----------------------------------------
<01/20/1972 – 12:40 | Lennith Training Academy, Junon Region, Sprawn Valley>
"Yes. Here it is." Claudia took a sheet out from a big stack of notes and other paper work. The short document appeared to be notes from another's work, but it has strange markings and indicators Jane couldn't understand. She hovered near Claudia, waiting impatiently for her to explain herself. "The shield."
"The shield?" Jane voiced her question in a sarcastic tone, waiting for Claudia to be less mellow dramatic.
"It's what I thought of when I realized how you were able to conserve your MP at any given time."
Jane took a wild guess at what her teacher was babbling about. Whatever Claudia was doing searching for documents was still a total mystery to her, after all she had gone silent. "A Leray power?"
"Right. But, um..." Claudia seemed confused, trying to express the words in a way that Jane would be able to understand. "It doesn't have an official name."
"Then how can it be a spell?" Jane threw her hands in the air. Was Claudia going to show her this new trick or not? Is it even a spell capable of being harnessed?
Claudia knew she had to be patient. Jane's unusual aliment did have an upside after all, and just because Jane doesn't know about it doesn't mean she is incapable of learning. She has quick learning capabilities too as a second upside, but now there is another new detail, Alyssa Valor. She was standing far behind Jane, waiting and passively listening to learn something. Even so, this should be harmless. Alyssa needs to better set her priorities. "It's an old and outdated ability that people used to try and master a long time ago. Without any real name, folks just called it a Leray shield."
Alyssa then limped up closer, again revealing to a small degree her physical ailment restricting her mobility on foot, though Jane never noticed. Alyssa was attracted by the wealth of new information, standing in close proximity of Claudia and Jane. Both of them could tell she was eavesdropping, but it didn't stop Claudia from explaining anything in the same volume.
"A Leray shield is the process of exerting your MP magic into a special personalized defense aura, canceling out all types of damage."
"All types?" The description alone was enough to arouse Jane's excitement. With the power to block all damage and all types of damage... "But, wouldn't something that significant get popular real fast?" If a shield could be used by anybody to block out all damage, everybody would use it to advance their career.
"Well..." It was time she quit beating around a bush. Jane wasn't going to get the picture based on hints. Alyssa butting in would just be collateral for now. "The famous Leray shield lost credibility fast with its power problems. It's one of the few Leray abilities that costs a lot of MP based on reference capacity, not by a specific number of magical points."
Jane knew strangely what that was about. It means that anyone using the Leray shield would have MP consumption problems even after decades of increasing their MP capacity or training really hard with that ability. If it uses 10% MP for example, then that rules stays the same forever in anybody who uses it regardless of ME capacity, which isn't normally true for most other spells. "That is a problem. How much does it use per invocation?"
"That's just it," Claudia cleared. "It uses around thirty percent of a person's MP level every time, and though it was effective in blocking all types of damage, it only did so in a means of damage reduction, of about fifty percent."
"So it's like a partial shield?" Claudia nodded at Jane's interpretation. Using 30% of your MP just to partially block damage isn't very exciting after all.
"It only cut damage in half each time, sometimes less than half. So it never got popular, and people just stopped using it all together. Attempts to refine failed."
Jane pondered how Claudia was able to get all of that information from just a sheet of paper, but the notes on that sheet only indicated specific motions and calculation formulas. That means she really remembered this story from something else. "You sure know a lot about random Leray powers."
Claudia almost winced in nervous surprise from Jane's insinuation, but quickly played it off. "What I do know is that because of its free form aura creation, this Leray shield could be modified in so many different ways." She glared into Jane's green eyes, hoping she would be ready for this. "And with your strange effects permanently attached to you, I think we can modify this ability specifically for your needs."
Modify how? "Are you sure?"
Claudia answered swiftly, "People tried modifying this ability many times ago, but with no great success. Based on what I've seen firsthand on that scanner, I think you're one of the first exceptions to power problems we've had in centuries. Back then, there were no crazy experimental spell bombs for people to get a hold of, none that work like this. What did that crystal even do to you?"
Jane hovered her head down again. Honestly, she wasn't sure. All of the effects Claudia said were present are still just circumstantial only; she had no real evidence on what that spell bomb was designed to do. Seeing her own ME capacity so high though was strong evidence of its total intent. The spell bomb created a massive symbol in the sky right before creating a high powered energy beam from the moon which then shot into her, and if the end result made her magical endurance level shoot higher passively over time, that must mean that the spell bomb infused some sort of unknown energy into her. No wonder it made her sick the day after! She still couldn't bring herself to tell Claudia this secret. Danny and Taylor kept it from the agents for a reason, shielded the truth about Jane's experimental spell bomb even though her total health was on the line.
"I can guess from that sad face that you have no clue?"
Jane snapped out of her thoughts, realizing now that she totally forgot to give Claudia some sort of answer. "Um, guess not. Claudi, I don't get something. You want to teach me a bad ability. Why?"
