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<01/18/1972 – 13:00 | Monoc Port, Junon Region, Sprawn Valley>

Jane woke from her rest as easy as ever, but the unfamiliar surroundings of the Monoc Inn reminded her all of what transpired last night. The absence of Danny and Taylor never seemed as quiet as this moment was now, the solitude growing from before. The thought of returning to Tilsit and asking for help occurred, but she quickly reminded herself what else was at stake. Jane had some doubts about whether heading all the way to the Den of Purity all by herself was the right idea, but it was still her number one option. They may hate her now for trying to go in alone, but they'll likely hate her even more if she doesn't fix herself.

After eating breakfast alone in silence, Jane had time to plan out her day. She first needed to do some more exploring of this town, and check out the Leray shop here. Trouble is, she has no more credits to spend, not even just a tiny amount. It wouldn't be possible to buy anything without money. Getting a job and working here would take far too long for her as well. As of having no current solution to that fact, the depression sank in further. The dream of becoming a Leray master seemed to drift further and further away with each passing moment.

Being poor wasn't enough to keep her out of the store. There was a grocer, a normal clothing shop, and then the Leray store all close by each other in the middle of the town just east of the docks.

Jane first had to check out the situation by the pier. She didn't get too close, afraid to speak to Dennis or the others she met last night. It was better not to associate with anyone here right now, and all she was curious about is what happened with that broken down metal raft. They must have cleared it away by now, or at the very least pulled it out from the water. Their many voices could be heard from afar; somebody was giving loud orders just to keep everything on track, and despite being outside right now, Jane found the traffic of other people here less dense than before. Monoc Port isn't a very big place after all, and the houses all reside on a northern plateau from the central area in town, a few other houses to the south. The layout seemed more random in this regard.

Sentiment Romechest; this is the name of the Leray shop in Monoc town. All of them have that trademark prefix before the individual names. A store that starts with the word Sentiment is directly linked to or deals with Leray related wares. At first glance, it was very similar to the store layout in Blue Port Town as Jane remembered, but after opening the automatic doors to the interior, the design further surprised her. The decorations everywhere were so eye awing. Every shelf, corner, wall, and ceiling had beautiful wall paper paintings attached. Vases full of rare flowers rested on the counter tops, as long strings of jewelry hung from their overhead shelter tops. For a Leray store the same size as a small kind, it was impressively designed and decorated. If they had the money for this, than their items here can't be all that cheap.

Jane ignored the thought of prices as she slowly waltzed inside. Taking in the sights all around the store, Jane quickly found where they keep the weapons and armor cache. They display items that are available are shown as antiques, storing the real materials in the basement of the shop, but Jane knew she needed something strong, something as tough as an armored shell. She was running low on her med kit orbs. Taylor had been using hers on Jane, but then Jane would give one back to Taylor in return. If Route 96 is like they say it is, it will be fight after fight, and for Jane, everyone would have an unfair advantage over her; that is unless she could find some way to negate the issue... Defense! Jane needed defense!

The corsets and suits were right in front of her now, but something further on the left stood out over the others. A golden price plate decorated the top of the display case, but the suit itself was highly unique. Jane had only heard of these before, sold in some of the most expensive shops in Sprawn Valley. The armor was entirely made out of chrome colored metal, shining through the glass as if it were the real thing right here. Jane read the information below, showing all of the special damage resistance stats for this particular piece of equipment.

Warmonger Armament Mark 2 | Resist Fire +50% | Resist Cold +39% | Resist Electrical -40% | Resist Wind +80% | Resist Piercing +67% | Resist Slashing +80% | Resist Blunting +15% | Speed -30% | Damage Eater

The stats were highly impressive. Though wearing all of that metallic bulk would indefinitely slow a person down, it seems to resist nearly everything, except for blunt damage and electrical damage. Jane couldn't take her eyes off of the armor set. It comes with armlets and leggings too, not just the vest itself. Still, there were two major factors wrong with this set up.

The first was an added effect to the armor known as Damage Eater. In Leray magical language, this means that over time, the damage absorbed by this armor ends up hurting the outfit itself. If one were to wear this armor out in the field and take extensive damage, their metal suit would chip and crack away slowly over time, or quickly if the battle gets intense. Instead of having an unlimited durability as with most dress spheres, any armor with the Damage Eater status will degrade over time to all natural elements of damage. It's a waste of money should one buy this and lose it to damage in a battle.

Speaking of money, the price tag seemed to be the second problem. It was way out of Jane's price range. Technically, everything is out of her price range right now, but the golden plate with the price was the indication that they were not putting this item on clearance today. 7700 Credits! Jane wouldn't have had that much even if her battles were successful earlier. It was a total outrage! Her only best defense to make it past Route 96 was far out of reach, and there was no way they would lower the price any further. 7700 isn't actually that bad for this piece of armor. If without the Damage Eater status effect, it would cost ten times as much.

Jane was already upset and ready to leave the store, but then she spotted something else in the corner, a new pair of sharpened daggers. They were priced at 1200 credits, and with good reason. These daggers were bigger than the cheap ones Jane was carrying around all this time. Aside from a larger size set, their magical properties were enhanced, and so was the damage level of the device. Specially crafted during direct infusion of Leray magic under a full moon with an electrolytic charge in each blade, the Rigel Runes will leave no man standing. It would be a dream to have these!

Rigel Runes | Slashing Damage Level: 9 | Piercing Damage Level: 5 | Spirit Damage +5% | MP +10% | Magical Damage +30%

The stats were impressive too, but that was nothing compared to their special effects. The Rigel Runes are infused with special crystal stones that allow the blades to glow in colors of magical auras. Red auras deepen the damage, while green auras deepen a user's speed. In other words, the daggers glow colors while in use, but just in the slightest luminosity level, and only at the very edge of each blade outline.

Jane backed away with a frown. She could never afford these, and they won't just let her walk away with them for free. The properties of those items would last for a long time, the daggers especially fitting Jane's style. All she could do here is stand and stare at her next dream. Becoming a Leray master doesn't even look easy when things are going well. Jane never wanted this to be easy though. This spell cursing her endurance still tugged at her conscious, the nasty dread of never being strong anymore. Jane became haunted by the very idea, shaking it away in determination with her earlier plan. All she needs to do is reverse the spell. The Den of Purity can do just that.

Defeated by the lack of funds, Jane walked out of the store, the cold breeze brushing her skin once more. The storm that threatened this land yesterday had ended dry. The sun was beaming down from above, but it actually did little this time to warm the place back up; it was still technically winter after all. At any moment, it could go from cold to below freezing; that is if the chilly winds kept blowing around like they were now.

Jane wanted more time to think, and she began by pacing back to the boat she came here on. The docks didn't deny people from walking their grounds. The guards only raise such concerns at night, to deter smugglers and thieves. So long as people don't disturb the activities of the inspection teams, the docks are open to the public during daytime. The Bunker House on Monoc Port functions as another form of a light house, only one that is not so tall. It didn't stand out except during the night, and even then it was no extraordinary light house.

The memories of yesterday flooded Jane's mind as she continued walking down the docks. There wasn't any reason why she wanted to return to her boat. It wasn't even hers, and it was still unusable for now, but it was all she had, the scrap metal and whatever was left in her supply sphere. As she made it to the end of the pier, the small pathetic excuse for a family-sized sea raft sat upright on one of the sectioned spots of the wooden deck. They did take it out of the water, but haven't decided what to do with it yet. They're probably trying to identify the owner, though with little luck since the thing has no official ID on the device. The navigation system may have held some of those details, but it was beyond fried anyway. Jane carefully stepped into the vessel, sitting down on its metal floor as she continued to think about what her next move would be.

As the time passed on, it didn't get any easier. Jane simply let herself get distracted by the environment around her. The docks here were not very busy. Even so, two small ships were sailing out to the ocean. One of them had two entire families on board, likely heading back to Tilsit Port. The other boat was bigger, holding only workers of what Jane didn't know of. They looked like fishermen, heading out to catch more food for the town.

