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<02/11/1972 – 12:11 | Eldora City, Junon Region, Sprawn Valley>

After all three of them met at the exit doors of the hotel, the plans of what to do right now were discussed. Jane, Taylor, and Danny all ate the last of their food rations in the room of their stay. They prepared themselves to head out into the city with vague plans about what to do. Jane was tugging on the hopes to go ahead and train herself with more abilities immediately.

But Danny quickly won her over with the ideas of exploring a city most unknown to all of them. "You can train later today. How are you supposed to fit in with Eldora and the championship rules if you don't even know anything about where we are?"

"It'll be fun, Jane."

Hearing that both of them were on the same desire to relax after the exhausting night behind them, Jane sighed while thinking about the entire plans for today. "Alright... But we stay together." Jane pulled out the map of the area, though the specific details were very confusing even at close glance. Danny and Taylor were jumping for joy, giving Jane more urgency to walk them out of the front door. It was already a quick start to an exhilarating morning.

On the way to the great outdoors, the team was suddenly met with the new life of the city. Compared to late last night, Eldora seemed far from the same as before. Already twenty minutes past noon, the sun illuminated every corner of the place less it be blocked off slightly by the height of a tall building. The streets were completely filled with people. Only a portion of those travelers and pedestrians were on bicycles, riding on a separate dedicated lane separating them from the walkers. A lot of the population was wearing something formal, indicating the density of jobs in businesses here. Despite a city in which motorized automobiles did not exist, the traffic flow of people alone made it nearly impossible to think about crossing the road to the other side of anything.

"Let's just figure this out from the park. Stay by me!" Jane made Danny and Taylor follow her closely behind as Jane decided to follow the direction of the crowd after a brief glance of the map to determine the general direction of this park. So many people passing by allowed for physical separation to become a higher probability. So Danny and Taylor stayed bunched together just behind Jane. Every once in a while, they would glance up and around them, getting to know Eldora even better.

Only a ten-minute walk led them into a less busy flat land of Eldora known as Meaj Park. The entire section of land was basically a few acres of fresh cut grass holding up a large circular water fountain, several swing sets and slides for kids, and some sections that seemed to be devoted to the people walking or playing with their dogs. Danny had never considered the possibility that somebody would take their dog into Sprawn Valley, and apparently it was Jane's very first time seeing one.

Danny and Taylor both had to explain carefully to Jane that a normal dog is actually an original creature imported into this nation, and not something affected by magic. Jane need not to worry enough to attack somebody's personal pet. Though Danny held on to the hopes that the animals here would not suddenly start growing wings or breathing fire.

After Jane quickly warmed up to the fluffy creatures here, she found a good resting spot to better plan out their walk around town. She pointed to the sections of interest while holding the map in front of Taylor and Danny's eyes. "Here is a grocery shop, Taylor and I might visit this clothing store... Right here is the Petrissian Leray Store, and there is another one on the other side, Vascal Wares."

"I want to get something to eat. Which one of these restaurants is any good?"

Glaring at Danny annoyed by his distraction, Jane pointed out an obvious flaw. "You just ate! And now you want more food? Every one of these places are going to be four or five star restaurants of very high quality, and that means a lot of credits we barely have."

"Should we do Leray shopping first to make sure we're ready for Alpha Zero?" Taylor had a legitimate question, one that was on Jane's mind since last night.

Having already found an answer to the conflict, Jane decided, "We'll just restock equipment and essentials for now. We can wait on defensive items until after I defeat the champion. After all, taking part in such challenges rewards some very heavy loads of credits by default."

"Nice," he remarked.

Jane deterred from the other things she was barely interested in for now. "They actually have a Leray museum here. Seems like it has a lot of historical origins and artifacts related to the history of our entire magic."

"Boooorring!"

Staring at Danny without turning her head, Jane remarked to him, "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, for your own safety."

"Then can we at least get started?"

Taylor announced, "Why don't we just split up and explore things on our own? I think it would be more efficient that way."

"What's your idea then?" Jane questioned. Jane didn't want to split up, as it could cause problems reuniting later.

Taylor easily came up with the plan of diversity. "We'll let Danny handle his stomach and possibly some of the other stores. I'll handle restocking on Leray supplies as best as I can. I'm also going to hit that fashion stock too, and then I guess you can look into that museum if you want."

"Where do we meet up afterwards?" she questioned.

"Hotel entrance would be the best place to spot each other. Is that okay with everyone?"

"It works for me, so let's go with it." After agreeing to Taylor's unique solution to fulfilling everyone's sudden desire to explore Eldora, Jane walked off towards the direction of the museum, leaving her friends to get around by themselves out of faith they will find their way. This paper map isn't the only instructions around here. The tourist trap in Eldora basically took care of the urgency to erect several detailed maps capsuled in frames, even in the park here.

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Chapter Theme Shift: Play With Me, My Fellow! ~ Two Worlds 2 OST

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Eldora City was much larger than it seemed in Danny's perspective. A lot of walking traffic slowed his pace towards the grocery store in the northwest section on the road. The store had little distinction to identify itself other than its import name. Danny hesitantly walked into the store, letting the automatic sliding doors make the task easier on himself. Though the air temperature outside was at a comfortable sixty-seven degrees, the air conditioning in the store rushing on him was surprising as a result. The air was colder, but it felt just as fresh and easy to breath.

Now inside of the store with his job to restock on food, Danny needed to learn where everything would be. The inside of the store was deceptively huge, with seven separate register lanes, and nearly fifty separate isles with different brands of food. As Danny cautiously scanned the entire area, he soon noticed that this place is more of a megastore. It was only made obvious by the difference in products and brands. Half of which are imported from American and Japanese made brands outside of Sprawn Valley. The rest were all foods native to this land, and advertised by different corporations of markets.

The place was surprisingly not very busy despite the population outside. Still, Danny felt the vast openness of such a wide space trap him with a sense of solitude. There wasn't any sense in staying here for very long. Despite wanting something to fill his stomach in the meantime, Danny knew it would be better to wait on a restaurant until Taylor can arrive with him. Danny began walking towards the back of the store, scanning shelves and seeking first the essentials. With such an expensive store in an expensive city, he wasn't expecting much luck with finding cheap, low quality food to take with him on the go.

As his predictions played out, he soon realized that none of the food here looked anything like the stuff they sold in Blue Port Town or in Monoc Port. Most of the meals were meats or gourmet meals that needed to be cooked kept in frozen storage. Items such as chips and snacks were very rare to find, only in a section of the pasta isle. Even their names didn't make any sense to pronounce. Grabbing only what he could into a small store basket, Danny slowly filled the container with as many portable foods as he could. He had to add in a few cookable meals too, since they would be staying in Eldora for the time of Jane's championship matchups. There was always the chance that Jane may get something else to eat too.

Already done with the feeling as if his wallet had been emptied in just two minutes, Danny rushed himself to the open counter. At the end of the register was one of the workers, a blond lady in her early twenties working the station. Only seven people were into the store who were customers, six of which were behind him and stalling their time while the other was already being cashed out at a different lane.

She greeted Danny as he placed the basket in front of the lady to ring up all of the items. "Will that be all for you today, sir?" Danny only nodded to her as she rang up each item into a bag. "Can't say I've seen you around. New in town?"

Danny wasn't expecting to make small talk, but be played along anyway. There was just something strange about talking to people in this city with regards to what he was doing here. His business was really Jane's business, and that was a secret for the most part. Refusing to be shy about it, Danny casually gave hints about the details. "Aw - you know. Just here to watch the championship match again."

"Right!" she agreed excitedly. "I love that show! I wish it would get more interesting though. The next one is tomorrow, and it comes on only once a week."

"They only conduct the battles once a week?"

"Hm-hm," she confirmed. "Every Saturday only. It's pretty much routine here, but the next competition isn't looking that strong."

After getting all of the items in the bag handed to him, Danny had to be charged for the groceries. The electronic reader displayed the value due on a small screen in front of him, prompting him to pull out his Leray license. "I wouldn't bet on it being boring this week." Danny handed the card to her, though she paused before scanning it.

Leaning in with her hands on her cheeks, the girl looked Danny dead in the eyes. "Got an inside source I should know about?"

Danny inched away awkwardly. Her stare was intensely seductive, while his eyes bounced around everywhere, avoiding contact with the employee. "I'm sure that I do not." He focused on the number yet to be subtracted from his card, remembering the amount he had on there earlier. Five hundred sixty credits was to be subtracted, leaving him with only 6500 credits remaining. It wasn't too bad considering they were all in conservative mode, but he then remembered that each night at the hotel costs another 745. So all he had now after getting back his card was 5755 CR.

She returned her stance to normal, and gave Danny his bag of food. "Guess I'll see you around then." Rushing to get his bag and leave, Danny nodded and turned to walk out of the exit door... The realization of how awkward that was hit Danny just as he was back outside. The girl back there must have been interested in something about him or his hint of an inside source of information. Thinking about that and Taylor at the same time felt so strange.

Deciding to shrug it off and continue exploring, Danny quickly found an interesting place called Junon Heights. The advertising cover on the front window sort of resembled something portrayed as a comic book store, but it wasn't very clear either. Danny took his chances walking into the place, which was much smaller than the store he was just in.

Upon gazing at the stock and products, Danny's eyes lit up with curiosity to the interesting concept. He heard all kinds of strange things about Leray movies and shows. This right here appeared to be an entire collection's worth of such movies. All sold on VHS tapes with expertly designed covers, the shelves were packed with different movies and shows all showing some sign of Leray magic activity on the covers. Most of the stuff appeared as if the shows hosted fictional super heroes for younger audiences, but even from this distance, other covers stood out.