"Because if I am correct, and your body can adapt to the power consumption by conserving your MP energy as it is being used, then not only will this allow you to make full use of the Leray shield for extended periods of time, but it might even increase the level of protection such a shield will provide."
"But I don't have the first idea how to make something like that happen."
She pointed to herself upon announcing, "I'll teach you."
"What?"
"I have the notes right here, and I can show you the steps. But to make something like this work, we need to battle again. It won't work if you don't get in any sort of training with the new ability."
"But that could take forever to..." Jane stopped herself before finishing the sentence. It only took her an hour or two to learn new abilities, at least the ones she wanted to learn while in Monoc Port. At first she believed it only happened that way because she was so determined to do so, but if rapid magical learning really is a side effect of the spell bomb, this might still work the way Claudia was talking about. If it does work, Jane can have cheap energy access to a shield that cancels out most damages on a dime. Bad endurance or not, such an ability would totally negate the lethal effects of other attacks used against her.
"See, now you're learning." Claudia could tell Jane had picked up on the other details from before. "I'll get the battle area reset again, and show you the skills.
"It'll take a miracle to understand what you both are talking about." Alyssa decided that was the only thing she was going to spout back at them. Whatever Claudia and Jane were up to was defiantly something unusual. It has to be if the teacher is going to ignore teaching this to the class. She never goes this far out of her way to help a new student, but none of that nonsense sounded anything related to their studies. What were they talking about though? Spell bombs and scanners? Shielding abilities and power consumption? When this is over, Jane better tell me everything.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Chapter Theme Shift: Anea Landing ~ Ace Combat 6 OST
----------------------------------------
The entire class put down everything they were doing, once again crowding around Jane and Claudia in the battle square like before. It was inevitable. Claudia didn't want to attract any attention to this sort of thing. After all, prototype spell bombs normally have to do with something illegal, and Jane was an unlucky victim of the sort. They don't need exposure to her private information. Still, nobody was going to learn too much by accident with a shield ability, so she had to let it slide this time. Though this time, everybody was more excited than before, courtesy of Alyssa's nosey attachment to the situation. Jane and Claudia were standing about twenty meters away from each other again.
Jane prepared for her teacher to begin. Claudia had explained many things to her just before starting this second training match. It was mostly about the movements and invocation of the unnamed shielding ability. Jane had never even seen one in action before, so performing it like this wasn't going to be easy. Jane was also informed ahead of time not to return any attacks. Claudia will simply throw random magical or physical abilities at her, in hopes that she will be able to deflect the damage. Both of them engaged their energy scopes too, just to assess the success factor of that shield - should it actually work.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/qMgVxgSW-/S2-Claudi-N-000.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/02dvNLgy/S2-Jane-N-000.png]
The first move for Claudia was off, as she began twirling her body around after shouting the name of her impending ability. "Magical Blitz!" Claudia's version of Magical Blitz was much different than what Jane was physically used to. She somehow managed to throw three magical energy balls in the blink of an eye, not delaying her movement any further than it needed to. The way her body motions added to the momentum of each thrown projectile and the insignificant time it took her to toss and throw each one of them bared the mark of an expert in action.
Jane nearly froze from the little reaction time she had. She was supposed to use the shielding ability at this very moment, creating a protective barrier of magic around her whole body before the projectiles slam into her. Claudia already explained much about the actual magic involved in the unnamed ability, Jane remembered every word. When it's time to block an attack, charge up just a small amount of MP energy. Try it on each side of your hands. Then use that as the outlet of the energy projection wave. Once you've charged up that much energy, release a protective aura of magic specifically shaped to yourself. You want to throw the aura over yourself as if it were a big blanket of energy. That released energy - is your shield.
Claudia even presented that movement to Jane, but it wasn't something she actually did in real time. Jane had less than a second to do anything right now, and instead took a hit directly to her face. The energy ball slammed into her, knocking Jane to her back. Though it did a lot of damage to her, the other two energy spheres flew over Jane because of her fall, allowing her to accidentally dodge the others.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/kMTFd5GJ/S2-Jane-N-045.png]
She suspected that Jane wouldn't get it right the very first time, even for a quick learner. Though it was surprising to see how much damage to her target just one blitz ball inflicted. Jane's endurance level really was suffering after all, and there was more than enough proof to show that the spell bomb Jane used on herself had some unique and adverse effects. Still, Jane was going to need more encouragement, and much weaker attack spells. If Claudia ends up knocking the girl out before this is over, then it won't ever work. "Try it again Jane. Remember what I told you." I'm going to delay my attack time until she gets it.
Jane pushed herself back up, barely hurt from that last hit. Despite draining a lot of her HP, magical damage such as that from the last spell isn't effective in delivering pain like piercing attacks were. One can only hope that this magical shield is easier to use than she thought. "I'm ready!"