Jane returned her attention to the family sized ship. If she ever needed to get back to Tilsit Port and find her friends, this would be her quickest chance... Her heart began racing, and she paced the same thought in her mind. Jane couldn't move, or rather she still didn't want to go back there, not now. Not like this! After breathing quickly from the near onset of a panic attack, Jane managed to calm herself down with a decision.

Stick to the plan. Jane had been telling herself this all day, but she couldn't shake this feeling of being helpless. It wasn't just from yesterday. First, she lost that battle against Jack in Blue Port Town. Then another fight against Selina in Gross City, while being filmed on live television. Then some rookie pulls out area attack spells on the beach and defeats Jane there as well. It isn't fair! Haley could not have been that strong if she was really telling the truth. Not just anybody can use the spell Mega-Flare; it's one of the second most powerful abilities ever to be studied in all of Leray magic, the first of course being the spell known as Photon Blast.

The thought of spells and skills returned to Jane again. She still needed to improve. There were various abilities that Jane still didn't already know, and there were even some abilities she had been practicing on to make work. So far, the existing skillset plan wasn't in her favor anymore. "But that stops today." Jane stood up, trying her best to psych herself up for one of the most intense training sessions she will ever have in all her life. Everything changes today.

In her haste to get up, Jane's foot got caught on a handle for one of the bottom hatches underneath. She nearly tripped, but caught herself just before it happened. Jane hunched over, squatting down to check out what snagged her shoe. After getting her foot out of the handle of the lower storage hatch, Jane realized it was unlocked, based on the fact that her force alone slid the lid partway open. The entire time since she departed from Tilsit, the storage hatch had not been locked, even though that was standard protocol for these things. She pulled on the handle, upwards to lift the cap of the hatch off completely. There was something inside, but only one item.

It's a Leray license! No wait. Jane studied the card closer, and realized that it just looks like a Leray license. Fredric Spence. It's a license that belongs to some guy, but it's the license needed to be allowed to maintain vehicles for the ocean. The mechanic for this boat must have left it behind by mistake. Of course now it was further out of reach. Jane's eyes widened at glance for the fund mapping. The card shows the amount of credits available on the card, just like a Leray license does. This guy was packing on 15,600 credits on one card. All of that money - just left out here.

Jane looked around for any one of the workers. She had to help turn this thing in. The boats departing out have already left, and there was nobody in visual sight right now. Jane knew she could find someone further away though. As she stood up to turn in the missing license, Jane froze.

Fifteen thousand credits! The armor was 7700 and the daggers were 1200. With that much money, and the means to cruise right past 96...

Jane shook her head extensively. "What am I thinking? I can't just steal a guy's money to help myself." Jane knew that this was wrong, it was stealing of financial buildup, but the thought of the imagined trip to Lennith City without an item of maintenance bugged her mind once more. It would be physically impossible. Jane would lose every battle at every corner. Getting knocked out like that over and over, it wasn't something she could just face. This mercenary outfit isn't terrible for her battle apparel, but it won't be enough to ward off damage.

On second thought, there really is no other way to get into Lennith like this. Even with that awesome armor and weapon in tow, Jane knew that training like before was an absolute must. It has to be done, and that means loads of credits. Jane stared at the card again, pulling out her own Leray license to compare them side by side. Taking any amount of money was just plain wrong, but it would be even worse to suck the card dry of all funds. Jane needed only about half of the credits stored on here. Even then, if all goes well in the future, she could track this guy down and pay him back.

Jane closed her eyes and shook her head. It was most shameful that she was able to justify stealing money just to reverse her cursed spell. It goes against everything she has been taught, but this curse will only make things far worse for her in the future. Jane could only balance and compare each of her own feelings of guilt for one situation over another, her heart racing in the panic that she knew was wrong. Still... The option is here; she could steal and leave, or head back to Tilsit Port and abandon her dream of becoming a Leray master forever. Regardless, a choice had to be made right now while nobody was watching. Jane confirmed it in her mind, then glanced over all of her surroundings to make sure nobody was present to see her.

Jane then held each license card up together side by side. Once the cards synchronized with each other, small holographic buttons appeared at the top corners of each of them. All of them were green plus signs left to right, with red transference signs below them. The way it works is that Jane needs to press the plus sign over and over with her finger, transferring the credits from the unknown card to her own License. She began with the fourth plus sign from the far right, adding a thousand credits each press. Then she moved on to the third plus sign in the middle, pressing it on her card numerous times. After it was done, Jane had transferred 8900 credits onto her license, draining that much from the other card. The unknown license card now had only 6700 credits left. Jane left it at that amount. At least this way she could still turn it in, and the receiver will still have some money left over. Normally, this kind of transfer would be blocked without the consent of both users, but this functionality only works if the cards are both locked to begin with. Leray wielder licenses are locked by default, but this fisherman must keep his unlocked since his job deals in a lot of trading frequently.

Jane sighed heavily. The guilt will be something she would have to face later. The choice has already been made. After she unsynchronized the cards, the tiny holographic buttons faded away. The transfer would become virtually untraceable. Besides the locks on cards, there still isn't all that much financial security built into license cards should they end up in another person's hands. That's why losing an unlocked license would be very bad. Anybody could just walk up and steal someone's card if they're unconscious and alone. Others prefer to install tracking devices to their licenses, and some people prefer to obtain multiple licenses, storing funds equally among multiple cards. There wasn't much out there to prevent physical theft of licenses. That's why it's important not to lose one. The owner would be wanting this back for sure, even if it had been drained of half its funds.

Jane found the crew at the other end of the docks to turn in the missing license she had just discovered. She couldn't bring herself to share with the man that she took money off the card, for any reason at all. The guy was surprised though. Not many people turn in lost licenses with that much money still on them. Jane knew she was only doing this much to keep the suspicion of theft off of her, since her name is linked to this raft already. The worker on staff made his promise to contact the personnel on the beach and track down the man who lost his card.

Jane then left the port to do as she chose to do earlier. It's time to head back to Sentiment Romechest and get that armor. There is no other way to boost a failing defense, not like a thick coat of metal. After turning that card in, it's too late to turn back and come clean.

Now with 8900 credits on her card, Jane entered the building, heading straight for the section she was at earlier. She could not merely pick up the armor or the daggers from where they rested, as they weren't the real products anyway. Jane would need to add in the item number to her list at the register, but there was one more hunk she needed to add to her cart. Healing Orbs. Jane was down to the very last one. Six more of them should do the trick for now. They weren't that expensive here, only adding up to 95 credits for six. Though they were the generic version too, healing people at slower rates than normally. Jane didn't care about rates. Her funds were still about 100 credits short.

After adding six healing orbs into her bag, Jane headed for the register. There were two people working there, but the other woman was busy with a customer on the other end. The male worker had to help Jane out.

"Good day," he greeted. The man opened up the bag that Jane set on the counter, counting the orbs and checking the types. He confirmed the total payout rather quickly. "Okay, that will be 95."

Jane wasn't finished just yet. She had a sheet of paper where she wrote down the item number of her armor and daggers she wanted to get. "I still want to get two more things. Armaments." Jane held the paper up to the guy.

He took the note and read the number ids to himself. In most Leray stores, workers have to remember prices and item ids for everything. It can be a pain sometimes, but it wasn't anything this man couldn't handle. "I see. You want the heavy armor and Rigel daggers. I'll go and get them for you. It will ring up for a total of eight thousand nine hundred ninety-five."

Jane opened her mouth to try and talk that price down just a smidge, but the man already left to obtain the items from storage. Jane knew that it wasn't easy to try and bargain stores down for prices, but it did happen sometimes. Since Jane only needed to go down on the armor by 100 credits, she knew it wouldn't be all that hard.