With his grocery bag weighing his hand down, Danny reminded himself first to take out his supply sphere and keep the items quarantined in the extra dimensional space used by the sphere. Each item had to be added individually, but Danny took his time to glance around the place during that moment of beaming items into phase. In that moment, there was a lot to think about regarding how critical the culture of Sprawn Valley reflected Leray magic in almost every way possible. There were categories for just about everything. Over thousands of items were sold here. Business was about as proportionate as the grocery store was today, but this seemed to be of a more interesting collection.

Danny hovered around each shelf in the movie store for just a few minutes, interested in the amount of different films produced just from the inspiration of Leray magic. From the perception of a kid, or from someone experiencing this for the first time, it seems really awesome. Danny hated that he knew what else magic was used for. Leray magic can unfortunately be learned in order to cause harm to others despite what is taught here. The Scarlet Cult and Alpha Zero were evidence of that. He promised himself he would not ever find anything in here related to such incidents. Then again, if there was such a film related to the Amahar spell bomb, would that be a similar match to the same spell bomb or symbol Jane had with her?

There wasn't any use in finding out this way. There would be better sources for that somewhere else. After leaving the store empty handed, Danny soon realized why this area was called the tourist trap. Another place caught his eyes just across the block. Adam Armaments. Whatever the place was had see-through windows on the front and sides of the short building. Danny saw several strange items on display from his distance and past the moving crowd of people. Knives, bayonets, water containers, military grade boots... He had to learn more.

Danny crossed the street heading for the only other thing that would pass the time and ease his boredom until it was time to find the others. Adams Armaments appeared to be some sort of survivalist store. This is not a Leray store on the other hand. One of the quotes on the posters said something about surviving in the outside world. Did they mean outside of Sprawn Valley? Is this all things to survive outside of this one country?

Survival packs and hiking bags were on shelves, as were other electronics in the back. Danny entered the store with high hopes of which were met by the sophistication of quality goods. Small ham radios and hand crank lights were just as abundant as packages of MREs or the tents hiding near the back of the store. Danny quickly wondered why it was set up like a camping trip dispensary. Did these people really expect places like New York to be so poorly developed as to need to survive in the wild? Some things like the iron cast knives made more sense, seeing as dying outside of Sprawn Valley was made incredibly easy, but the rest seemed a little overboard. Then again, it would come in handy in emergency situations so it seemed.

The prices on the other hand were outrageous. At least according to the funds he had on him, Danny would not really be able to make a single purchase here for anything useful. It didn't deter him from staying though, as the items here were interesting enough to gawk at. Much of these were actually imported from the outside world, so to provide true authentic products that work as instructed. Even if he couldn't get anything here, looking around would not hurt. Taylor is probably having as boring of a time as he is anyway.

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Chapter Theme Shift: Conscious Droplets ~ Kaminanda

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On the Northeast side of Eldora City, Taylor found one of many in-town Leray stores. The Bushido Leray shop seemed more artistic in the interior of the building than in the other structures. Taylor held her breath and walked into the place, amazed by what she saw around her. The place was deceptively larger than what it appeared to be inside. Shelves hung in front of her, while an odd enticing smell protruded the air. The place was packed with everything a Leray wielder could ever want.

Weapons to the right, dress spheres to the left, and thousands of magical orbs in the center between the isles. Specialized armor hung near the back, while hundreds of instructional training books were stacked by both sides of the entrance doors. "I came here for restocking." Taylor assured herself that buying Leray equipment would have to wait a while, but that didn't stop her from having a look around. This place is three times the size of the Leray store in Monoc Town or Lennith City, and three times as impressive with their items and organization.

Taylor saw swords on the rack of the shelves in the weapon section, along with short blades, sub-machine guns, pistols, boxes of grenades, magic staffs, a bladed lance, and even a combat gun-blade capable of firing special rounds while retaining the properties of a sword. All of the dress spheres were specialized under many standards. The very dark and gothic dress is said on the description to double the effectiveness of elemental magical potency. The black battle suit with green stripes (designed as a suit and a dress in the form of a hybrid, combining a long skirt at the bottom with layers of protection on side of the elastic suit itself) - is designed for agility and multi-protection in battle. There were even dresses that specialized very specific attacks, or simple bundles of denim pants with a shirt to appear as ordinary. It was all amazing! Taylor spent much more time in the dress sphere section than anywhere else. She checked out every single item with her eyes, and kept a closer attention to an interesting dress sphere that took the form of a long and thick-sleeve shirt white with blue strips, bundled with tight darker blue shorts and a skirt. The Winter Dream dress sphere as it was called, provides fire and ice protection, while providing the user an increase in potency for the specialization of ice and wind magic, already specific to Taylor's own technique. She already saw herself wearing the thing. It's a shirt that sort of resembles a sweater, and the skirt goes over the shorts by design.

For 1200 credits, it was well worth it too. Taylor tried to walk away from the entire section before she became tempted, but after walking just five steps in the opposite direction, Taylor stopped herself again. Like the itch in the back of a place unable to be scratched, not having the dress sphere of at least one new item on the shelf bothered her so. She turned around again, deciding on spending her own money to get a new upgrade. Placing the dress sphere item in her basket, Taylor moved on, excited by her choice of purchase. There was much more on that shelf she wanted to have, all out of her price range for the moment.

While making it to the healing orb section, Taylor took note of all the other orbs nearby. Most of them were spell bombs, attack kinds that support people in battle by creating artificial spells or even summons. Thinking about relying on those made her pockets crap in resistance. To never rely on one's own training would burn a hole in all financial support to a Leray wielder. She ignored the rest of the infinite amount of other kinds of spell bombs and support orbs, and went with what she needed. Healing orbs, also known sometimes as med kit orbs only had two types. The cheapest ones work, just with more of a delay. Taylor went with the special kind, since they would be up against the dark zone soon. They also sold interesting protection orbs, said to resist dark magic. It looked and sounded as though it were a scam. Jane and Claudia already said there is no such protection from dark magic. Aren't Leray orbs part of Leray magic anyway?

She shook it off and cashed out her items at the front desk. After paying for sixteen healing orbs, and five magic restorative orbs in total, Taylor's debt rang up to 300 credits, which only included the orbs, not the dress sphere itself. In total, Taylor had to pay 1500 credits, leaving the remaining amount on her card at 4765 CR. After placing her purchased items in her supply sphere and leaving the store, Taylor went to find another one.

The difference this time is that inside of El Sre'Flonc, thousands of items of clothing are sold, with two entire floors of stock available. The real difference is that they sell regular clothing, unimbued with the Leray coat that protects the clothing from physical or Leray damage. They were specific for fashion only, not for battling. Yet for that reason, they would be surprisingly cheap compared to the average dress sphere. Then again, with a brand name like that, Taylor knew it was futile to count on that logic for the price ranges. Still with a lot of time in the day on her hands, she decided to indulge herself further by going in.

The place was even bigger than she could have imagined. There was an entire escalator leading up to the second floor, a backdrop to the side, several changing rooms further back, and amasses of clothing beyond counting numbers. Any kind of clothing that exists, they have it all here. Taylor felt as if she was visiting the mall, something she had only done once as a kid when they could afford going there to browse.

Feeling dizzy by the amount of options suddenly available, Taylor stepped forward towards the sunlight coming from the roof skylight. The place wasn't empty. There were at least thirty people nearby just on the first floor. From a skewed angle, she could make out more people just at the top of the escalator ramp. Every customer here was female, which wasn't odd considering the store only sells women's clothes. After making the decision to go to the next floor, Taylor hesitated short of the escalator. Uncertain how safe the automatic staircase was, she made sure her feet were not going to get cut off or sucked in. Kalamo never had a place with an automatic staircase before, only adding to her confusion. After being lifted to the top slowly and effortlessly, Taylor jumped off at the end, only to find that the second floor had been hiding most of the entire stock, at least 70% of it. One thing was certain. "This is going to take me a while."

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Chapter Theme Shift: Unidentified Track 04

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Further towards the center of the city block emptied of all other buildings for 200 square meters was the center of the history for Leray magic. The Junon Leray Museum of History and Technology (Junon Magic Museum for short) is the center of all Leray information in Sprawn Valley, also housing inside of the structure - the National Records Hall. Everything Jane could ever want to know and learn may be inside of there.

The JMM structure had the entrance populated with several hundreds of people just hanging out as if a grand opening was upon the site. Tons of people were taking pictures with their cameras, indicating that they were not even from Sprawn Valley in the first place. Jane spotted several unusual kinds of people hanging about in this area, obviously not native to the country's bloodline in any particular manner. Some were Hispanic, some were French, others were German, and some were African. Jane had only heard of people with different skin tones and colors that have very high deviations from that in Sprawn Valley, given preexisting demographics to Gulop, but this place seemed to attract all kinds to the single point of the area.

The museum wasn't closed despite what it may look like. The long ladder of stone stairs led up to the massive entry doors up top, entering the building that took up the most amount of space of all the buildings in Eldora, despite not being tall. Actually, Eldora Tower came very close to being wider, but it's harder to compare the structure since it is cylindrically shaped. With the impressive exterior design to the museum, the stone pillars and metallic exterior show off an impressive defense of structural integrity, but that was all she could determine from the looks. Jane wanted to get inside of the museum itself, so she took some more steps forward.