Claudia responded with a slight hand motion, hands which began glowing brightly from the obvious magical build up. "Zero Hit!" Claudia held back the actual attack this time, forcing her spell to charge up with the same amount of MP at a slower pace than usual. This should allow Jane to accumulate enough time and energy to get it right.
Just before Claudia released her unusual attack towards Jane, Jane threw her hands over her head, as if to toss a blanket over herself. Though she did charge and release MP energy at the same time, it didn't change anything. The bright blue beam of energy from Claudia's attack hit Jane faster than what could even be calculated, and faded in just half a second. The energy beam didn't have a lot of force, nor did it do a ton of damage to Jane's health, but it did sting, reminding her of the similar ability of her Mako Beam.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/PrNbfkvm/S2-Jane-N-046.png]
Two things were wrong with this picture already. Claudia examined exactly the way Jane reacted prior to taking the hit. Not only did a shielding aura fail to appear even for a second, but Jane's own MP energy dropped down much lower than it needed to. Based on Jane's total ME conservation scale, she wasn't going to need that much power. "Less energy Jane. You only need a tiny fraction of your MP energy to run this shield." By now everybody around them was confused, taking wild guesses about what Claudia was trying to teach the new student. It was obvious that they were not battling with each other, especially apparent since Jane was not returning fire. Even Alyssa was watching them both with those glaring dark eyes.
Less energy? Didn't the energy shield require like 30% of her MP? Maybe that's what Claudia meant by conservation. The general cost of all abilities for Jane is going to be lower, if that's what it meant. Jane took a deep open breath, trying again to create the shielding aura before Claudia even tried to attack her. It didn't need to be in a moment in danger for the shield to work, but even now, Jane wasn't having much luck. After reducing her MP consumption to about three percent capacity, Jane tried to throw the aura over her body again, hoping to activate something. After failing again, Claudia hit Jane with another Zero Hit attack.
Zero Hit is one of Claudia's weak training spells designed to coax others into trying better next time during intense sessions, but this was getting ridiculous. How long did Jane have to try this until it worked?
"Zero Hit!" she shouted.
It was a barrage over and over of Zero Hit attacks from Claudia, firing weak powered beams of magical damage at Jane. The attack itself was totally unavoidable, thus expressing the importance of blocking. Traditional stand still and use your arms to block tactics were already ineffective, and much more in Jane's case with her endurance so low. Jane tried over and over just before taking additional hits with Claudia's beamed attacks. No matter how hard she tried, nothing happened at all, not even for a split second.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/PrcWPF10/S2-Jane-N-047.png]
This constant barrage of failures carried on into a long duration of time. Thirty-three whole minutes passed in a flash, and it was clear to Jane that even Claudia was getting pretty tired. Jane's attempted use of power shields cost only small MP amounts, as did Claudia's Zero Hit spells, so no energy recharging was needed outside of passive regeneration, but Jane wanted to keep it up. It did seem true that the energy shield didn't need that much MP energy for her to try and use, but that assumption could only be proven true once Jane gets it right. Maybe it was something she couldn't understand. What even is a defensive aura anyway?
After asking herself the question, Jane allowed her thoughts to carry on while Claudia caught up with herself. A defensive aura is a field of personalized MP energy, released into a specific wave form to follow a specific task. In this case, the aura is supposed to act as a total shield, protecting me from every sort of danger that could possibly exist. Jane figured that learning no support aura spells was part of the problem, since this technically counts as one. It's nothing more than an aura of power placed carefully into an electrically catalyzed photon shell with displacement protection. Wait. How could I possibly know that?
Jane remembered back to the notes Claudia presented to her earlier. Suddenly it became clear that her memory worked well when she wanted it to, but it didn't really help make it any easier. A power shield... A power shield is all this ability really is, and because it doesn't have an official name, because it doesn't retain the same form each time, Jane can technically call this fielded ability anything she wants to. Perhaps by doing that, maybe if she can coax her mind into the name of the ability while thinking more about how it works, it might help invocation pull through. It's the reason people chant their ability's names in battle in the first place. They're used to doing that in training, so that it stays with them the whole time. The name triggers the memory and imagination of how the invocation and magical formation occurs. With something like a power shield, Jane would have to effectively create a force field around her entire body, using the Leray magic provided for her in the form of MP energy, which is the same thing in either case. It didn't matter how much MP this would cost, only how much it takes to protect her from damage, that which is transformed into a support aura.
"Ready," Jane announced. With a new tactic in mind, Jane had a better idea for how to go about this training. Zero Hit is non-lethal, not even scary. Claudia was failing to show her real talents this time. But if it was scary, lethal, or dangerous, Jane wouldn't have a choice but to get it right. So I'll pretend that this next Zero Hit is deadly. I've gotta try!
Claudia had given up chanting the name of her spell over and over again. Jane already knew ahead of time that Zero Hit was coming again, and her voice was getting weaker from all of the time passed.