The clerk came back with two large sealed boxes, drawing attention to himself and his customer. Large armor and big weapons are specialty items, so it's rare to have them in stock, just as it is to have a customer who can afford such equipment. "Here we are."

Jane hunched over the counter slightly, trying not to speak too loudly. "Say, you think I can get a onetime discount?"

The clerk folded his arms across his chest and tilted his head slightly, carrying an expression of disgust. "And why would I do that?"

Already did she realize this wasn't going to be an easy matter. Jane pointed to the larger box with the armor contained inside of it as she replied. "I only need a hundred down on the armor. I need it to get to Lennith City."

The guy raised his voice slightly, indicating that he was just making small talk with Jane. "Ah. Lennith City huh? You must be planning to cruise right through 96, right?"

"Uh huh!" Jane did her best to smile, showing her teeth and excitement. Maybe if he thinks she is cute enough, this will work.

Who does this student think she is, asking for bargains in a small store? "It's a big deal for one route, though I guess you already know that. I must remind you that all sales are final, and that we are not responsible for the loss or theft of this property after it leaves this store." If she really wants to talk him into a discount, there will not be any warranties for such items. Being short only 100 credits was no big deal to the report, and with a smile like that... He glanced down at the box again. "And this particular unit has something known as damage eater."

"I know all about that," Jane claimed. Her armor would fall apart the more damage she took in a long period of time. Though at the same time, it would protect her well as long as she is on Route 96.

The man gave Jane one more serious look. Jane couldn't tell what he was thinking anymore. After a long awkward stare, he perked up and announced, "That will be Eight thousand eight hundred ninety-five ma'am."

Jane accepted the offer, giving her Leray license to him to transfer the credits. Jane suddenly noticed the people looking at her. They weren't supposed to overhear anything about lowering the price just this once. It's a bargaining rule not to let anyone overhear that one customer can get a special deal over a product. Perhaps the shoppers were more shocked at the price in general. It was a lot of credits in just one load. They must be thinking of how successful and powerful Jane is as a Leray wielder right now. If only they knew the truth.

"Here you go. Come back any time."

Jane took back her Leray license. She needed to read her remaining amount one more time. She already knew that this put her grand total amount to just five credits, but it was so hard to believe. Just a second ago, it was in the thousands. Now it was a single digit number. Jane picked up her boxes of stuff, and opened her supply sphere to store it inside. The boxes began glowing blue from the reaction, and thus turned into compressed blue mist as it flowed into the supply sphere itself. Jane then closed her sphere, put away her license, and left the store.

That was it; Jane had done it, spent all of that stolen money on things for herself. It was still wrong, but all purchases were final, so there was no turning back now. After all of that, there was no choice but to immediately get stronger and fly through Route 96.

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A lot of time passed after Jane bought her new equipment. The armor wasn't needed right now, so Jane stuck with the AHB mercenary outfit she still had on. It was cleaner than before after using the ocean's water to get all the sand off, but as her clothes dried, the stains of dust still burdened the outfit, voiding it of all shines and contrast. Jane instead focused on the bright side to her new knowledge of armor. The metal armor Jane purchased can legally be worn over her mercenary outfit. The effects of damage resistances don't stack the way most would think, but if anything happens to her armor, she still has her indestructible mercenary outfit to fall back on. All wielders wearing metal armor are supposed to have something on before that layer anyway, to avoid chafing. Plus, with armor using Damage Eater, wearing a dress sphere or a leather outfit was also more of a requirement, since the armor would eventually bust apart during enough time. It's one of the rare exceptions to Leray magical protection, armor that is infused with magic to block out damage, but takes damage as a result for not being indestructible.

Jane did however decide to bring out her new daggers. They were so awesome! Without even using them as weapons, they display a very faint yet visible glow around each of the edges. As she held them passively in her grasp, the color remained green. The aura color shifts to red when the holder goes into full physical attack mode, increasing the slashing damage even more. The auras are always active too, using their own power supply of spiritual energy, whatever that is supposed to mean. The size of the daggers was three times the size of her original pair. They were impressive in every single way possible, so Jane needed to train with these new daggers extensively.

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Chapter Theme Shift: The Seven Kin of Purgatory ~ Yasuharu Takanashi

Alternate Chapter Theme: Anea Landing ~ Ace Combat 6 OST

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It began after eating lunch at the medical facility. For most of the entire day, Jane spent hour after hour to develop all sorts of new skills. Some of these new abilities have been on her mind from the very beginning of her training; powers and abilities she had seen before and wanted to repeat for herself. However, she recently learned of other Leray powers from a stationary ability list. She picked out the ones she wanted to learn and went for them all day long.

In the long process of self-improvement, Jane learned that the people on Route 96 were no pushovers. They have abilities that also include ranged attacks, most specifically area attacks. Leray abilities can take many different attack forms, but the abilities that rank much higher on the power level usually have the form of an area attack. Area attacks are magical abilities that hit the entire field of battle instead of a single concentrated area. This way, the opponent has no chance of dodging the attack, while the high power level makes these spells devastating. Mega-Flare is a good example of an area attack. It cannot be dodged no matter what, and that makes it powerful. However, area attacks also have the tendency of draining an incredible amount of MP energy in the invocation. They have to be used in moderation, otherwise the user will run out of MP near the start of battle. To further add to the difficulty for the user, invoking higher power level spells also means longer invocation charge up time.

In trying to develop many counter-skills, Jane spent hours upon hours in that same spot, a bit away from town northeast in unused flat land, though still in plain sight from the central area and the exit to Route 96. She had created a long lasting Siriean dome around herself to protect the village from any potential accidents in her own training. Such a dome shield is possible to create for this specific purpose, though difficult to learn how to activate in itself. Jane had to be mindful too, since self-generated Siriean domes do not stop people from coming or leaving the shield. As soon as the sun was beginning to set, Jane reviewed all of her progress from the beginning.

It was nearly nightfall by the time Jane began to review her new powers. After nearly eight hours in the day, she had practiced vigorously all in the name of making it to the Den of Purity unhindered. While the eight hours of constant training wore her down, she managed a constant struggle of determination to continue going anyway. With every new spell she learned, Jane became more inclined to continue learning additional spells that were previously unusable to her list of available spells. Jane was quite surprised that she had so much success in such little time. Eight hours is usually enough to learn about four new spells or skills, but Jane had picked up on ten!

Jane wasn't too certain if her motivations were as she thought they were. As soon as the moon came out, all of Jane's thoughts fixated on the elements of the night itself, the power of the moon, and the pure energy flowing through her body throughout her continued training efforts. This mysterious otherworldly forced combined with her deepest determination, fixating her efforts while amplifying her addiction to this energy. The elements of the night light above and Jane's MP energy started to become one, until unleashing these powers was all Jane could think about.

While standing center in the dome, Jane continued cycling through her new abilities randomly, but in methods meant for gradual refinement. The people passing by outside were stopping momentarily to watch, curious about the nature of her training. With plenty of MP energy restored after a ten minute wait, Jane started with a new ability that she learned by herself.

"Knight Dance!" Jane began with a sharp inhale after her chant, and led her body into another familiar combination of close combat attack patterns, though her style this time was changed. Jane mixed up her speed and coordination with her punches and kicks, reducing the amount of times she randomly dodged imaginary attacks. There was no target in the ring with her; this was just practice. As Jane was punching and kicking into the open air, her fists and shoes lit up with a blue glow of auras evanescently. Jane then pulled out her new pair of daggers from the side pockets of her mercenary outfit, using them to slash into the air. Her daggers were glowing with a blue color as well, deviating from their normal faint aura. This was all happening because Jane was infusing magical energy into her close combat attacks, through every single hit. The energy stored in her hands, feet, and blades is used during impact, transfused by adding non-elemental magical damage to normal physical damage for that property.

