the train arrived. The tubes and train doors opened with a whoosh. The train was not crowded today, and we secured seats immediately. By the way, it's forbidden to stand during travel, so if we don't get a seat, we have to wait for the next train.

"So, how's the ride?"

"Bad…" I felt sick. The train didn't rock or sway, but the alternating G-force that came with its speed made me nauseous.

"Well, it was a good experience! You've never ridden a tube train, have you?" I turned away from Red Flame's accurate guess. I had never ridden a tube train before. I never needed to travel that far; everything was within walking distance. And on the rare occasions I did need to travel, my family owned a Seinjet. Plus, five years ago, when I lived in New Mesa, Seinjets couldn't be operated, so I had a limousine instead.

"So, what do we need to do?"

"Well, patrolling means we simply have to circle this area. Let's see. Ah! There's a restaurant nearby! Let's eat!"

Forty minutes later, I asked them again. "So, where do we have to go?"

"Let's go shopping!"

Forty minutes later, I asked them again. "So, where do we have to go?"

"Alright! Area 48 is done! Let's move on to area 49. This apartment has a roof garden! Let's lounge there."

An hour later, I was about to ask again but stopped myself. "Does patrolling mean this?"

"Yes."

"Alice…" I whispered. I was shocked. Horrified. I looked at them. Rage built up within me. My eyes went cloudy. We had done nothing but stroll around, wasting an entire day. We are magical girls! The hope of mankind! The only effective weapon against anathemas!

"Eh? Wait a minute, what's wrong? We are really patrolling! We are doing our job! Ask your familiar!" Alice said as she took a bite of a waffle she bought at the rooftop garden.

"Patrolling means a group of Magical Girls has to be in an area. It would be best if they stayed in the center, but this is still acceptable. If something happens in an area, like an anathema usurpation, we will be warned. We then have the duty to order security guards to evacuate civilians while containing the anathema within the usurpation zone or eradicate it ourselves if we act in accordance with level parity protocol."

"So, those MGs I often saw in the park or shopping center when I was a kid weren't on vacation. They were actually working?"

"They were most likely patrolling."

"We can't help it. We have to promote peace and hope. If we act stiff like Magical Soldiers, the civilians will get tense, and we'll get scolded by our familiars."

"That's true," Fel nodded.

"How often does usurpation happen here?"

"It happens every day in Eden. So, our job is essential, you know!" Alice proudly said. However, her words came as despair to me.

"Every day means only thirty usurpations in a month. For 1200 MGs… each usurpation only needs a group of 3 to 5 MGs…" I muttered, doing the mental math in my head. Despair filled my heart. I have never felt so useless in my life. I must have had the same look as a salaried worker who has been in the same job for thirty years at a company without promotions, earning minimum wage. Like a security guard whose only job was to stare at five monitors. My eyes were dead, as if my soul had left me.

"Lily? What's wrong?" the ever-cheerful Magical Girl asked. Despite my high strength stats, I felt none of it. My legs were weak as I sat down on a bench in the garden.

"Fel?" tears welled up in my eyes as I turned to my trusty companion for a glimmer of hope in this darkness. It might have been wrong for me to ask her this, but I had no one else to turn to.

"Of course, patrolling isn't the only job MGs have. If you rank in the top 5 for E rank in rank wars, you could be sent outside with random teams. Even if you aren't, you could still apply to be sent outside. There are more anathemas there. Or you could ask for a corporate contract…"

“Shining… Red Flame… Sapphire…”

"Eh?"

"When is the next rank war?"