Just as Claudia began to release her energy, Jane threw her hands up a different way this time, right and left arm facing opposite of each other away from her body. At the same time Jane was charging her energy, she chanted the name of the unnamed spell just to try and boost her odds of success. "Power Shield!" Jane's arm and hand motions were different this time, totally deviant from the physical placement Claudia had shown her earlier. Just as Claudia was releasing that energy in the form of another magical beam, Jane released the small amount of energy that she managed to charge in record time.
In doing so, Jane's entire body became surrounded with the quick formation of a magical blue aura that had the same color of the energy beam coming her way, but resembled something totally different. The shield of transparent light displacement that appeared disappeared just as quickly, blinking on and off just once. Whatever just happened, it caused Jane to take damage from the Zero Hit just like before, but it almost seemed like her body became protected with an aura of magical energy, even if it was just for a split second.
Jane realized that it didn't work this time, and lowered her arms down to her sides. She took another deep breath in mental preparation, already charging some additional energy into her hands. It wasn't nearly enough to make them glow any sort of color or brightness, but she was ready for the next attack again, even if it wasn't going to work.
Power Shield? Claudia heard Jane spout the saying just before the very last attempt she tried against her. Was that some sort of artificial name to help her boost the chance? It might be enough to work, but to Claudia's eyes, it almost seemed like Jane had it a moment ago. "Try it again Jane. Here comes Zero Hit!" Claudia released her energy again, firing another energy beam towards Jane.
Jane opened her eyes again, shouting "Power Shield!" while lifting her arms to become exactly parallel to her own shoulders. Upon releasing her energy, Jane imagined that her hands were opposite ends of a closed circuit of Leray energy, generating a spherical field of protection around her, and just as the thought took form, the aura actually activated this time. Out of nowhere, a transparent aura with a slight blue coloration of energy suddenly surrounded Jane's body, carrying the same exact shape of her form. Instead of forming a spherical aura of protection, the aura was the same shape and slightly larger the size of her own body as it generated.
Jane couldn't believe what was in front of her own eyes. It was hard to see from her angle since it was so close to her, but there was defiantly a transparent blue aura everywhere around her, staying for much longer than a split second. The aura's color was that of a bright variation of turquoise, generating a specific field all around her body. Jane could only see what was in front of her eyes, but the aura had her completely trapped inside so long as she didn't move her arms. That's when the beam form Zero Hit slammed into Jane from Claudia's attack. Instead of hitting her body and giving her damage, the beam of energy stopped short of the outer layer of Jane's personal aura, and as Jane kept the shield alive for a few more seconds, she saw where the beam had failed to penetrate the shield. Exactly in the place where the beam previously impacted, there were some small sized hexagons that formed at the base of the impact site where the displacement occurred, which simply faded away after a while. If that wasn't weird, the sound of everybody's murmuring voices suddenly became muffled, as if people were speaking underwater. The shield is soundproof too?!
Jane lowered her arms to see what would happen. Incidentally, the slight displacement of her arms ended up destroying her personal aura. The aura found a way to map movement to Jane's body, moving in the same way she does. But lowering her arms broke that imaginary circuit she thought of earlier, making the entire aura fade away into nothingness. The aura collapsed by reforming the texture of large hexagonal sections that all disappeared in a uniform direction from both vertical ends. It wasn't what Jane was expecting to happen afterwards, but the moment it was realized that her power shield actually activated for the first time, everybody became too stunned to speak anymore.
Claudia was almost at a loss for words too. She carefully examined Jane's energy scope for changes. Though her MP fell by 3% from that shield attempt, her HP did not changed from before. Did her aura work so well that it blocked the damage out with 100% efficiency? "It-it worked? Try it again."
"Yeah." Jane waited for Claudia to throw another attack her way, determined to give validity to this particular study, but it was severely delayed. With a lot now on her mind, Claudia needed a moment to process it.
"Shadow Wave!" she shouted, giving Jane initiative to try her shield again before the attack hits her.
Jane saw the Shadow Wave take form on the metal floor, now sliding in her direction while picking up speed and size. This was the perfect moment to use her shield ability, if it would work a second time. Luckily, Jane did not forget how she did it before. It was mainly about directing the energy to perform a specific function, but now that Jane knew what to expect, she imagined the entire scene from before happening again in her mind, bending to her desire for energy activation. She charged the small amount of MP energy it took to make it happen, and released her energy only after lifting both her arms and hands to a parallel angle of each shoulder. Jane then crossed her arms over each other to try and make the shield more effective, and then released her energy into her personal aura around her to try and make it happen again. She also needed to chant the artificial name of the new skill to make it all seem more real to her. "Power Shield!" Jane's sudden reaction was nearly instantaneous this time, as was the sudden formation of an energy field. Just as she chanted the name and released the MP energy she prepared, the same blue translucent aura surrounded her entire body again, retaining the same shape as Jane even as she moved around slightly. Jane lowered her arms just a few centimeters to see if it would disrupt her field, but it didn't happen that way this time given her new stance.