Knight Dance is actually the name of an official skill, though its actual form and style deviate for each person, with a power level of five on average. Jane's close combat technique could now do much more damage with magical infusion boosting all of her power in the same form. Jane only let this magical energy flux at the end of every moment her fits, daggers, or kicks were about to hit the imaginary target she attacked; the glowing auras only appeared and faded shortly during the very moment the imaginary impact would occur. This conserved much more of her energy than it normally would in the official description of the ability, but it also made her combination a bit slower than average, since it required so such concentration. Even so, the combination ended up drawing away about seven percent MP energy after unleashing about ten hits.

Jane decided that her Knight Dance was well refined already. Now it was time to test the next one. Keeping her daggers out, Jane carefully aimed in front of her. Her attack would end up slamming into the edge of the dome shield, but it didn't matter in the end. This attack required a lot more time to master than she initially realized before. "Drilling Fate!" Jane threw her daggers outward in a cross formation after adding a spinning twisting motion with her arms. The throw caused her daggers to spin in the air while heading forward, but they were also rotating in horizontal circles too. After just another second, the MP energy stored into the blades was released, forcing the daggers to glow with a grey aura while forming a horizontal twister around the diameter of the rotations.

Drilling Fate is the name of this awesome spell. It allows Jane to combine a wind attack spell into a propelled projectile-like attack aura, increasing area of effectiveness by using a horizontal twister as a projectile. The daggers became engulfed in a shroud of visible wind that conned off to point in the travel direction in a horizontal manner, after which they slammed up against the shield ahead of them, canceling the rest of the attack, but Jane knew it was successful. That time it only drained five percent of her total MP amounts, despite the average usage reports. Somehow in her recent training, Jane had unknowingly reduced the magical cost of her usual spells including the new ones she was trying to master. She only took the details into her mind for consideration later, as there was much more work to be done.

Jane's daggers faded away and then reformed in her side pockets again. Leray magic attaches the main weapons to a character, allowing them to retrieve their weapons by matter transference after skills detach them from the owner. Jane slid out her blades again, preparing for her next ranged attack. The constant training was making her tired, but Jane's motivation was much greater than her current exhaustion, which allowed her to keep on going.

This time, the ability on her mind reminded Jane once again about the visuals, sensations, and properties of the full moon. In fact, the moon was already beginning to show itself again as the night drew even closer. Jane snapped out of her trance quickly before she was captivated in her thoughts again. This time, she came up with an ability all by herself. After thinking all this time about the moon in its fascinating details, such thoughts gave Jane a great idea for a small yet useful attack spell which used a similar energy formation. The damage potential is quite odd though. Despite dealing non-elemental magical damage, the power level that registers with the energy scope during invocation is quite high. But when the damage itself is measured in real time, the reduction potential is actually much lower. Jane didn't care to understand the difference, specifically because the spell looks cool and makes an amazing high-pitch beam sound during the cast through her blades. Additionally, Jane has only been able to make this work with the dagger tips as her instrument; nothing else would allow such invocation.

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Jane aimed the end of her daggers in front of her, charging MP energy into the very tips of the blade on the ends. "Mako Beam," she whispered. While thinking about the moonlight again, Jane had to focus on exactly what the ability looked like as it was happening. This allowed the power to fully take form, releasing the energy into the targeted location. The tips of Jane's daggers began to glow a bright blue, but just for a micro-second. After that, both of the tips shot some sort of beam of light of the same color in the direction Jane was aiming them, all in the same instance. The beam's diameter was no more than two inches wide, but in the process of using the power, the Mako Beams emanating from the tips of the blades disappeared after just third of a second later. Afterwards, Jane's suspicions about the consumption was confirmed. It only consumed five percent of her MP. As she planned the process in her own refinement, Jane's new ability was designed to use less of her own energy, but in return, the damage potential would likely be reduced at the same time. At the very least, this is what Jane was able to measure, since field-testing data was absent in this exercise. Still, evanescent beams such as those are hard to dodge, let alone anticipate. Jane knew it would serve her well in the end.

The attack was over so quickly, it was hard to believe the sequence was less than just a second of time. In battle, many experience a phenomena of time slowing down just a bit. The truth is, reflexes get boosted simply by the will power to win the battle and the slight adrenaline flowing though wielder, and that makes fighting a concentrated effort. Jane put her daggers away for now, she wouldn't need them for the next spell. After a short breath and a jog of her memory, Jane prepared for a strong release. She knew that this next one was harder to achieve, and though it didn't take her much time to perfect a spell she already knew how to use half-way, its damage dealing potential really puts stress on a person's MP levels.

"Crimson Flare!" Jane shouted. The fiery red glyphring formed around her arm as she aimed it outward again. After releasing all of that charged energy, Jane's glyphring summoned three large crimson spheres of fire and magical elemental magic. The spheres proceeded to float forward, but at a much slower pace than anything exciting. They also had different release angles, as is the original design of the spell itself. The center sphere heads straight. The right one heads northeast and the left one heads northwest in perspective to the user. All this accomplishes the creation of three spheres, forcing the opponent to dodge three large death balls instead of one. Moving out of the way left or right won't be an easy task if they rush it. The spheres all went on to hit the shield wall, but it took quite some time. Such an attack isn't that hard to evade with its low speed, though because of its higher MP consumption, the power level (damage potential) ranges much higher should it land.

Jane nodded her head. It was a good spell to learn for practice purposes, but horrible for something to rely on. Jane didn't let this disappoint her; after all she had learned in just today, there were plenty of more skills to check out. For the next one, Jane had to concentrate and try her best in order to master this spell. Her inspiration for the fiery attack came directly from her previous opponents who beat her with the same spell. Jane threw out her right arm again, forming the glyphring before needing to chant the name of the spell loudly. In between the ability usage, Jane was barely letting up at all, but this strategy seemed to decrease her average invocation time since she was coming up with it on the spot. "Triple Fire!" Jane's glyphring shot out a single Fire Bolt from the center, which quickly hit the edge of the wall to be absorbed by the energy in the protective shield. Jane needed an extra second to process. That wasn't right at all! Triple Fire shoots three Fire Bolts from the same glyphring, not just one.

Jane gasped in her reaction after her glyphring faded. She got the spell down just earlier, but she had a trick to making it work she forgot about. It required much more concentration, and was probably something that most wielders don't do for specific reasons. Needless to say, Jane was barely capable of invoking the spell in her last iteration. This time after forming the glyphring again, Jane chanted the name of the spell while reacting differently. "Tri-Fire!" With the appearance and formation of her fire glyphring, Jane released the first Fire Bolt, but her focus remained on her arm and energy usage. Instead of holding her arm still, she bent back her elbow, curving her arm to the side slightly without tilting or changing the angle of her open palm. This forced the second Fire Bolt through without conflict, but Jane had to bend her elbow the same way one more time, only in the other direction. It sort of looked as if her arm had become a cannon to shoot the Fire Bolts, her wrist swaying left and right from imaginary recoil - slightly backwards to launch the last two bolts of flaming energy. This time, it worked out perfectly. The three Fire Bolts had some distance between each other, though the overall aim wasn't exact to where the first impact occurred. It was a fresh new spell, so Jane figured it wasn't going to be perfect for a while.

Jane found herself panting already, but she wasn't done. Her MP levels were not far down just yet, and the next spell was something she had been working on all day. Whatever force holding her addiction on energy usage ensured Jane kept going despite her physical exhaustions. This time, Jane invoked Magical Blitz. She knew how to use this attack well before, but it was lacking in the speed and power needed to achieve hits and pressure. So this time, after invoking Magical Blitz to form solid blue spheres of plasmatic energy in both of her hands, Jane threw them with much more force than before.