"Are the answers I seek hidden in here somehow?" Jane spoke to herself verbally, expecting only to have an answer with real research into the history of the mages. There was a lot stacked upon Leray history that is commonly known here, but only from a vague perspective. The museum would have everything regarding technological advances in Leray magic - such as Leray related weapons, spell bombs, dress spheres, even specific magical symbols. The information of course would not stop on that concept, but branch towards how the existence of such magic came to be.

Jane carried herself all the way up the top of the stairs and into the building, immediately overwhelmed by all of the impressive scenery of the statues of popular mages and paintings in the auxiliary exhibit room. Standing in front of her now is the carved monument of Lysander Leray, the sage responsible for bringing the concept of Leray magic and its daily uses to rebuild the civilization of Sprawn Valley again from the ground up. One of the first accomplishments after exploring much of the land was the use of electricity after Leray magic became easier to invoke within the people affected by the lunar crystals, but he is best known for the invention of the Leray field over the entire valley, the process known as Energy Infusion. Powerful mages go to the top of Eldora Tower, bringing forth very specialized and energized lunar crystals of different elements. Together, those mages perform some kind of magic that renews the Leray veil of protection, giving people protection from death while also enabling Leray magic within them. The process is said to require renewal every two years by Eldora's chosen five; otherwise known as the Elite Five.

Several expensive paintings also hung on the walls surrounding Jane's visual perception, but this wasn't exactly the place she wanted to be in right now. Still, every piece of work here was in some level entertaining to her mind. If it were never for these people, Leray magic would have never existed. Jane tried to go down another corridor leading into one of several large open rooms with different categories. The next one she ended up in turned out to be the section of history dedicated to the War of Mages, taking place a little less than 200 years ago. Nothing in particular stood out for anything Jane wanted to know until she reached the weapons development platform to the edge of the wall. Leray weapons existed before then, but became specialized to assist the war efforts on both sides.

Jane knew so little about the two separate factions of the war, but it turns out a third faction emerged in the middle of the deadly battles. Several monuments and carved messages served as little notes of key details that Jane never learned about in class, already pondering the reason for it. The Avion War was between two groups known as the Sentinels and the Liberators. The Liberators were a faction of people who initially wanted to grant the newly discovered Leray field as a gift to all people. The field would force the magic to assimilate into every living creatures within the radius of the entire valley, thus granting people resistances to unnatural causes of death. The Sentinels formed because their opposite desires failed to influence the new creation of the council of mages. Sentinels only wanted to defend their homeland from this magical influence that they didn't want to become a part of.

That was the initial dispute. Both factions learned aggressive Leray magic, including dark magic to use against each other should either side overstate their welcome. When the already existing Leray veil of protection became extended onto the top of Eldora Tower in order to spread the radius across the entire area of Sprawn Valley, the war started. But soon into those battles, both sides nearly forgot what they were fighting for, turning the warzone into a blood bath of death and destruction. The Liberators and Sentinels brutally killed each other or suspected members just out of hatred and smaller disputes. It boiled down to fights over specific areas of land, ownership of civilian protection zones, technological installation or integration into society, and eventually just the blind idea of emerging more powerful than the other.

From the heat of the conflict several decades into the war, a third faction was born. Leading no particular name at the time, the faction was formed by the many people including civilians who used Leray magic to fight against both sides, wanting an end to all of the violence. The third faction faced very heavy resistance from both sides, but they grew in numbers and were supported by the overwhelming desire of the natives to stop the war and continue on with their lives with or without the veil. It demoralized the Sentinels and the Liberators, breaking down both armies due to a lack of allegiance and morale. Members of all factions began disbanding just to protect civilians, structures, homes, even natural habitats from illegal or unjust colonization. Nobody cared if they had Leray magic under their head every day, not those fighting to end the violence. After all of the destruction the war brought on, they simply wanted peace in their land again, realizing what they had lost in their initial disputes. After ending the war only by defending any key section from any aggressive or hostile action, the naive heroes became recognized for their efforts by the new council of mages, and a call for the end of all hostilities was exercised nationwide.

This of course took many years under heavy conflict, especially when previous war criminals announced that magic should only be used by the strong, determined by bloodline or gory battles to the death, though they were chastised away from the colonies. Changes were made to politics, freedom was stretched and tested as far as it could possibly go, until Sprawn Valley turned into what it has become today.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

Jane turned her head aside to see the tall man standing with his arms behind his back. His uniform presented that he works at the museum. Jane knew that from an outside perspective, it seemed she was genuinely interested in the history of the War of Mages, but there were still more specific questions she wanted answered, without raising a certain amount of suspicion. After inhaling intensely Jane replied, "I was wondering what kind of weapons the people used before now, during the war I mean."

Kellog was the name on his tag. He stood at attention, now facing the models and images in front of him that symbolized the many factors of that war. "Ah yes. There were many weapons involved in the Avion Wars. Previous weapons already existed under experimentation, but the war efforts energized the crucial demand for new and better weapons, including better armor. It's a shame they were put to such horrible use."

"But what kind of weapons exactly?" Jane faced Mr. Kellog, hoping he could accidently answer something about the technological history of all spell orbs. "How did magical spell bombs and orbs come to help at the time?"

"You have a peculiar interest I see. When fighting in a Leray battle, even to the death - people who use that magic still have to rely on their physical magical reserves, the thing we commonly call Magical Potential, or MP for short. The literal value of such magical potential raises slightly for a person with more usage, but even naturally, everyone has differing ME points within the same standard deviations - assuming the experience is all the same. With the concern of running dry on magical potential, and the need to rely on dark magic in areas affected by the veil, the mages developed an alternative way to battle. Healing orbs were ineffective at the time, since they could not heal real time damage. But spell bombs created by magical infusion through an interesting dimensional medium proved to be highly useful in the potential to inflict some level of harm on others while allowing the mages to conserve their MP during such fights. So spell bombs were defiantly a critical link in the chain for weapons development."

"I would like to know more about the development of spell bombs, if you don't mind explaining it to me."

"Why would I mind?" Kellog allowed. "It is my job to inform anyone who has questions about such knowledge. Of course this information is not displayed for public eye to see, we have several on site documents that support more information than what is displayed here."

Jane tested her luck. "What can you tell me about the Amahar spell bomb?"

"Amahar..." Kellog struggled to remember that odd connection. "Though very powerful, they were also considered rare during the war. Developed in the experimental stages, the Amahar spell bomb affected users, giving them a long lasting though temporary status of what we call burst mode. It doubles or triples the power level of all magical related attacks, including those associated with dark magic, but it has a high cost to the defense for the same person. They would inevitably become highly weak against all forms of magical damage. The simplest spell may be enough to knock out one who is in burst mode, so they weren't at all that popular, nor did their development ever achieve any breakthroughs during and after the war. The particular project was discontinued and abandoned, which is why the spell bomb is never seen to this day."

"And after the war ended?"

"Sphere Incorporated was eventually created as a means to tackle all of the financial situations associated with controlling the development and distribution of all magical spell bombs. At first, they had the same difficulties any small original business was to have, especially with the war now over and little demand for such products, but after Leray battles became safer and something among a recreational sport, the business suddenly began booming. However, several legal issues with contractors and the ownership of their copyright were up in the air. They also failed safety inspections; many accused them of conducting shady business behind the scenes. It eventually broke down their company, allowing dozens of more separate developmental teams to come up with their own type of spell bomb. All of which were the same, though faked to have different names and perform better, so they all said. Sphere Inc. thus went bankrupt from their previous plummet in stock prices."

"So that's where the spell bombs went from there," Jane confirmed.

Kelly continued the story, since Jane was so interested. "Sphere Incorporated tried a lot of things to revive and take back their business. The first thing their people did was rename their business and change a lot of their standards. Suddenly, they were developing highly unusual spell bombs, including some capable of inflicting indirect dark magic damage to others. With such dangerous experimental procedures, the team of investigators found their experiments to be inhumane and highly illegal. Sphere Inc., or whatever they turned into was shut down after that, never to be heard or spoken of again."

"So..." Jane summarized all of this in her mind. "There is no possible way that illegal experimental spell bombs can be created outside the scope of the Leray investigation teams and legal protocols?"

"I guess. I hope what you're asking me isn't to imply that you perhaps suspect corruption in any particular company creating spell bombs. Because if you do, I suggest maybe speaking to the agents about the possibility of such. You might get an investigation at least."

"I'm good, and there is nothing like that to worry about." Jane didn't want random people to get too involved in the same matter she had been investigating, less she becomes discovered as a marked one in the heart of all Leray magic. "I need to be going now."

"Glad I was of some help, ma'am."

Jane nodded and casually walked away towards the exit of the building. Kellog sure knew a lot about spell bomb distribution, but it didn't do anything but lead to the same dead-end. Somebody manufactured the unknown spell bomb that gave her this symbol, and as unusual as it gets, no such spell bomb is registered to have ever existed before. Having a symbol alone is illegal, but developing one has only ever been rumored to be a voluntary process of pure magic and a lot of intelligent information about how to make it work properly. Which company is responsible for this?

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Chapter Theme Shift: Tavern 7 ~ Two Worlds 2 OST

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With a soft and stressful sigh, Danny used the computer mouse to click the exit button from the browser on the screen, just after which he noticed Taylor standing just to the side of him. "Tay? Wh-where'd you come from?"