Now with a fully functioning shield around her body, Jane simply waited for the approaching Shadow Wave attack heading towards her at top speed. There was more than enough time to notice how crazy this new power shield was. All of the sounds from the outside became muffled and harder to hear. She wasn't even sure if this was the correct form of a power shield presented for her, but it remained active long after Jane initiated the shield. As the fact remained that she needed to keep her arms up to keep the shield alive, it became rather annoying quickly.
Once the Shadow Wave came really close to Jane's face, she ducked her head and shut her eyes. Even under a shield, an oncoming attack that big was scary at the range it was at now, but Jane kept her arms above her waist, forcing the shield to stay active. As Jane realized that nothing was hurting her a second later, she opened her eyes again, only to realize that the Shadow Wave was literally colliding into the aura in front of her. It was like the Shadow Wave found its obstacle, pushing against the force field while throwing out random slashes for magical damage against the aura. At first it seemed like the shield was totally invincible. Jane's position and even the shield was not budging an inch, and therefore neither was the Shadow Wave itself. Shadow Wave is an attack spell that exerts a pushing kind of force near the end of its own wave, yet Jane's feet and legs remained motionless. She couldn't feel anything at all; no pain, no damage, no force pushing her back; she was totally safe!
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
But those small sized hexagons were there again, forming all over the interior of Jane's aura. The location of these holographic hexagons was only specific to the areas from the outside reference of which sections the shield was taking the hits of damage. Because the Shadow Wave was such a big attack, the entire front end of the shield replaced a smooth ghostly texture with rough holographic looking hexagons, and that wasn't all. As the hexagons appeared, Jane suddenly began to feel weak and drained of her life energy. The Shadow Wave finally finished its line and exploded into a black cloud of dust. This small explosion created larger hexagons on the outside of the shield again, but after that, Jane just lost it. Without even trying to disperse her own shield, she felt so weak, nearly falling down to her knees as the aura faded into nothingness. It was as if her health suddenly fell close to zero, at least that's what Jane went by with her lightheadedness and her total weakness, the sensation closely similar.
Claudia gasped in surprise. That time the shield really worked again, better than before. Jane's MP level only dropped by 2% on that turn, and her HP remained unchanged. Though something seems to have drained her energy or stamina in a different way. Claudia had to conclude that running this shield while it takes damage can be exhausting, but it actually worked, much better than she thought it would. Instead of pillaging Jane with more attacks, Claudia decided to call it a day. "It's enough for now. Excellent Jane! You've just learned how to use a power shield."
----------------------------------------
Chapter Theme Shift: Recovered Knowledge ~ Jeff Broadbent [Planetside 2 OST]
----------------------------------------
Jane was breathing quicker than she wanted to, but not too much for concern. She stood back up, surprised to see that her energy scope reported no HP changes from that last hit at all. Her shield blocks all damage! But, it failed that last time, just after the Shadow Wave was through. Why didn't it stay up? Instead of asking herself, Jane headed towards her teacher again with a new array of questions.
Jane wasn't the only one with questions. Knowing that the session was now over, all of her students were in amazement, surrounding her close up and asking Claudia if they can have a turn.
"How can she do that?" "Can you teach me Power Shield?" "I didn't know there was an ability like that!"
Claudia nodded her head. The pain it will be to tell her entire class that Jane is the only one of them that can perform this ability. It would make anyone as young as Jane jealous.
"Claudi!" Jane hollered, cupping her mouth to sound louder than the rest. "My shield failed that last time!"
For some reason, the class became almost quiet with curiosity to hear what she had to say about the failing shield. Claudia already knew what it was about though. She was thus allowed to walk closer to Jane, noticing that she had already disabled her energy scope. The students all around her were so curious, yet so disconnected from the real happening with Jane, that Claudia had to temporarily ignore it for now. Nobody fell dead silent however, all too excited to pay direct attention. "I'm highly impressed that you learned how to use that shield of yours at all. And to think you almost mastered it in just less than an hour. You are a quick learner."
Jane wanted to thank Claudi for all the praise, but she didn't find the words yet. The thoughts from using that shield were still on her mind, as well as other details.
"About your power shield - I think that there are some limitations even for you. The shield's output is dependent on your concentrative ability to keep it up, and that means that the longer you run the shield, the more prone it will be to fail. That's why you need to engage your shield just a second before something attacks you, but I also think there is still a damage limit to your shield on top of everything else."
"Is there?"
"It does well to block out 100% of all damage like that, but it therefore must have a damage limitation too. If your incoming damage is too high for your shield output to handle, it will likely fail before the attack is even done trying to break it."
Jane exhaled in exhaustion. That must be why Claudia's Shadow Wave nearly flattened her. "That's not very reliable then. I can't keep it up for that long, and if I try to block a really powerful attack, it won't work all together."
"Luckily for you, I don't think that the timing and damage factor are interdependent of each other. That means that having your shield up for a longer time doesn't make it weaker against strong attacks as that time passes, but it will put more stress on your focus. I'm guessing that took a lot of concentration out of you."