This moment was only the first wave. Jane formed the third energy sphere in her right hand, tossed it up in the air in front of her, and then gave it a nice clean kick with the bottom of her right shoe. At the same time, Jane followed the flow of her body's curve, spinning herself all the way around. Before she slid on her feet to a full 360o spin, Jane formed the last energy ball into her left hand, throwing it after coming around again. Kicking the third energy sphere and putting the rotating force into the fourth energy ball's speed doubled their power and potential... There was one problem. At the last second, Jane could tell that the aim of the energy ball that she kicked was way off to the left, and the last one she threw was off to the right just slightly. The aiming problem could not be resolved as quickly, but this new method of using Magical Blitz was a thing Jane quickly became proud of anyway. If the aim were perfected, the overall spell cast would double her damage!

Jane gave herself a two second breather, using that time to think once more about the power of the moonlight. It wasn't perfectly visible overhead. This was all thanks to the everlasting orange glow of sun rays in the far distance. It wasn't fully night time yet, but the reliant ability might still work. It was something Jane worked really hard on, but she wasn't able to tell if it was battle-ready yet. This skill only works at night, and only outdoors as well. Such is the way of an environmental support spell.

"Moonglow!" This is an ability that takes a lot of time to invoke, even after charging and releasing the energy. For Jane, there was no exception to this charging time of five uninterrupted seconds, but it only cost seven percent of MP levels. The spell takes a much longer duration to implement that energy into the atmosphere above the user. This means, the duration happens after the energy is released from the user, not drained over a period of time. This way, the process isn't interrupted. Weather changing spells only change the weather for a specific radius, though it happens outside of the Siriean dome too. No such spell in the entire world has ever been capable of changing the time of day or warping time forwards or backwards. All of the weather spells can only affect weather and temperature within a full mile radius, while other support spells use such weather to pull specific effects from them.

Jane finally released all of her stored energy, waiting for the spell to take effect. Moonglow is supposed to be a conditional spell that changes the weather to clear if it is not already. Jane knew that everything was fine for now. The weather was already clear to begin with, which wasn't the point of the spell. The spell can also only be used at night, its effect designed to draw out the light of the moon and amplify its radiance and glow. Even if the moon's cycle is different, the spell will temporarily change that for the affected field to give the area the status and light of a full moon phase during night time.

It was a rather tranquil fifteen seconds before anything happened after the invocation. Finally, the moon that was already visible above began to gleam in a powerful radiant light, shining a crescent glow all over the place. It had already given off light before, but when Moonglow kicked in, the light provided by the casting beams of the glowing object intensified the field around her, including the area outside. People around were suddenly turning their heads up at the sky, amazed at how incredible the lunar light appeared before them. At least that ability works. In Moonglow alone, the spell doesn't really do anything for the user or the opponent. There are abilities designed in cooperation to chain more powerful spells, though it would require the successful use of two spells in a row. Moonglow is only the first stage.

Jane surrounded her entire body in a thin blue aura by the buildup of more magical energy. She then imagined the spell working as it should after chanting its name softly. "Moon Shadow." After using her energy, Jane's body began to glow more brightly in conjunction with the powerful glow of the moon above her, the coloration merging between the infinite spaces. After that, the visibility of her arms vanished before her eyes. Really it was her entire body that vanished. Moon Shadow is a conjunction ability that - when used after Moonglow or during the night time under a natural full moon, renders the entire body fully transparent for an extended duration. If there is any way to get the upper hand in a tough battle, this was Jane's biggest chance. Of course this meant she would need to depart from Monoc Port tonight.

The effects displayed were incredible! Jane was attracting quite a crowd already just in the process of her training. Her body became totally invisible even to herself, but after touching her hips with her hands, she could still feel her own presence. Jane never got to try this out until just now, failing in her attempts before. It was so weird! It just doesn't feel natural to have no visual presence of herself. While it made Jane want to shiver from the awkwardness, she soon realized how useful this support spell would be to her, and to think, Moon Shadow can still be used on clear nights with a naturally full moon without using Moonglow!

Jane smiled in her interests, wondering how long this could last. Could she still attack like this too? There was one way to find out. Continuing the training session, Jane tried to perform her next ability while she was still totally invisible. The next attack involved a weapons summoning trick. Jane had to really focus on drawing out the scenario with her mind in order to tell her brain exactly what power to use and how to invoke it. She did it once before, but only after sixty failed attempts. "Bullet Blitz!" Jane needed to use some more of her MP energy. From her perspective, two small yellow glyphrings appeared on each side of her body, putting two sub machine guns into solid pockets of air. Those were Jane's hands, which she had trouble finding with the use of her eyes trying to catch the small Uzis. But as soon as her grip caught the guns, the small machines suddenly vanished from her view, despite her hands still being attached. The guns turn invisible too! Jane realized that the yellow glyphrings were still visible, and her very presence could still make noise, but this trick even allowed her to hide new weapons and equipment in battles too! Jane had to feel for the weapons and their triggers since she could no longer see it. Being invisible isn't easy to get used to.

Jane aimed her guns forward and held in the triggers to see how many bullets she could fire from a weapon summon like this. Bullet Blitz is a simple attack spell using two sub machine guns, firing the entire clip in one attack ordinance. Because they are bullets, the damage type is piercing, and therefore low on a scale of damage, but it's still a good attack to just chain unexpectedly. Because of the mid-ranged accuracy, the area of the attack radius is somewhat widened. Jane's guns were rather loud while they were shooting like this, and the muzzle flashes of each weapon didn't hide in her aura of invisibility. It gave Jane's ears something to ring about after her clips emptied and the guns faded away, while drawing another potential weakness in her own spell. Because those were not her primary weapons, they had to be summoned in order to be used, and they only last temporarily for one attack que. This was the reason the guns disappeared automatically after the magazines emptied. Mildly disappointed, Jane began to realize that there would be certain attacks which would break her invisibility should she use them during Moon Shadow.

Bullets might sound dangerous to some people, but in Sprawn Valley, the damage they do to living creatures is very low from the effects of the Leray protection veil. It's all similar to a barrage of piercing attacks instead, with no real time damage being scored in response to taking hits from bullets. It doesn't matter what weapon in used either; it's all the same here in how the pain and HP loss is distributed. Even if a person were to smuggle a physical machine gun made in a different country, the veil would make the same corrections to the device until it leaves Sprawn Valley again.

Jane became proud and confident from her hard work, but next would come the hardest spell yet, an attack that modifies the normal effects and form of Mega-Flare. Jane was still invisible from before, but she didn't need to see much of anything to get this one working right. "Median Flare," Jane pronounced with thought. She held off on the charge, trying to prepare her thoughts on the process first. Jane learned that Mega-Flare and Flare can be modified for lower level users. By reducing the overall MP cost, reducing the range of the attack, the effectiveness, and radius, and by changing the form into a directional light screen attack, Median Flare fires the same kind of energy in a focused blast of magic that has less than half the power of a normal Mega-Flare spell. For this reason, its invocation time is much faster, and the ability itself is easier to master in comparison, just as the MP cost is lower.

Jane chanted the name again, "Median Flare!" and focused both of her hands in front of her. Her palms were facing away from each other connected, her right hand in contrast to the formation of her left. Jane released all of that energy, forcing a blast of light brighter than anything forward. Jane still had her eyes open, and watched to see how it went. The light was bright, but the screen aura itself only expanded as wide as 90 degrees, 45 split on each side. The light didn't even hit the end of the dome around her, meaning the range wasn't good either, and for all of that, Jane expended sixteen percent of her MP energy. The power of this skill might still be effective though when used at close range. After thinking more on how and when to use Median Flare, Jane suddenly noticed that her entire body returned to its original appearance. No longer transparent, Jane looked above her as well. The moonlight that had been artificially brightened became duller again, but now it was even darker outside. She needed to finish this up fast. There were only a few more new abilities she needed to confirm before it was time to head out. Despite training all day and staying up this late, Jane wasn't the least bit sleepy. She was however completely exhausted after using magic back to back like this.