Taylor felt so happy inside from her earlier experience. Now that she found Danny, it was time to take him and meet up with Jane again. "El Sre'Flonc." She replied to Danny's curiosity with an answer knowing he would not be able to guess how awesome her shopping spree had gone. After coaxing herself not to spend too much money on clothes, Taylor was now down 3240 credits, all spent on twelve new and amazing outfits. None of them were designed for Leray battles, but they were still amazing for each find. All of them were very fashionable and relatively cheap per outfit, though the numbers still added up. With only 1525 credits remaining on her card, Jane will likely be upset by how much she spent on herself. After seeing all of those options though, resisting was impossible. "What about you?"

Danny inhaled briefly, realizing that his business here at the library didn't matter right now. After spending over thirty minutes looking into all possible matches of unregistered or underdeveloped spell bombs or symbological technology, nothing closely resembled Jane's situation. As a much worse case scenario, the incident of light falling from the sky in Blue Port Town in front of several eyewitnesses eventually made national news with investigations failing to pinpoint the culprit of the dangerous light. It was a miracle that Jane's own name had not been discovered, seeing as she was directly related to the events. Nothing online could possibly have helped Jane at this point, and after remembering what Jane's business was at Tilsit Port, he now had some sympathy for his friend. With the internet of no use to him right now, Danny figured it was a good enough time to try and find Jane again. "I got all of the food and water restocked. What about the supplies?"

"I have them all. Jane should be at the museum. But if not, we're to meet up at the hotel again."

"Good." Danny stood up and collected himself. After spending so much time exploring Eldora City, his mind was rather exhausted and underwhelmed compared to the excitement he felt since yesterday. One of the first things Danny noticed about Taylor after paying more attention was a new wardrobe. She was now wearing a pale colored prairie skirt with a maroon colored hem at the bottom layer, mostly covered by another overskirt from the long dress of sky-blue shade she had equipped. The sleeves of her dress went all the way to her wrists, which had extra fluffy white bangles made out of the same thin material. It was amazing that he did not notice Taylor's amazing wardrobe shift from his peripheral. The clothing seemed very high class, as if Taylor was about to go to a fancy ball. "You... You went shopping again, didn't you?" Danny didn't have to say how stunning Taylor looked right now. He felt as if he was about to attend a ball with Taylor any moment now, but knowing her, it was just something to wear around for fun.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I had to get myself something," she answered with a happy expression. "Let's go see Jane." Taylor held out her hand for Danny to hold while they walk back to the hotel entrance. It was mildly obvious that Danny couldn't get over how much of a difference the wear made in her appearance. Taylor rarely looked this beautiful for anybody, and Danny showed a noticeable reluctancey to go with Taylor, for he would be holding her hand. Being seen with a girl dressed like a goddess was more the reason for his slight disturbance; for this would now make both of them much more popular in public.

Taylor blushed at the thought that she now had the power to make Danny a little nervous around her; the situation was in reverse last night when he surprised her be asking her out so casually. Taylor still tried not to turn it into a big deal for either one of them. It was time to find Jane, and that meant walking around the city again. At least this way, the massive lines of walking people wouldn't separate them both from each other.

Upon snooping around random blocks moreover, the Kaiolithic Jewelry store stood out calling Jane from in front of her. Jane really had no more particular reason to stick around after the visit to the museum, though the turn up of no answers to the growing questions in her mind just made her head spin in ways more painful than she could have hoped for. So from the glass windows displaying all of those flashy gems and rings from the counters and displays of the interior of the building, Jane soon found herself unable to resist the prettiest of all items.

After following the desire in her eyes all the way to the interior of the store, Jane quickly noticed how well done the structure was on the inside, with a stain resistant carpet as the floor, and several small podiums used to feature special items sold in the shop. It's all just jewelry here, from earrings to regular rings to bracelets and necklaces. It's almost equivalent to walking into the heart of places aired on the gem-shopping network, only with a more fancy scenery and a professional design.

With the display of gems being so open even behind the glass podiums, it would seem incredibly easy to steal the items, but Jane knew otherwise from her extensive technical knowledge of the general system. First of all, there are installed security cameras hiding out of plain sight here. Secondly, no matter how hard you try, you cannot beam an item out of registered ownership into a personal supply sphere, making such an item that much harder to hide. Thirdly, the security force in Eldora is fierce, and would immediately notice and track down any mischievous act committed here or anywhere else in the city.

Everybody else in the entire room seemed to fit in well, wearing robes of very fine material from hides and other clothing that screamed how much money they had on them. Very few such as Jane stood out from this, but she didn't mind. After all, she would be meeting Danny and Taylor at the hotel soon enough. What else would there be to do if she cannot figure out the secret behind this curse on her hand?

"Come big - come small! Come one - come all! Come once – come twice, for our excellent quality and price!" Jane was immediately delivering her attention to the merchant advertising all of the wares from behind the counter full of priceless gems. "Feast your hearts on our gems of desire. Get the gift that will never fail to warm the hearts of your lovers!"

Jane quickly found out one of many reasons people are so motivated to buy these things. With advertising like that, who would want to resist the idea of easily buying the hearts of others with such beautiful jewelry? It certainly has a persuasive argument. Nothing in this entire store was cheap or dull. Jane knew nothing was affordable for her here, but she didn't deny her eyes the pleasure of glaring down the many colorful gems at the counter. Black opals, blue diamonds, green gems, one of every color flooded the area of display just in this section alone, populating mostly bracelets or rings. Jane never got to look so deeply into a jewelry store before, but an inexplicable sensation of want came over her. She wanted to buy everything and swim in the wealth, but even affording just one would bankrupt most commoners.

It made her wonder how people in Eldora obtain such wealth without much ties to Leray magic. Gems and stones really have nothing to do with the whole Leray system, other than the magic crystals used by the mages every one to two years, but those aren't sold anywhere for any reason, as they hold no use to civilians or armature wielder, nor are they possible to obtain legally. With that, Jane allowed her mind to drift off about the concept of Leray magic, going all the way back to her childhood thoughts about how cool and mysterious the system is. Even today, that same sense exists within herself, but with everything going on, it's hardly the same.

"Can't decide on a jewel?"

Jane winced back by a hair, startled by the random voice piercing her ears. The woman at her side didn't speak very loudly, but her voice packed such a clear set of frequencies that it sounded as if she could yell everything she says without speaking up. Jane wasn't here to buy anything though, and she had to dismiss the curious woman. "I'm not a buyer today."

"Oh." The girl put a clenched hand to her lips in thought, drawing Jane's green eyes to her with her attractive white and silky dress that made it look almost as if a wedding was nearby. She was actually older than her voice made her sound, but only around twenty-one by the looks of it. "Out of your price range then?"

"Hey!" Jane found her comment rude and insulting, especially coming from someone who already had an expensive clean dress to prove her own worth before setting foot into this store.

But she quickly waved both hands in front of her, signaling an apologetic hand gesture. "No-no! I didn't mean it like that. I can't afford these things either."

Jane wasn't sure how sincere the young woman was, so she decided to shrug it off and continue staring off into space with her arms folded across her chest.

"Perhaps you have different interests?" After getting Jane's curious attention again, the woman introduced herself before elaborating. "My name's Jaz." She held out her hand to shake it with Jane's. "I can tell by a quick study that you're wearing an actual dress sphere. So that must mean you're a student at Eldora Heights?"

After shaking Jaz's hand and returning the introduction, Jane put truth to the claims. "I'm Jane, and I'm not even native to Eldora. But you're right about the Leray wielder part." Jane noticed again that she was wearing one of her earlier versions of a dress sphere, nothing that remotely resembled a battle suit or an academic outfit. This way, she fit in a little better in a crowd. It was the same dress sphere given to her as one of the parting gifts from her class in Lennith City; a dress with a short skirt with protective pant legs.

"A traveler huh? Come for the championship?"

"How did you know?" Jane was interested already in who Jaz is and why she could so easily read into Jane's personal profile without ever advertising it. Jaz most likely worked here as a seller, but Jane became less sure of the fact after another moment.

"It was a simple guess," she replied. "Almost ninety percent of all traveling Leray wielders that enter to Eldora from elsewhere come just to challenge the championships. Of course that doesn't mean they all get by our gradyent. Any specialties you plan on using this time?"

"Uh, not really." Jaz seemed more harmless in Jane's eyes than she previously deduced, but also a bit intrusive. "Anyway, I was just about to leave. I have to make sure I know how to register for tomorrow's chain."

"Ya—..." Jaz seemed confused and surprised, leaving her speechless for a full second. "You don't know how to register?"

"Why is that so surprising? I've never been here before."

"Oh, this won't do," Jaz complained. "Though you can still register tomorrow on the spot, there's still a screening process they put you through, and you may not even get a chance to battle a single person if you wait. Anyone who tries to register knowing nothing will defiantly not make it past the first battle. Do you even know how the rules work?"

"Say? How is it you know so much about the rules of the Eldora championship?"

Jaz replied hesitantly, "Uh, my assistant knows these things... Maybe I can get you an audience with him this evening? You and Mr. Bennete could sit down and talk about how the championship really works. We're located at Chapel's Diner, and it's free food if you agree."

"Wha—" Jane was defiantly surprised by such generosity, but was Jaz asking Jane to meet someone for information, or for something else?

"Jane!"

Again distracted by the external environment, Jane had to pause on making such a decision. Taylor was calling to her, apparently able to find Jane by accident with Danny in tow. But never mind that detail. What on Earth is Taylor wearing?!

Taylor happily walked up to Jane, after searching for ten long minutes. "You weren't at the hotel, so we came and looked for you."