"Yeah. I didn't know such a gift existed." Jane still couldn't help but sound amazed at her new power. Where was this in her training facility?
"Can I learn how to do that?"
Claudia gave her attention to Jacob, one of her more eager to learn students. "I'm sorry class, but this ability is something that only Jane is able to perform right now. She has some unique modular power conservations going on that just doesn't exist in normal people."
Jane's expression became monotone. Way to kill the mood Claudi. Now everyone will hate me for what I can do. Oh well, it's not that important.
"Is that right?" Alyssa turned the spotlight on herself, but now that Claudi was making the official announcement, it might not even matter anymore that Jane has some sort of secret. "I wonder how Jane got this unique modular power conservation. Care to explain?"
Alyssa sure sounds eager to learn about that, but Jane is the one housing that secret in the first place. "I think that's up to Jane. Do you want to explain how this works?"
Thanks a lot! Claudia must have run out of patience for keeping her spell bomb secret a complete mystery, but it wasn't just Alyssa trying to smash ice. Everyone else was hovering nearby now, quieting down and also awaiting explanations. Guess the shielding trick looked really cool. Jane didn't actually know how she looked on the outside of her own personal force field, but with such a powerful defensive ability, there won't even be a need to explain it anymore. "It doesn't matter. Now that I know how to use this shield, I can return my stats back down to normal."
Alyssa muttered, "Huh?" with a confused expression of disgust.
"What does that mean?"
Jane faced her teacher again, now ready to explain the real reason she came to this school in the first place. As bad as this secret is, hiding it won't matter, now that she has what she needs. "Claudi? I have to thank you personally. For you've just given me the one thing I need to protect myself while I'm in this state. I won't be cursed for long. Now that I can protect myself, I have the means of travel to perform the removal process of this curse."
"Uh," Claudia took a step back without moving the rest of her body in surprise. "Curse?"
----------------------------------------
Chapter Theme Shift: Our Worlds Divide ~ [Gothic Storm]
----------------------------------------
No point in keeping it a secret now. Jane could feel her heart pounding against her chest so rapidly in fear and attenuation, but she couldn't hide the truth forever. This is after all - her own doing, and now it was up to her to remove it. The reason she has such high ME levels, the reason her endurance is so low, the reason her MP can be conserved, and the reason her other powers are all out of whack... It's all because of this one thing. "I'm talking about removing this stupid tattoo!" Jane lifted her right arm up for Claudia and the students standing behind her to see. Jane glared at the top of her right hand intensely, putting as much focus as she could right into that spot. In hopes of revealing the truth even to herself, Jane activated the glyph, creating a small yet bright glowing symbol with pink and blue colorations that hovered above and inside of her right hand as if it were a holographic projection. Jane held her hand up, revealing to the entire class of people around her this one forbidden curse.
Claudia didn't believe this! A symbological marking took form on Jane's hand, with an unidentified pattern she had never seen before. This however isn't a Leray glyphring; it's an actual symbol, a magic symbol! How did she get that? When did this happen? "Wha—" she didn't mean to sound so baffled, but Jane had kept this a secret from them. Of all things, she chose to reveal it here and now? No! It can't be! "A marking? You're marked with symbols?" Claudia's fears intensified while her attention shifted to the surprised students surrounding them both. "Everyone back up right now! Back! Back!" Claudia's immediate instruction of panic forced all of her students to immediately back away for distance, while she held her arm out at Jane for self-defense, glowing in her hand to prepare a magical attack. She held it in for a few seconds, uncertain of what was going to happen here.
Jane lowered her hand down to eye level with herself, mapping the entire symbological pattern instilled on her hand while ignoring Claudia's expected panic attack. "Truth be told, it comes and goes. I rarely get to see it there, but it becomes more likely to show up whenever I use a lot of power. This symbol..." Jane tilted her hand towards Claudia again, displaying the markings by turning her hand around to show her. "Is the same exact symbol that was displayed on the unidentified spell bomb. It was a symbol that formed in the sky, appearing a thousand times this current size. It was there when I woke up from the activation, and it's still with me now."
"But, that's..." Claudia was confused, and from her peripheral sight, so were many other students seeking the truth about Jane. "The unknown spell bomb did this to you? All of it?!"
Jane exhaled calmly, allowing her thoughts to drift back into her faint memories. Danny and Taylor; they still seemed too far away right now, like a distant memory, but after Jane woke up from using the unknown spell bomb, this symbol, the same one that shot into the sky had materialized into this small spot of her hand. Jane remembered this clearly, the evening of which she was allowed to walk out of the Fronas medical facility, and the same night Danny scolded her for it. The symbol faded from their view, just before Taylor or the nurse spotted that marking on her hand while she was strapped into the bed.