"Okay," she spoke aloud. "The armor takes damage too now, so I have to protect it if need be." Jane prepared for this eventuality as well. If her armor becomes destroyed, all she will have left is her red mercenary outfit she was wearing right now. It's not bad, but it will make her vulnerable on the road. Apparently, there is a rare ability that can temporarily render destructible armor such as this impervious to damage, but it isn't easy to learn. Jane technically could not get it right before because she wasn't wearing her metal armor, but as far as the effects go, the aura still works on non-related armored equipment. Mercenary outfits and Leray dress spheres are naturally impervious to damage anyway. If this skill works, the armor that becomes protected is said to have a black and red energy aura around it, one that looks like a trapped shadow.

Jane concentrated once more. It took her nearly forever to remember exactly how to invoke the spell from before, but it wasn't going to be long now. "Armor Protector!" she hollered. Jane unleashed the magic on herself, creating a dark and cloudy black mist in front of her. At first, Jane thought she messed up, but as the mist shifted in intensity and color, her entire outfit was pulsating with an air like essence of auric infusion and color. It worked! For how long was a mystery. Jane tried once more to disable the ability, which was just as difficult. Armor Protector works differently than most timed spells do. This is because it is not a timed spell. Armor Protector wears off under two conditions. One, the user disables it intentionally. Two, a certain predetermined damage amount has been taken and overpowers the aura. Armor Protector is almost like a type of shield over armor that can break down. After taking a certain amount of damage, the aura then fails, and the ability must be invoked once again to work correctly, but it takes away so much MP energy. It would be best to manage the use of that power when it counts. There is supposedly a different ability with similar properties, though it has the added effect of protecting a suit and the user at the same time; temporary invulnerability. If only Jane knew of a way to harness that power for herself! Armor Protector doesn't stop damage to her person, even if an attack directly strikes her metal vest in battle. That's the problem with the spell. Jane focused on turning the ability off for now, but it took three whole tries to shut down the Armor Protector spell. The aura around her clothes disappeared completely.

After that was taken care of, Jane decided to continue with her artificial attacks. Not all spells and abilities are considered to be discovered. Some can be created by reforming the idea of combination spells and skills, and in doing so, Jane came up with a perfect plan. After learning a simple transference spell, Jane had the idea of using that to reappear behind the opponent and then critically slash them with just a single hit of her dagger. Though, Jane felt as though her idea wasn't all too original given the inspiration from a spell called Shadow Mace, one she took to the back before.

Matter Transference and teleportation are not the same thing in Sprawn Valley. Teleportation spells are vigorously difficult to achieve, let alone using them to get any advantage. They aren't allowed to be used by civilians anyway, therefore off limits in battles. The main difference is that teleportation is designed for long range relocation. Transference is a means of teleportation at a low cost, but also with a severely limited range. Teleportation could take someone from one side of Sprawn Valley to another, but not outside of the country. There are no abilities in a battle that use teleportation, but since transference is legal for all wielders to use, and has a low range, she might as well use it for battling. If anyone is limited to a battlefield area of a dome shield, transference will allow a heavier conservation of MP energy.

"Dark Strike," Jane recalled. She had decided to make up her own skill and give it a name she could remember. Even if it didn't matter, making a name for her own spell can still help invoke it correctly by chanting that name early on. Jane had the best plan, but she had to pretend there was a target in front of her to get this visually correct in her mind. Dark Strike. Jane's method of this attack is to use the power of transference, and teleport right behind her opponent. To the rival, it would appear that Jane turned invisible in an instant, but in reality, she has simply transferred her location without the aid of visual lighting to give it away. Then while she is behind her opponent, Jane will use her dagger and slash upwards. That way, her single hit would achieve the status of an uppercut, launching her opponent into the air while dealing slashing damage. Slashing upward alone would not achieve the force needed to launch someone into the air like that; it would require much more power. So at the same time, Jane will infuse her dagger with magical energy, adding magical damage and kinetic potential to that blade as soon as she strikes it against a target. It was a lot to think about so quickly. Performing the action in one quick sweep was far from easy.

Jane still decided to give it another shot, after failing to use it correctly earlier. She concentrated, expending a lot of energy on the spot. In just a quick moment, Jane's body disappeared in a beautiful molecular depixilation from top to bottom, then reappeared in the spot she wanted to be in. Then she had to pull out her dagger, infusing it with energy and a red glowing aura before taking her strike. She slashed her right blade upward, leaving her free hand alone, but Jane could tell that the transition was really slow. It took time to infuse enough magical energy into her single blade before she could slash upwards; it needed more practice. Dark Strike could be effective on a slow target, but Jane wasn't sure she could get lucky breaks in the future.

Jane was getting tired, but she needed to focus on her next attacks some more. An area attack was one of the few she had learned today, but it was not easy. Meteor Strike: an attack spell that most beginners start out with while learning area attacks for the first time, yet equally as powerful as other skills. Jane had to concentrate a lot on this one, charging up a ton of energy. At the same time, a large red glyphring appeared high above the center of the field. It's an aerial glyphring that summons the barrage making up the area attack. After Jane released the rest of her energy, the glyphring activated completely, and a massive barrage of red flaming meteorites began to rain down from the sky. Though it formed from beyond the shield dome, the meteors were designed to penetrate that shield one time per stone. They can enter the designated battlefield without the magic or damage leaving that field to destroy surrounding objects. Jane watched the entire event as the rest of the spell didn't need her continued guidance or magical usage. Meteors brushed through the dome as if it were made of paper, and the very instant the holes formed in the shield, they were reformed when the shield regenerated the damaged areas. As it happened, the Meteor Strike attack slammed and pelleted the ground with massive stones, creating an earthquake in the general area. Jane had to fight just to keep her balance, but was surprised that the stones were not harming her in the process. It's not like they came too close to her presence, but they weren't that far away either. She expected to be hit by her own concentrated spell, even with the somewhat limited area attack radius of her skill.

Area attacks like Meteor Strike are designed not to hurt the user even if they are caught in the effective radius. However, most other area attacks do affect the user should they be caught in their own area radius, depending on which abilities are invoked and how leveled they are for the user. Mega-Flare would be an example of personal immunity disregarding area radius. Mega-Flare lights up the entire field, shrouding even the user in its bright light of damage, but the user of the skill always comes out unharmed and unaffected by magical design. The opponent on the other hand is not so lucky. The meteors that fall down are specifically inclined not to hit the person invoking that magical spell, but even if the opponent somehow evades the barrage, the quakes in the ground combined with the shockwaves of the booms still have the potential to cause a lot of damage anyway. Jane was completely unharmed by her own area attack.

The meteors eventually stopped coming, but there were a lot of them, allowing the attack itself to slam into the effective radius for a time of seven seconds long. Such power, and it drew 24% of Jane's MP just to invoke it this way. Despite being low on remaining energy, Jane needed to go on with the spell practices.

Jane didn't let up just yet. It was time for another area attack skill. This time it cost her 17% of her MP, immediately draining her to a dry bone. "Radial Blast!" she shouted. Jane had performed this in her practice earlier today, but it was also just as hard to invoke as Meteor Strike, even as it requires no such glyphring. This time, instead of floating objects falling down from above, the entire field became populated in small random explosions with about the same fire power as a single hand grenade. The explosions happened in a barrage, unrelenting, still going after the first began. Radial Blast is an attack that populates the entire field randomly with multiple explosions happening one after the next. The explosions however form up in random locations each time with a small blast radius as well. This means that the opponent could technically dodge the attack just by standing still if their luck would have them take no damage. The only way not to get hit is simple luck. If the explosions are random and cannot be tracked, then the target might as well brace themself for powerful hits. Jane knew it wasn't going to affect her. This is just another attack that excludes her own location of explosions forming everywhere. She counted how many had gone off and in how much time.

Nine point five seconds, forty-five blasts. Some of the explosions came close to Jane, hurting her ears from the sudden noise level of the explosions in front of her. Her ears began to ring momentarily, all until the attack ended. With area attacks like these, she has to expend all of that energy at once just to invoke it. During most area attacks, the user has a single, instant, linear release point through MP cost. The charge time may take a while, but the invocation moment is naturally instantaneous.