"What are you wearing?" Jane pleaded. "Did you go shopping with your own funds?" Long before Taylor came up with a response, Jane checked Taylor's outfit up and down. It was stunning and very fashionable. Somehow, Taylor managed to buy into something that made her fit in with the rich class walking around her. Taylor looked as though she belonged in a place such as this jewel store, and could possibly get a boyfriend with anybody in the entire city by the outfit alone. What a great find!

"You like it?" Taylor sounded excited about having such a high new wardrobe, and took some pride in how quickly her luck for finding Jane turned out. "I know we were supposed to save some money, but..."

"She couldn't help herself apparently," Danny finished. Though he meant it to, his tone didn't come out as annoyed at Taylor's self-indulgence.

"I can see why," Jane agreed. Danny couldn't even judge Taylor for it, seeing as his credibility will soar so high up just being associated with Taylor in short of time. "I'm so jealous."

Danny addressed the concern of Jane's visit more than Taylor's ability to indulge herself. "Did you find anything out at the museum?"

"It was enlightening." Jane used the most sarcastic tone of voice when answering to Danny, that her frustration in finding nothing useful could have been felt by any person in the general vicinity. Jane soon forgot about it, and thought about all of the things she could learn about the championship battles from Jaz's supposed partner. Jane already knew of the championship, but she only had a general idea of the basic rules. It is common sense on the outside, but apparently, it was different with a closer look. "So Jaz? Can we meet this Mr. Bennete at the place you said a minute ago? And with that, can we all get free food? They're traveling with me, so..."

"Of course. I'm not sure how happy he'll be raising one person to three on getting that much extra, so I should ask that your friends don't pig out."

"Hey, who do you think I am?" Taylor snapped. "Do I look like the person to pig out at dinner? That's Danny's thing."

"Yeah... Wait what?!" Though Danny agreed to assault his own character with such a swift reply, it went ignored by the sudden agreement to go somewhere with this Jaz person who he and Taylor didn't know well enough.

"It's settled then. Meet up here in an hour? I've got to get back soon." Jaz handed Jane a card, only with the name of the restaurant and the instructions on where to go in order to get inside. It wasn't surprising considering how big and new the city was to the three of them, and with that, Jaz took off.

Still, while Jane had to worry about talking to her friends about what conversation just took place, there were still things on her mind from the museum. She recalled reading some things about the process of lunar crystals and the mages that use them. Somehow, there is something about this connected to the Eupharus region of Sprawn Valley, the tiny island with an active volcano far east over the sea from Eldora City, with no way to access the site without either a boat or teleportation. Supposedly, the island is restricted only to the head mage of Eldora and their assistant, and is somehow responsible for the charging of lunar crystals... or something like that. Then there was the matter of Iktal Island, far in the southeast corner of Sprawn Valley, which also can only be accessed by sea travel. The only thing related to the discovery here is that Iktal Island also happens to have a different museum dedicated to something else. Jane still knew so little at this point, and it seemed as if discovering the secret of her symbol was becoming more of a challenge than ever before.

"Are we leaving yet?" Taylor called. Jane agreed to go immediately; though her delayed posture showed how much was on her mind. As they all exited from the jewelry store, Taylor decided to start the conversation now. "So who was that person, and what was that all about?"

Jane knew she had some explaining to do, but it would have made more sense for them both if they could just be patient and see for themselves. In one hour, they all must meet up at Chapel's Diner. Whoever Mr. Bennete is, he better be useful to tell Jane what she needs to hear.

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Chapter Theme Shift: Kishiouno Hokori ~ Kenji Kawai

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As the hour passed, Jane found the section without too much delay. Chapel's Diner wasn't entirely what Jane or her friends imagined. The restaurant was more of a hybrid between a dine-in restaurant and a sophisticated bar. The counter housed a bartender shift and several hundreds of types of vintage bottles of wine and champagne. The interior was very roomy for customers, and the space always kept clean. They even have a small-boxed television hanging up on the wall in a corner up to the ceiling, as well as a good A/C system blowing out air at the temperature of 68oF.

Business seemed slow for the moment. Only three other couples were here, already seated and eating in private at the cushioned booths. At first glance, Jane already assumed that she could actually afford to eat here, but just barely. Jaz let them follow her to their booth already reserved by the person she was talking about before. As they all sat down, Jaz made sure they settled in before announcing, "I'll bring Mr. Bennete for you." Jaz turned around towards the kitchen area, which must have been where he was at the time. It left Danny and the others time to look at a menu for lots of delicious meals.

"Why are we here again?" Taylor probed. Only Jane would have the answer to this weirdness.

Jane wasn't entirely certain herself. It seemed like a nice change in pace to get free dinner after all of today's work in a fancy restaurant, but this was Jaz's idea, all for the sake of helping Jane understand how to register. Still, why add in another unknown contact to explain it to her? Didn't Jaz understand that with any demonstration of her own skill or promise, she could be setting Jane up with a bad reputation of just agreeing to free things? Jane believed up until now that it was as simple as signing her name on paper and going to battle. "I'm trying to figure that out myself. I think Jaz wants to explain to me how I'm supposed to register."

"Wouldn't it be as simple to sign your name on paper?" Taylor repeated.

Having not have heard the logic in Jane's mind, Jane found it a little surprising that Taylor shared the same opinion on how strange it was for a random person to give them three an audience with some stranger. Something didn't feel right already. By the time they all had their orders in their mind, Jaz stepped out with a tall man in his later thirties in tow. Mr. Bennete perhaps?

"I'm back," she announced.

The man behind her took charge of whatever Jaz was trying to do by getting in front of her, and hoping for immediate introductions to the three kids. "I do apologize for Jaz'z behavior lately. I wasn't made aware that I was having guests until now."

"Seriously?! Taylor shrieked. "What's wrong with you Jaz?" What a waste of the man's time. Would they be in trouble now?

She apologized rather fast. "I'm sorry! Bennete was busy so..."

"You're slipping Jaz." It was only now when the strangers noticed his deep yet soothing voice, but the way he spoke to Jaz had some other hidden meaning alien to the trio. After Bennete calmed down and took in their faces one more time, he realized that what was done was already done. "Since you are all here, I might as well keep to her promises. I know you were granted access to free food, but this is such short notice for us. So I do ask that you try to keep the costs down to a minimum."

"That's okay," Jane replied. "Jaz brought us here for an audience with you anyway. Something about the process of registering for the championship?"

"Ah!" he exhaled before allowing a moment of nothing to pass. "I see now." Bennete took off his glasses and tucked them into his tuxedo. "First I shall ask that we dispense with the formalities then. Most people call me Mr. Bennete when addressing something business related, but for this meeting here, please call me by my first name, Ryan."

"Well then Ryan," Jane projected. "My name is Jane. These two here are my friends, Taylor and Danny. It's good to meet you."

"Likewise," he responded as Ryan sat down at the other end of the booth, while Danny and Taylor sat closely together. "I suppose you're mostly interested in how the Eldora Tower functions in all of its glory. It's an amazing structure if you've not seen it already. It's has several hundreds of floors each separating sections of the tower, with the peak standing at exactly 2,400 meters tall at its base."

"Is that where the mages renew the Leray field?" Danny interrupted.

"It is. Of course, only the chosen five and champion are allowed up on that section, as well as those the champion makes exceptions for. Security there is tight for several reasons, and a long screening process takes place before your name is even placed into the system. You can of course register at any time, but since the battles only happen weekly, you have until tomorrow morning to make sure you get there in time and not miss the next window."

"That's so cool!"

Following Taylor's excitement, Ryan continued the vital details of his explanation after sitting down in the booth next to Jane, since she was by herself on that side. It occurred to him now that Jaz could have simply explained this much, and he questioned why she couldn't just tell them. Perhaps she forgot some of those rules again. "The rules of battling in the championship are much the same in a normal Leray battle. There are some subtle differences, but none that negatively impact the actual experience."

"What kind of differences are we talking about?" Jane questioned.

"Well for one," he continued, "the battle is judged solely by the referee. He or she will announce the winner no matter what happens. If their declaration seems unfair, a second opinion among the entire Elite Five will initiate to discuss why. As for the artistic beauty of battling in the championships, the entire thing is televised live to our audience."

"Jane gets to be on TV?! Mmmmn!" Taylor sounded so jealous, but she knew Jane might very well be nervous about the idea too. Having so many fans watching can really add on a lot of pressure. Still, Jane gets to be on television!

"I see you make it a form of entertainment," Jane commented casually.

Danny could silently agree, since he heard from one of the clerks at the grocery store that the championship battles are an actual show that displays once every week. It's entertainment for the people because the stakes are so high, and heavy on the challenger for similar reasons.

"People watch because they are interested to see the strengths and growth of each participant, wondering if any of them have what it takes to tackle a single elite. About 96% of all participants never make it past the first round though, which is kind of rough. There is no such thing as going easy on customers in the league. Once you're in, you better have what it takes and give it all you've got."

"What about the other rules?"

Ryan answered Jane swiftly. "Obviously as in any other battle, the use of dark magic is strictly forbidden. If that happens during a championship battle, the participant is automatically disqualified. Sometimes people try to use unusual spells to mask trying to make dark magic work, but as the scenes are recorded and transmitted to security teams, every single magical ability is fact-checked for clarity and assurance. And of course, things like symbols from marked ones are not allowed to fight either. I don't think we've ever had one make it in though. With tattoos on people's body, it's hard to miss during the screening process."

"I don't know about this."