Nobody other than Jane knew about this symbol. She had kept it hidden for so long, being careful enough not to let anybody get a good look at her hand. Without the mercenary outfit she had to help cover her hands, this dress sphere left them wide open. Jane recalled several additional moments in which the symbol appeared and faded again, even though it probably wasn't normal for symbols to go invisible like that. It helped her hide the shame she felt for so long...
Jane is marked. Almost nothing could change this from the moment that it happened, and now revealing this hidden truth to all of them, Jane knew what she was doing. Even if all of them are afraid of marked ones, it won't matter now that she has the means to remove it. Claudia won't just be able to tell the police about it either, since she had broken her own rules to let Jane into the school. Claudia shouldn't have been so trusting of strangers over mere excitement, but she was, and Jane used that moment to exploit her own benefit.
All of that crap about her endurance being lower than it should have, the pouting Jane performed in front of her friends back in Gulop; only half of it was real. Jane knew from the beginning that this symbol hiding in her hand was the real culprit of her failing endurance level and her horrific battling style. Going to the Den of Purity to remove this thing was the goal from day one, as it had nothing to do with fixing her endurance. Truth be told, a low endurance is bad for a battling career, but a symbol like this is worse than anything. As Jane recalled the truth of her earlier thoughts, this glowing mark never capped Jane's endurance level either. All it did was reset this stat back to ordinary conditions for the moment being, so it seemed.
There is a major difference between the glyphrings and the symbols that can appear only within Sprawn Valley. Glyphrings for example are always temporary; perfect rings or disks with different artistic designs on them. Each and every glyphring is unique, displayed differently based on what kind of magic is involved with its dispersion. The miniature graphics within the circles coated into each glyphring disk are also of the same fashion, as are symbols that may appear from spell bombs. But so called marking symbols are different. Instead of taking the form of glyphrings, symbols appear for multiple unusual purposes such as the symbols that materialize holographically in the air after certain spell bombs are activated. Additionally, some people have the power to bestow or install symbol markings on the skin of humans, giving them access to specific powers usually outside of their normal capacity. However, with the long lost city of Helix in ruins, destroyed by a short-lived civil war over two hundred years ago in the Junon region, all of the research and talent regarding symbological installing was wiped away. Even now, the research of symbols in such a manner is considered restricted by the General Army.
People who are crazy enough to wind up imbuing their own skin with secret symbols become what is known as marked ones. Being marked with a symbol is not something most people can hide from, because ordinarily, symbols don't fade invisible like the one Jane was running around with. As far as it goes, being marked with a symbol for any purpose or reason is the top of the most illegal crimes in the entire continent. Symbological research therefore is a forbidden research that was tracked and shut down long ago, but obviously, it was not totally shut down. That spell bomb Jane used had to have been some sort of illegal prototype, but the symbol on her hand is the bigger problem, wielding effects still unknown to her and others.
The battles Jane had with others especially with Danny and Taylor around were dangerous in every sense. Without full control of her symbol or its rate of appearance, Jane could have easily and accidentally revealed herself to the world, and then everything would have ended. That fight that was recorded on SN Live for example would have been the end of her career for sure, since it is illegal to have a symbol. It was invisible for the battle, but Jane knew it was a close call for that thing to show up. Even that moment on Tilsit Beach could have wrecked everything for her, but in holding all of that drive to run away as far as she could, Jane made it all the way to Lennith City. Her symbol could have been revealed in any one of those battles on Route 96. In fact, Jane was certain that the symbol did technically activate for one of them, but she kept it hidden with the assistance of her thick mercenary garb, right before ending Patrissa's plan to annihilate her for good.
Danny and Taylor are probably the biggest victims though. Jane still felt so terrible all this time lying to them both, but it was for their own good. They would notice what is wrong with the situation fast, and then never proceed to talk to her again out of fear, just like how everyone else reacts to these situations. Right now, everyone in this classroom is in a full set panic because people who have symbol markings usually have the power to topple the government singlehandedly, thus they have more than enough power to cause great harm to others. Symbol mapping was originally allowed for the design of top grade soldiers during the Avion Wars several centuries ago, but called into question by the dangers after the war ended abruptly. Jane knew she couldn't call back home either. She never had done so once since leaving Blue Port Town, and this right here is the reason. If the world knew about her symbol, her parents may be prosecuted as well.
Jane never understood why her dangerous spell bomb imbued a symbol on her hand, but this symbol is the very thing responsible for giving her all of these strange effects; the lowered endurance ratings and the increased ME capacity for magical potential. All of it, the spell's permanent effects are inside of one tiny marking that is usually phased out of visibility. Jane used Claudia's expert data mapping to draw further conclusions based on this symbol. Now, Jane revealed this glowing mark here, in front of the class, which by the way Jane didn't legally belong to either.
Claudia was right about one thing. Even experimental spell bombs should not carry so much potential, to boost one's maximum magical capacity so high in such little time, but symbols are powerful when used this way, making it all possible. The so-called marked ones these days are just a myth, a legend, but Jane has one, right now in plain sight. All of the kids including Alyssa were cowering behind Claudia, with her brave stance out in front to protect them all. This is a standard reaction ordinary people have to marked ones. As for Leray agents, they don't tolerate the existence of any who are marked, going as far to authorize lethal force on a national scale.