Jane was satisfied once more, but the strain this put on her had the wilder panting in place again. Her MP reserves were nearly at zero, and she would have to wait again before using one of her most powerful last resort skills. For now, there was another trick she wanted to learn, but it was impossible to tell if it would actually work in the field. Jane came up with an idea to quickly get the finishing victory assault should she need it, without using a lot of magical energy. Sometimes, a person in battle can land a critical hit with a physical attack, scoring up to four times the damage potential that normally comes from a physical attack, but there are conditions, and the passive ability itself is very rare to occur as it is supposed to be random. If used on an opponent who is already suffering from critical HP levels, and if done correctly with enough force, Jane would have a way to end the battle immediately.

She pulled out her daggers, carefully aiming with her eyes. Then she slowly crossed her daggers just in front of her chin. After that, she slid the blades outwards and threw her daggers forward with another spin. This time, the daggers spinning through the air resembled the same formation used with the Flying Guillotine ability, only there was no magical energy involved. Jane's daggers had that faint red aura around them as they flew by, making them a bit more visible than before. This wasn't an official spell though. Jane had simply thrown her daggers in a way that would allow each one to strike the opponent at a high speed with a good spin. If she threw them hard enough and with enough determination, it might actually work. Even without an official skill, it's a physical attack only with a lot of power behind it. If a critical hit like this doesn't end a weak opponent, nothing will.

Jane's daggers eventually hit the dirt, striking the ground and then sliding to hit the dome. In another moment, they were transferred back into Jane's side pockets like before. Her stance and throw was correct, but that doesn't mean her critical hit ability works. There would only be one way to tell.

Jane kneeled over, putting her hands on her knees while breathing quickly. She was exhausted, down to a low MP level as well. Jane allowed herself to fall down on her behind, sitting on the ground instead. She would now have to wait more before her MP recharges enough to give her another chance at the new Redemption spell. It was a stretch though. Redemption requires basically one's full amount of MP energy. Though it can be used with a lower MP amount, doing so can make a person pass out early, even with a full HP capacity, and it's reckless too for what it can do.

Jane spun her head around, stretching her neck some more. "I'll try Zero Zone first." Jane knew it was going to take forever, so she used an MP booster to recover her magic faster than expected. The blue topped orb had a bright glow before fading into Jane's body. Her MP energy fully recharged after two more minutes, and she was ready to go again. Jane found it surprising that much of her fatigue was the result of a low MP level. It wasn't all linked to her energy, but her restored magical levels allowed her to recover again so quickly. If the dome shield around her were an official Siriean dome, the MP booster would have failed.

Jane squinted as she prepared to try out her next spell. It was Zero Zone again. Jane had been attempting to master this ability from day one after learning how effective it can be. She failed to invoke it in her late stages of training at the Dakota training facility. Then she failed to invoke it again with her battle against Jack. Hopefully now will be better.

Zero Zone is a very rare spell, in that very few people actually know about it or what it does. By using a ton of MP energy, it allows the user to create a distortion field, effectively stopping time for everybody except for the user. In fact, the field is so powerful that it stops time for the entire universe, not just for the people inside of the Siriean dome. By using Zero Zone at a critical moment, Jane could stop time itself and get so many upper hands in less than an instant, but it's also the hardest ability to learn as well, more difficult than a power level ten attack such as Ultima; the upgraded form of Mega-Flare. Because Jane practiced this spell so much, there was still a chance she might have it down by now.

"Zero Zone!" Jane forced all of her stored energy to flow out from her body in all directions. After all, that is how it must be released to create a distortion field in the first place, But even as her MP level dropped by 35%, nothing else seemed to happen. Jane didn't notice time stopping, nor did she actually feel the time distortion itself. It's supposed to be something she can feel, and visually, it darkens everything in one's eyesight, voiding all life from its colors because light itself has slowed down as well, but nothing happened. Once again, it failed to work.

Jane would have decided to give it another shot, but since it uses so much energy just to even try, it was time to move on for now. Next would be Redemption, a powerful reckless move. Jane had to concentrate every single bit of her remaining energy to use it correctly, and only after letting her MP energy passively regenerate back up to 90%. The catch to a successful invocation of this spell is to expend all of her remaining MP, no matter how much of it she has. Though from 100%, she might be able to save 20% of that energy. The general requirement for Redemption is to have somewhere between 75-90% of MP reserves, using them all at once regardless of her growth in ME over time, but Jane currently had just below 72% left. Redemption is a powerful ability with a strange invocation type. After the energy was ready to use, Jane had to expend that energy all in one single instance of time. The benefit for this spell is that the time to charge and release is nearly instantaneous, but perhaps that is one of the reasons the user is left dizzy and disoriented afterwards. She couldn't think of any spell by comparison that drains up to 75% MP reserves instantly. Removing so much of this energy from the body in a mere instant must be what makes it so dangerous.

It took but a short moment for her this time around. Jane shouted the name to ensure its success. "Redemption!" Soon afterwards, her entire body was glowing green from the encased aura for a pause of a second. From that point, a large beam of energy formed vertically from where Jane stood reaching up to the sky. This large beam of energy then split, separated and dispersed into five smaller vertical beams. At the same time, these high powered beams were traveling outwards in the formation of a growing spiral clockwise shape. The direction of each energy beam is fixed, but the radius of each of the five is still quite large, and they travel so quickly while maintaining their vertical form. It's nearly impossible to dodge given the winding spiraling path they form, and it would take luck to survive it. At the same time Jane released her Redemption attack, all of her MP energy dropped directly to zero, forcing her to hunch down on the ground. The drain was powerful! Jane immediately felt sick and lightheaded, while she had to keep herself down to prevent immediate loss of consciousness. This spell just took all of her stamina, and she could soon pass out because of it. This is the sensation of losing 76% of her energy in an instant. At the same time, that loud audible noise flooded her ears. The beams all emitted a very loud and upper-pitched sine wave that got higher in time as they traveled outward. Each of the five beams together formed the moving shape of a spiral if viewed from above, and they began to flood the center of the battlefield as they continued onward.

It all happened so fast in perspective. The beams travel quickly and relentlessly after they split from the center. Jane already knows that if the opponent is hit with just one of the five energy beams, it will be devastating to their health. Two hits would likely end the match in a single blow, and if somehow they got hit three times, it would be over against an opponent with full health. Such is the design of Redemption, throwing all of the user's MP energy into attack damage for each vertical beam launched from their personal aura in this method. Because it uses so much energy, the damage potential in each beam pillar is incredibly high, almost as much as a power level ten attack spell. Under most circumstances, enemies facing this spell are hit most often by one or two of these beams, which would likely end the match very early in favor of Redemption's master. Those beams are fixed in the direction they travel - never homing in on any particular location, but because they spin in a spiral, the same spot is not usually struck more than once. Jane's ability actually worked, but it left her completely and totally drained, more than she felt the last time she ran out of MP.

The downsides of Redemption make low stamina much worse. Any time someone underpowers Redemption, using under 70% MP because that's all they have, the sensation of that drain is much more powerful, amplified moreover the lower the MP amount is prior to its use, if it invokes at all. A mage could pass out with full health as a result. In a Leray fight, this results in a loss. Even if the spell knocks the opponent out, the monitor system declares the loser as the first contestant to lose consciousness, which could easily be the first user of Redemption given the drastic circumstances. On top of that, the user ends up with zero percent MP energy no matter where or when they use it. That's why they call it a reckless spell. Obviously, caution with this skill is paramount in a battle. Jane would need to remember that.

Jane nearly collapsed once more, falling to the ground on her hands and knees. That last one really killed her stamina. It became so intense that the Siriean dome that was formed around her suddenly faded all by itself. It wasn't that surprising though. Jane wasn't using it for an official battle anyway, so it wasn't possible to for that dome to support itself indefinitely. It was passively siphoning small increments of her MP energy over time just to function, which wasn't how official Siriean domes worked.