"It's easy," Ryan assured. "All you have to do is arrive to Eldora Tower early. Registration is on the first floor, and all you have to do is give them your name and a valid license to prove you at least have some experience. We don't accept people with only basic Leray training. They have to be past level two on the card."

"What a relief," Jane sighed. She had level three experience validated by her last teacher Claudia. The validation process may not have been entirely legal, but it was still official for her now. How wonderful it is that Claudia's idea turned out to have a purpose! But did she know about that ahead of time? "It's sounds easier than I made it out to be."

"Indeed," Ryan agreed. "But of course, you should also be prepared to fight as well. You're not allowed to carry in your own items to the battles. Healing orbs are provided to both parties for no charge before and after each battle to make sure everyone has a fair chance at full health and magical capacity. If you aren't prepared as far as your experience is concerned, you're wasting your time."

"I have a question," Danny stated. "How does the money thing work? If people win a large amount of money after winning each battle, how do you guys not go bankrupt?"

"Curious, but spot on," Ryan judged. "Only participants can win credit spoils if they defeat elite members in the championship. The league members themselves don't win such spoils, as they are on a salary instead. The reward for each member is not decided by either participant. The values are fixed numbers that subject to change annually. When you fight the very first elite, we've made the reward in credits to a very low amount. People come here all the time hoping to score a lot of funds just by battling elites, not really aiming for the top, but that isn't what we are about. So to maintain the threshold, the first battle wins the participant hardly anything should they succeed. For the second battle and those after that, the value is raised dramatically, because then the person has at least shown some skill and proven that they are not just there for the money. At least I hope that would be the case."

"Well I don't care about that," Jane claimed. Letting in the burning sensation of how important this all is, Jane lifted her fist in concern of her own intention. "I'm here to defeat champion Danton himself. I don't care what stands in my way. I'll make it all the way to the top, and teach him something he has yet to learn."

To Jaz, the glimmer of excited determination in Jane's eyes was impossible to look away from. Her body was so tense when she spoke just now, she may as well be on fire! "Wow Jane! I've never seen someone so stoked to win all five battles. I hope you get to the top."

"Yes," Ryan followed. "Very interesting. You seem so sure of yourself that I'm convinced that you shall make it past the first round with little difficulty. Confidence is a good virtue Jane, but don't get too cocky. These people won't show any mercy... I think I will watch the battles tomorrow. I'll be looking out for Jane, in hopes that I get to see her dream come true. It's my dream to see someone such as yourself wipe that cocky smirk off of Danton's face. So don't let us down."

"N-no pressure, r-r-right?" Jane's heart was pounding from the earlier notion that the entire event would be televised. If she messes up and her symbol shows itself, the entire world will then know she is a marked one, and down she goes...

"No worries for me either," Ryan stated. "Some people actually take bets and run pools based on how long contestants last or what round they make it to. Sorry to say that I don't put money on unknowns."

"How wonderful." Jane's tone became entirely monotone and sarcastic at the thought. People might bet on her victory or loss, but then if her secret is discovered, all the more reason to spur panic and chaos among the area.

"You should finalize your training tonight if you are not too exhausted. Just make sure you don't arrive late tomorrow. It's first come first serve in that madhouse."

"Right." Jane thought of the list of spells she had left over from Claudia. Refusing to pull it out now, Jane simply remembered each name, as well as some unnamed abilities or skills that she modified and created herself in the hopes to actually surprise the Elite Five. Already fired up to train right now, Jane stood up from her seat. "I'll need some good space tonight for my training. Perhaps the park shall do nicely? Maybe they have some other abandoned place around here."

"You're leaving now?" Taylor freaked. "But you just got here!"

"I'm not hungry," she proclaimed. *Gurrrlllup!*

The bubbling sound in Jane's stomach brought everyone's attention on her. Jane quickly blushed by her own excitement while she held her stomach from the discomfort that hit there afterwards, and she sat back down in defeat. Taylor smirked at the entire reaction towards Jane, proving how ahead of herself she always gets. "Sure about that?"

"I guess I'll eat first just to be sure..."

Danny took satisfaction from how imminent they were from chomping down, but also remained aware of how excited Jane was just a second ago. There was really nothing else to compare it to, which was interesting. Jane never actually gets hyped up about anything in the world unless it has to do with Leray battling. It's truly amazing that she can still love magic so much after all the stuff it caused her so far. She'll probably choose to use magic over finding a man.

"Alright then," Ryan clapped. "What are we having?"

From that moment on, things rolled onwards smoothly. Jane and her friends had a very tasty meal, compliments all going to the chef with some extra tips for Jaz. After they finished, Jane announced her plans again to train tonight, but made sure that Danny and Taylor were totally aware that she was to train completely alone. Oddly to Jane, Danny also preferred to branch off and do something of which he had not declared details for. It's odd because for a cute couple such as Danny and Taylor, they should both want to spend the day together, not apart. Taylor wasn't thrilled about it either, but it was her problem now. Jane needed to be ready.

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Chapter Theme Shift: Leonidas Extended ~ Halo 2 OST

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After training later that day until dawn light, Jane completely exhausted herself moving around in the open space of the park in the short cut grass. Trying to master several skills on a list she had created earlier using the rest of Claudia's ideas given to her on a separate note, Jane managed to invoke each spell at least three times at her random pace of randomizing her training after mastering each ability. She attracted a lot of attention practicing in front of other people, but the park wasn't nearly as crowded as it was before. The entire city seemed less populated after three pm for whatever reason.

Jane had sweat rolling down her neck from her scalp, her hair all frizzed by the intense work out. Her breathing was fast paced with her body bobbing slightly to try and calm itself. Did I do enough? Is my new training adequate? Jane had to ponder the question in her mind. Not only did she learn several new Leray spells from the list she had, but she also got to test out and experiment with some of her original ideas using other previously used abilities. Other easier and more common abilities were of her concern as well. Jane made sure she first knew about the spells of Ice Blade, Thunder Flare, Water Blast, and Telepower. Ice Blade allowed Jane to get an edge in a physical elemental attack, and could also use it with more practice ahead to apply the element of ice onto her personal daggers. Otherwise, Ice Blade would cost more MP just to spawn the long blade itself. Learning Thunder Flare wasn't easy, but the ability is common too, and it gave Jane a good idea in combination with another specific attack sequence. While Telepower is its own dedicated Leray ability capable of using telekinetic forces and controlling separated auras, Jane also used that for inspiration of adding much more spice to her other skills. All of them would be very important for the fight ahead.

There were now several new things Jane would be capable of, all without relying too much on the symbol imbued on the top of her right hand. Since Jane was wearing one of her other dress spheres all day including the training, she was actually taking a risk with her entire arms and hands exposed to the environment. Symbols are only known to appear on the place of skin constantly. They are tattoos that never have the chance to hide anywhere. Jane's on the other hand goes completely invisible, yet remains partially active all the time with passive effects on her body. It's not something symbols are supposed to do. Even after researching for that info today, Jane found no correlative answer to anything remotely related to her situation in the archives. At least her training wasn't a total bust. The passive effects speeding up her ability to learn and master new spells was about as astonishing to Jane as it was previously. Somehow, she was strengthening her very connection with the Leray energy veil and that of her controllable spells moreover. Whether this was a symbol side effect, or simply the result of such long training - wasn't apparent to Jane in the moment. With the late dawn approaching, it would soon be time to head back to the hotel room.

Meanwhile, Danny's second attempt to search for clues at the library again ended as badly as they did last time. He nearly came close to slamming his fist on the keyboard in front of some of the people monitoring the civilians here, making sure they remain quiet and peaceful. With his body tense and his hands balled to fists, he quickly exhaled with a deep release of air, allowing him to calm down. There has to be more! Confidential or not, something has to trace back to Jane's hidden symbol. Danny was determined to find it, disregarding how slumped he felt after sitting down for too long.

7:15 PM. The clock on the computer's desktop reminded Danny how late the day was getting, but he refused to give up. Maybe adding very specific key words in the search box will help. It's possible that he simply never tried the right combination of key words to navigate to the target of information. It would be faster to go by the symptoms of Jane's symbol individually. Looking for a blast of light from the sky wouldn't be adequate, and may just attract attention to himself. Who knows if these searches are tracked?

Jane's symbol gives her increased magical energy points abbreviated as Magical Essence, or ME. It was one of the things Jane explained to himself and Taylor in Lennith City while they forced her to tell them the entire truth of what was going on. Increased ME means much more endurance for the amount of MP a person has while expending that in battle, and Jane's is supposed to be elevated. Only one thing that can do that. Danny ran two separate searches at once. One had the combination of "symbols" and "ME up," while the other search contained the root concept of "spell bombs." Results showed up related to spell bombs and symbols, but nothing at all hinted or pointed to either of which having any effect on the ME of a person. There was even part of a blog showing on the searched page, discussing in question the possibility that a spell bomb could raise a person's ME levels, with the replied answer saying that to be impossible.

With one combo ruined, Danny moved on. What other passive effects does Jane have with that thing in her hand? Quicker learning time for out of battle experience. Jane learns abilities so much faster than average now, which cannot be a coincidence. Jane even proved it to him and Taylor before the incident at Tilsit. After another search attempt of using the phrase "cognitive/learning enhancements," nothing was found at all. Only useless advertisements related to learning how to use spell bombs... Frustrated, he tried again. From the very beginning of having the symbol, Jane has always had a weaker defense with double the magical potential in her abilities. Before Lennith City though, Jane had no way to compensate for her defense, such as her modified power shield, which is why she lost the first four battles in the Gulop region. It's more commonly referred in this place as burst mode; the sacrifice of defense to boost offense in magic. Typing that in should get somewhere... Showing results for Amahar Spell bomb.

Danny growled under his teeth, wanting to rip his hair out! It was the same result he got earlier today while in this room. The Amahar spell bomb does have burst mode on it, but it is hardly the same thing Jane used the night she was branded. With another stressful sigh and a wipe to his left brow, Danny tried again. Maybe looking up a modified power shield in unison would be enough... Then again, since the only thing showing now is an ordinary power shield spell and its effects, it proved that learning a power shield had nothing to do with the symbol either. Jane must have been able to modify the thing because of all the newfound energy she has with that mark in her. Something! Something has to match! Symbols that randomly invoke themselves? Symbols that give off sharp pink glows when they are invoked? Why isn't there any information remotely related to this device? Danny shoved the keyboard away from him in frustration, immediately turning heads his way to figure out the cause of distress. Finally giving up, Danny let it simmer in his mind for a good minute or two before deciding to just give it up for tonight. While walking out towards the exit of the building, the doors opened with Taylor on the other end standing outside.

"You're still here?" Taylor had been searching for Danny after he left to research more on the city, but that happened two hours ago.

"I was just leaving," he replied prudently. Taylor didn't know what he was searching for here, and Danny didn't feel comfortable with Jane knowing that he was searching for answers, not if he couldn't at least bring something up that could possibly help Jane understand what happened to her that night. He soon forgot the reason why he was so intent on figuring it out for her, but it was already time to head back to the hotel, Taylor already waiting for him out front.

Taylor watched Danny walk out towards her, but he was a bit stiff, like something made him tenser than he normally is. Something must have upset him, though it didn't appear as if he was going to keep it on his mind with how quickly he changed the subject and his overall mood.

"Let's be getting back. Jane will be waiting for us."

"Find what you were looking for?" Taylor investigated. "You were in there for a long time."

"Must have fell asleep then," Danny curved. "It was really just boring, and I won't be doing that again. Anyway, you think Jane is done training?"

"That depends on whether she is back in the room or not. And she actually has the key card, so we'll know if we are locked out."

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Chapter Theme Shift: When I First Met You ~ V.A (DeVso)

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"What do you mean seven?!" Danny wanted to crumble the words Jane just spoke into pieces and sweep them under a rug. Nobody could look at them while arguing since they were back in the hotel suite. "It's too early considering what time we woke up today."

Jane argued back at Danny's refusal to cooperate. "Seven A.M. is the deadline to get in line for the championships tomorrow, and the battles begin at eight A.M. So we will be at the tower's registration by then." She made herself sound so firm. No way was Danny's laziness to sleep-in going to ruin her only chance. The longer she waits to invade the dark zone and take Brightworth hostage, the less time Lennith City has to live before being swallowed up by the growing field of Alpha Zero. "Go to sleep early if you're too worried about having trouble waking up tomorrow. If you refuse to wake up, I'll leave your ass right here in this room."

After some silence endured, Taylor was able to conclude that Jane's plan to wake up early next morning was set in stone. Normally it would make more sense just to register right now, but the office for that closes after eight P.M. for every day. Taylor used the moment to ask how things went. "How was your training out there? I don't know where you went to do all of that."

"I was in the park of course." Jane quickly recalled the progress of her training, knowing every new skill by heart. They should be easy enough to invoke tomorrow, but some of those skills would take more real use to train herself when to use them. This might be rough considering losing is not an option for her. "I got some basic new spells down that should help me out tomorrow, and I also managed to add on a few extra unusual ideas to my own style of attacks. At the very least, I'll surprise people in the battle of leagues. I think I learned about twelve?"

"Twelve new spells in just three hours?!"

"Six hours," Jane corrected for Taylor.

That's insane! Nobody is supposed to be capable of learning new Leray abilities that quickly no matter what! Even for a person such as Jane, that level of gained experience at that particular rate is beyond astonishing in comparison. It took Danny and Taylor an entire day just to learn Radial Stars. Back in the forest surrounding Fronas, Jane taught them a few elemental bolts, but they trained before learning the skills days earlier. Nobody was that fast at learning new abilities. Jane was certainly setting a new record! It might look too suspicious to the council to hand over a championship title to some young teenage girl who has only graduated from basic training for less than a couple of months' time. The champion probably graduated decades ago! "That symbol really works wonders, huh?"

"Mhm!" Jane clenched at the words. Taylor was absolutely right. The rate at which she learned those spells wasn't fair at all. Jane would have preferred learning the new abilities in about a year of time, even though she didn't have that much time right now due to the circumstances of Alpha Zero. Still, what's the fun in learning Leray magic when it can just be handed to her on a plate as easy as that? Such amazing and elegant magical skills, all given to her easily because of some stupid circular crest on her skin... It's just wrong!

"You-you okay?" Taylor nearly stuttered on her voice realizing that Jane had just cringed at something she said, but it wasn't very clear as to what. The sudden distress was in her eyes, though Jane faced away from them suddenly.

Jane turned around, silently pondering her thoughts further. It's not just the abilities themselves, but the entire principle of batting too. Jane's power shield was barely considered fair even though it compensates for her terrible defense. Her very skill level from her elevated ME numbers were beyond normal even for the best of the best. Jane was basically cheating in every battle she ever had, even in battles where her symbol didn't activate itself in the middle. It's cheating because even with the symbol dormant in a battle, its passive effects alone are still amazing. Jane has unfair advantages and incredible regeneration on her MP due to the changes. Defeating the champion will all be in vain. It won't be a fair fight, so neither will the win. The very quest of becoming a Leray master will forever be tainted... Jane began trembling, hating every word in her mind. No! I mustn't think like that! I'm not doing this for me, I'm just trying to save Lennith. After that, the army can have me. Maybe they have a way to remove symbols after all, but there is only one way to find out...

"Jane?" Danny called. Jane didn't turn around or address him yet, not for a long time that passed endlessly. Danny gritted his teeth and shut his eyes in empathy. The way Jane feels right now, it's just too obvious not to see. She really hates that symbol under her hand. From the very first day she got the thing, all she's ever done was criticize her new abilities and run away to try and remove the tattoo. Danny wished he could just walk right over and rip the ink right off her hand!

Danny knew from the beginning of Jane's behavior that the symbol and its effect of the spell bomb had Jane all messed up. She has never truly been herself ever since it happened. The symbol blasted her from the sky with painful bursts of energy, then it made her sick. Then it messed with Jane's own Leray battling parameters, something she had previously calibrated so well, teasing her very fate and dream away from a feasible view. Jane hated that symbol for sure. It made her lie to her friends out of fear they would judge her for having it. It put her in impossible choices since it is illegal to have a mark in the first place. Jane even tried to run all the way into the deadly dark zone itself and talk to a national criminal just to have the thing removed, and even now, just with the only intension being to save Lennith City, Jane still obviously doesn't tolerate that thing inside of her. Even now, she might be plotting to capture Brightworth and let him go for leverage on possibly removing the same crest...

It just isn't fair! Danny wanted to say that aloud, but found the words hard to get out. Jane deserves to at least be herself. She hasn't been able to ever since this incident happened. Jane has only been able to have concerns about removing the symbol or saving Lennith City from destruction. She can't focus on the things she wants to anymore. How could Jane have such focus? Right now, she plans to take on the entire elite squadron of league warriors, champions of magic no less, and yet, she has to use forbidden techniques just to do it. Jane isn't fulfilling her wish to become a Leray master, and she isn't going to have much fun trying to compete with such a burden on her mind. She probably won't even count the win in her head after it is all over... But that still doesn't mean it is hopeless. Maybe Brightworth is capable of removing symbols after all. If that is true, then this plan may in fact work out to benefit everyone. If they can capture Brightworth, they can also make him do his magic to reverse this cursed spell on Jane. She needs to know that. "Jane," Danny repeated again. "Don't give up on hope. There is a way to get everything back to normal. Please believe in that."

Taylor shifted her head towards Danny and Jane nervously. She missed something, but Danny was suddenly tense and emotional. "What's going on?"

Figures she didn't understand it; Danny had a feeling Taylor wasn't paying attention. Jane had become worse ever since arriving in Eldora City, and he at least knew why after tonight. Without the ability to follow her dream and her own heart, how can Jane actually be her old normal self? Without that symbol, everything would have been better for all of them. Jane would have been the Jane they once knew, always the excited energetic girl who would never stop training for greatness. Now that training has been tainted for her, who knows what kind of dark thoughts are running in her head? "You aren't going to end up with that thing in your skin forever. I promise!"

Jane couldn't believe it! Danny was suddenly so understanding, like he just read everything on her mind in a single instant. Did he even know about how much will be ruined with this symbol inside of her? Did he really have a way or plan to remove this thing once and for all? Or was he simply trying to keep her spirits up? Jane knew it would have been impolite to ignore him after he tried so hard to feel the same struggle Jane was going through. Jane turned around to face them again. Taylor seemed a bit confused, but Jane only needed one of them to understand, and right now Danny was in line. "Thank you, both of you. I never asked for you to help me with such a serious problem before, and yet you keep volunteering to try and make this okay." With a quick exhale, Jane felt better that her friends cared about her so much, even if they had such little of a solution to offer. "You've both been with me since I started my journey, never trying to leave my side no matter how obnoxious I've become over this. Neither one of you actually belong on this continent. I'm so amazed that you both can be at so much peace being here in a world so alien to you, going through such terrifying lengths to try and help me."