In the same instance, Jane decided that this was it; training was over from this moment on. She would need to wait an hour or two before her MP regenerates itself again. She was all out of MP boosters for now, but once she is ready, Jane will head out on Route 96 straight for Lennith City. Then from there, she can rest in town. Next morning, she will head to the Outback and travel until the Den of Purity is reached. Luckily, Leray wielders are not as abundant in the Outback because of its eco-friendly infrastructure there. Jane changed position, resting on her back with her face towards the sky. She simply let her heart pound, the sensation of her pulse and blood pumping into every limb and vessel while she relaxed her aching muscles.

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Chapter Theme Shift: Main Theme ~ Two Worlds 1 OST

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In memory, Jane never recalled trying this hard to do anything in just one day, but this Leray thing was something Jane always took seriously, as she did her dream of mastering Leray magic. Her dream can't become real with this spell bomb curse... It didn't really have an official name now that she thought about it more. Since it is at least related to the similarities of the Amahar spell bomb, it might be right to call it the Amahar curse. Endurance is just garbage, only for her, but then that's what the new armor is for. It better last for a long time after the money it was worth.

Jane allowed her body to recover and heal. Her breathing was still fast, and her heart rate was still elevated. It's the same feeling she got after running two full miles non-stopped, only to throw herself to the ground for rest. Jane could choose to sleep right here in the short cut grass in the open fields near the town. Getting up at all right now would be a pain. She shut her eyes instead, resting even her visual senses while the calm air became its own lullaby to her mind.

"Excuse me?"

Jane was suddenly forced awake by another person's presence, but she was glad that it happened. She didn't realize that her exhaustion was pushing her towards sleep. That would not have gone very well. Jane sat back up looking to her left. Some peculiar woman in her fifties wanted Jane's attention. "Uh?"

"That was some show you put on."

Jane just remembered that people were watching her train most of that time, and by the end, it did get intense. This woman must have been impressed by the power of all of those magical abilities. Jane's new arsenal of skills had a much higher average power level than her old ones. It was natural for that kind of growth to exist in all training Leray wielders, but this was sort of an exception, and Jane knew it. The proportion of new spells and skills based on a full number of them just wasn't normal today. Nobody should have been able to learn all of those new skills in just nine hours based on the number of new powers and their average power levels. Was she really that good in training? "Thanks..." Jane wanted to say a little more, but she was still short of breath.

Having not witnessed someone training so hard and for so long, Jane became a quick curiosity to this woman. "What'cha training for?" the lady asked.

Jane replied, "The road to Lennith City."

A surprised expression took over for the aged woman. "The road east? I dare feel sorry for anybody on that route that chooses to challenge you."

Jane glanced down in thought again. All of her hard work, all of that training, it wasn't for the people on Route 96. She hadn't been training today to impress anybody. It's about getting her life back. Her very future and dream would be at stake with this curse, no matter how many skills she could learn, but this lady has a point as well. Because of this curse, the very thought of being stopped endlessly on a road to the next city, just for battles Jane didn't want to take part in right now, it infuriated her! Anger quickly took over, anger at the idea that someone would challenge her on the road ahead, slowing her down from reaching the Outback. Jane didn't want to battle any of them, but if she turns down an offer to battle three times in a row, then her Leray license gets suspended. Then she can't use Leray magic even outside of battles, not legally anyway. "Yeah... I'd feel sorry for them too."

The lady laughed in sympathy for Jane's determination, but Jane wasn't really on the same level as her. She felt bad for any who might challenger her, because if they do, anybody who threatens to slow her down from here on will be flattened. Jane would have to use all of that hard work and training, to destroy any opponent by turning the tides just like she had done today in her training. Her endurance might be low, but her new set of magic assisted abilities should make up for that, even if her armor gets destroyed before she can make it to Lennith. In fact, if she can just make it that far, then getting three strikes or declaring a state of emergency for the path into the Outback would probably seem more worthwhile. But to do so now, it's too early!

Thanks to the side effects of the Leray protection veil, exhaustion related to the lack of sleep can be delayed for up to half another day. People can end up with strange sleep cycles, and that means that the road to Lennith didn't care what time of day it was for anybody. Still, staying up that late requires attention and focus. There will surely be challenging people on this road, up until five in the morning, all ready for a battle and unfazed by their different sleep schedule, or unfazed by their lack of sleep in general should that be the case. Jane was almost the same way right now. She needed to get past this road. Normally, she should be tired and ready for bed, her eyes heavy and droopy from the day's stress, but not this time. Jane was wide awake again, her exhaustion only from jumping around and shooting magic everywhere for hours on end. As soon as her MP recharges completely, that exhaustion will end all the way, and then she can head out.

But Jane was still somewhat nervous. She never expected to be at this stage of her journey, where she has to travel a dangerous road in the middle of the night. Come to think of it, all of her plans in Gulop never stuck. She was supposed to spend at least a day on Tilsit Beach, but those plans fell apart too. She would need to break through Route 96 as if the road were just a fast lane of air, and she also knew a lot of more powerful spells now that would assist in that process. Her opponents would know powerful skills too. Even with all of her enhancements, she won't win easily. Jane shook the thought though. After coming to realize something, all of this motivation and determination, her very will to fix this curse has been making her stronger. It had been making her try harder. On Route 96, there shouldn't be an exception.

"You okay?" the woman asked.

Jane almost forgot there was someone near her. "Oh, yeah. I'm still waiting to recover."

"We'll I won't hold you up any longer. Thanks for the show. It looked really impressive. I sure hope other wielders show up to town like yourself. It would make things more interesting."

How deprived of Leray wielders is Monoc Port anyway? Jane recalled battling someone from the nearby area only yesterday. "Welcome." Jane gave a closer look at the woman as she began to take leave of her now. The way she was speaking to Jane, she must be someone who never succeeded as a good Leray wielder, while at the same time always dreaming of becoming tougher. Now it's too late for her. Age had taken its place and locked away that woman's dream forever.

Jane knew she was still young. If she can just accomplish her dream before turning fifty or sixty years old, all will be worth it. Though she would prefer to finish it up before turning twenty. That would be totally awesome; to have the world recognize her as a Leray master at such a young age. Jane smiled at the thought, ever getting more lost in her sea of mental conception.

She had to distract herself with something while waiting on her energy to regenerate itself. Once it was almost time again, Jane had suddenly realized how cold it was outside. Her mercenary armor did provide her with some protection from the cold winter air, but not enough to stop goose bumps from forming. When did it become so frigid? Doing all of those physical exercises had her body heated so much, Jane never got to notice the shift in lowering temperature tonight, that was until now. It wasn't like this was the first time it got this cold at night this year, but Jane was hardly outside for those past moments.

She would have to get over it in either case. Any moment now, it will be time to begin crossing Route 96. It's a road made of more gravel and dirt, a rundown cement sidewalk that is a single road. Because there is nothing but empty grassy fields left and right, they built fences all the way through the path. Still, the space available is very wide, each fence about 50 meters away from its other side. That way, battlers have enough room, and they don't stray in the wrong direction. But on this cold night, Jane was reminded of exactly how lonely it was for her. She would be doing all of this on her own, no longer under the presence of her two best friends. She hadn't forgotten about them, not for a moment, but wishing to reunite did no good for now. Jane has to move on even if they can't catch up to her right now. Only after her curse is removed can she focus on reuniting with her friends. Then, after all of that is taken care of, she can focus on tracking down the man who attacked her at Tilsit Port. Jane knew her very next mission before continuing her journey would be to mess that guy up. If she were to try it then and there, she would have simply been a useless nuisance to the agents on site, and to her friends who are probably more powerful than her right now.

No! Jane shook the temptation away. Reversing this curse has to be the top priority. It ruins everything if she just leaves it on. The only way to go now is east, east through Route 96 and into Lennith City.