Taylor still didn't get why Jane was being so sentimental all of the sudden, but she did feel as if it had something to do with how nervous she was becoming with tomorrow's battles. She already had one thing wrong about the reason for their stay. "You're wrong about one thing Jane."

"Hm?"

Taylor repeated her thought to full explanation. "We didn't stay here because we thought magic was cool or because we had problems finding a way out. Right Danny?"

It was only half-true, even though Danny nodded yes to allow Taylor to continue. He and she both planned on splitting away from Jane after reaching the Junon airport. Jane was simply their only best method to get them there, since the place was literally in her travel plans, but that plan fell apart after Taylor let the truth rip out to him, since Jane was expected to take the longest time to travel.

Taylor continued while letting Danny hear it all as well. "We were both terrified of Leray magic after learning about it, but you were the only one in Fronas capable of making it all okay. I fell in love with your spirit, your very determination to fulfill something you've always wanted to do. Even I believed that it was destined to happen no matter what. That's why we became friends to begin with, isn't it?"

Jane was too amazed right now to respond. How did she forget to consider this before? Did Danny and Taylor really stay to help Jane because they just wanted to spend more time with her that much? No, such people couldn't go through great lengths for that simplicity!

"We went by your example because it felt good to do it. Even if we don't find Leray battles as fascinating as you do, the thought of following your heart wherever it takes you is just too intense to get away from. We trained with you because of that reason. We followed you out of your home town so that Danny and I could find ourselves using you as a guide post."

Danny was feeling lightheaded too. Taylor failed to sense Jane's concern for her symbol, so how in the world did she suddenly become so poetic and cognizant about the three of them? Danny was hearing things he didn't even consider until now.

Taylor continued until her mind stopped racing to convince Jane of the real truth. "Even after everything that's happened, I'm not going to let you think for a second that your own desire was just a distasteful lie. You might feel different from before because of the stress of things that has happened, but that doesn't mean that you've changed. I want the same person that we met in Fronas to still be with us now, as excited and as happy as she has ever been before. Without you, there would be no business for us in Sprawn Valley. You're the reason we don't want to leave! The crash that left us on the outskirt islands around Fronas was not an accident. It was fate bringing us all together. Nothing that happened to any of us was a mistake!"

Danny could swear at least that falling off the Tidal Max to nearly drown in the ocean wasn't part of the plan, and that it defiantly did not happen on purpose... Still, after weighting the possibility of never discovering this world, he knew it was better this way.

Jane felt awkward by how long Taylor could continue going on, but she hung on every single word. Danny was slightly bobbing in response to agree with the speech. So he felt this way too? Of all the things these two could turn into... There was a reason Taylor was spouting all of this. She and Danny are not ordinary people from the outside, not anymore they aren't. That's what Taylor is getting upset about. She doesn't want to leave Jane. Sprawn Valley and magic itself means much less to either of them without Jane being here in their presence. With a single moment of silence indicating that Taylor was done, left by her loud breathing for air, Jane had more to read from her fast-paced speech. Nothing done here was ever a mistake or an accident... What did she mean? Danny was giving her reasons to never give up in her dream, and Taylor was yelling at her passionately about making things work with everything she has, despite the circumstances...

It was hard to make sense of it, but Jane felt as if she had at least one epiphany. The way things are going might not be what she wants them to be, but there is a reason she pushed herself to this city to begin with. There is a reason her own cursed symbol had some good in it after all. The amount of times that symbol has saved her life, and more importantly the lives of her best friends... It was also going to give her the ability to fight in the dark zone to reach Brightworth in the first place. It's not just about the symbol anymore, nor was it ever. This fight is about everything. Jane was doing this to save the people in Sprawn Valley from the chaos being caused by the dark zone. She is still fighting for her future no matter how indirect it may be, and the only reason for doing that is because this is the right thing to do. Even if the experience isn't the same on a physical level, the scale can be proportionate. There are things Jane can do that others can't, things that are in the name of good. With her only two friends in the world here to support her, here to tell her that the path she is on now is the correct one, how bad can this plan really be? After all they've done for her, why now would they let her down with anything?

Danny couldn't read Jane just now, but he felt she was upset by how stressful Taylor was being on her. "Jane," he tested.

With just a few more seconds of thought, Jane nodded her head as if to snap out of some trance, and hunched her limbs closer to her body with a slight tremble. "I'm so sorry!"

"Sorry about what?" Danny didn't get much of an answer when Jane began to slowly break down into tears while standing up. Before he could react to it, Taylor stepped closer and hugged Jane in her embrace. Now Jane was crying on Taylor's shoulder, either upset by what Taylor said, or upset at herself for not realizing it sooner.

"I wasn't trying to sound so stiff," Taylor apologized.

"No, I'm the one who messed up." Jane's voice was totally muffled into Taylor's dress, who was okay with Jane's tears disrupting the new fabric. Why does it have to be this way? Why? "I haven't put any faith in what I wanted to do. And worse, I didn't put enough faith in either of you! This is all my fault."

Taylor lifted Jane up to a more eye level height while getting her face off of her shoulder, but she was hard to look at with such watery eyes and a fully red face of despair. The sight made Taylor feel the need to cry in empathy. Taylor held Jane by both shoulders, certain of herself. "Nothing is anybody's fault. You're going to win that tournament tomorrow. It won't make you become a Leray master, but you'll help save people for doing it, something that only you can do right now, and we aren't just going to sit here and watch. Once we've all taken care of the Alpha Zero together, we'll also figure out what to do about that symbol too, as a team. Danny and I won't let you go through this alone, never will we do that."

"What about you?" Jane begged.

Replying immediately to her understood words, Taylor instructed, "Let me worry about my future and Danny worry about his. We both actually don't know what we want in life yet, but if we think we need help, I won't be shy to ask you about it. I want you to keep doing what you planned for all of us, and know that we have your back."

Taylor understood this after all, and how lame had he been to think that she wasn't paying attention? Danny knew this was right. Whether his parents hunt him down or not, Jane is the priority. Is it because she is inspiring, or hot headed? Those are just traits, for better or for worse. But the moment he and Taylor laid eyes on this energetic woman, they've been branded best friends ever since, and right now, Jane needs all the help she can get. If that means endangering his own life and getting completely involved in Leray magic to do just that, so be it! It wouldn't be right to leave things the way they are now. Jane doesn't ever have to ask for help! This is the true meaning of friendship. "That's right," Danny flexed. "It'll all work out in the end. If it looks like it won't, then we'll have to change that ourselves. One way or another Jane, we are both going to make sure you come out of this alive and happy again. That's what friends do for each other."

Danny pondered how long Jane has stopped herself from crying over this, unable to imagine just how scary this has been for her, becoming marked, having her dreams transform to nightmares. If it were him instead of Jane, he too would beg for help from anybody nearby. Helping Jane is a minimal requirement!

Jane stepped back a little to make it easier to look up at Taylor. Jane's eyes burned from the tears while her lids became dry with the evaporating fluid. Somehow after everything that happened today, this felt so much better, so much freer. Even though Jane hated to cry or breakdown in front of anyone, she felt so liberated, and all for this one quest. Battling the championship for honor will just have to wait. Fighting to protect the safety of this world and her friends in that process is next in line. If it works, someone might actually think to help her with the symbol problem rather than judge her for it. The reason for fighting Danton has now become as clear as day. With Danny and Taylor on her team, how could any of this go wrong?

"I'll set up our things," Danny decided. It looked as if Jane was going to be spacy for a while. Why did she let all of that stress and confusion build up in the first place? Wasn't she aware of their faith in each other from before? It sure wasn't normal to see Jane like this with so much pressure on her at the same time. All of this just because of some stupid symbol! So much has happened over the challenging days. Even if she is broken, lying, afraid, or completely insane, Jane Venn is still his friend. Right now, she is only trying to do the right thing. It's no wonder why she isn't the same... But then maybe she is.

You can still be the same person, but appear so different when totally depressed or defeated. Without a shred of hope for her future, that would destroy anyone including Jane Venn. However, if this is finally Jane being her real self, the same person she has always been since the beginning of their friendship, Danny knew everything would become better in time. She has to have grown in all of that duration even with this hardship. Danny could feel that he too wasn't entirely the same person as before coming here. Being careful and thinking on things longer, that is his growth. Taylor seems to be brave these days too, but Jane, she is different and the same in hundreds of ways. This is still Jane, the same person as before. She just needs to pull through this one mission. The lingering thought of heading to the airport and going home had long since been defeated. His family will just have to sit this one out.

"Come on," Taylor supported. "We can't go to the tower unprepared. Want to pick out a good dress sphere for tomorrow?"

Jane was stumped. She didn't buy herself a new dress sphere today for several reasons, most of which were financial. Besides, the black and blue suit from Lennith's training academy is still actually the only thing in her supply sphere that can provide adequate protection and defense along with some supportive agility. Wouldn't an actual dress or skirt just slow her down?

"Of course you do," Taylor assumed. She grabbed Jane by the hand and pulled her towards the bathroom where she left some of her other decorative supplies. "Come on, I've got some ideas." Leaving Danny to loaf on his bed with the television on to be the only method of entertainment preluding his sleep, Taylor decided to stay up a little later to make her previous statements last forever. Danny on the other hand wasn't paying full attention to the screen anymore, aside from Taylor's knowledge. Whatever Taylor was up to in there, it could only be something wonderful.