But perhaps the most wonderful and interesting solution to all of this is the Den of Purity. It is stated that the mage responsible for the facility can remove all effects created by permanent spell bombs, which is not limited to any effects lingering from symbol markings on people. That means that even with this development, the Den of Purity is still a good idea. Jane knew now what she had to do. With the additional power of this new shielding capacity to counter the negative effects of low endurance, the so called Alpha Zero won't be a problem anymore.
It was in this moment where Claudia realized several sudden mistakes she had just made, that and the sudden change in Jane Venn, who was now acting a lot more mature than her own age, perhaps because she had to be this tough being a fugitive in disguise. Anything could happen now. This one single girl can destroy this entire facility in the blink of an eye just because she is marked. This is bad!
"You're a marked one?" To Alyssa, it seemed like she was the only one far off the same page as everyone else. But her rage soon began building upon discovering the similar ways in which Claudia was recently exploited. "What's going on here? Why are you here harassing us in our school? What gave you the idea that you would be allowed near us?!"
"Calm down Alyssa," Claudia commanded. "I swear I didn't know about this." Please Jane! If you have any heart at all, leave us alone! Don't harm them!
"There's no need for alarm," Jane eased. She knew it was probably futile to try and calm everyone down right now. After all, she has just revealed herself as a weapon of war. "I never came here with intentions to harm anyone, nor do I harbor any such intentions right now." The students around Jane all backed away further, still untrusting yet highly knowledgeable of illegal symbols. Alyssa was the only one who didn't move an inch. "And I can't go back home to my friends with something like this on me." Jane knew that she was right. Leray agents would have her locked away forever with this development in their investigation from Blue Port Town.
Of all the laws that exist in Sprawn Valley, being marked with a symbol is treated with the most severity. The installment of symbols without master authorization from all five elites and eight master mages is defiantly against the biggest law in the book. In other words, imbuing symbols is more illegal than containing one. Even if this is just a scary accident, they'll be hunting her now as long as they really know what happened. For now, the agents investigating in Blue Port don't know all the details yet, but they will soon enough. "I'm supposed to try and become a Leray master, but battling hundreds of people and entering the League to challenge the champion might not go so well if I'm considered a cheater. Even if I do have a power shield now, I don't want this thing on me."
Claudia seemed so nervous now, and she had some good grounds to be with these developments. Her entire class was falling silent, unable to know if they should do something specific, but after the last thing Jane just said, Claudia could feel her entire heart breaking apart. Instead of unleashing her charged magic, Claudia defused the light in her wrist, sinking down while Alyssa took immediate concern by the disconnection. "That's what this is all about... I get it now... You lied to us about that symbol to protect yourself, but you still needed to find out what happened for sure." Jane isn't a hardened criminal; she's still just a victim! How horrible! She's not even a full adult, and her entire life has been ruined by this thing! Jane had the right idea calling it a curse; a curse would have been better.
Jane nodded once for yes. "If I make it to the Den of Purity, I can get the guy to remove the effects from anything I've encountered so far. Then, I get to say goodbye to all of this."
The teacher seemed to be pondering so much at once that it took her many moments to process Jane's new plan. Her nerves appeared to calm down over this moment as well, upon realizing that Jane likely has no ill will against her. Though with a twist, Claudia immediately changed her mood. "Oh no you don't!"
Jane winced back in surprise. "What?!"
Claudia quickly collected herself and reset her stance back to a solid one, explaining once more with farce, "There's only one way to currently reach the Den of Purity, and that's by traveling on foot through the Alpha Zero. It's too dangerous for anybody right now, so I can't let you just take off and do something like that."
"But, you said—"
"I never agreed to any promises or deals remotely related to getting you into the Dark Zone," she clarified. "If that's why you agreed to join the class, then I'll have to disappoint you." How dare she try this! Jane just wanted to learn an extra ability to run off and get herself killed? For what? Just to remove that symbol on her hand? Bad is it may be, this isn't worth dying over! I'm sorry Jane! I'm so sorry that this happened to you! But damn it all to hell if I'm going to let you kill yourself over it! Jane doesn't want that symbol on her hand. Most of everyone else would use that kind of power to get away with anything! But Jane doesn't share that insight. She doesn't want those dangerous power, and that's why she's been hiding her secret for so long, to remove such dangerous powers.
Jane balled up her fists, unable to accept no for an answer. Claudia was just afraid to death of her a second ago, and now everything's changed? What is it with her anyway? Isn't she going to report Jane to the FMCI for harboring a symbol in the first place? She can't be serious about wanting to prevent her from doing dangerous stunts. "You don't understand. This symbol is about to be my end, but I have a powerful shield now. I won't be in trouble even if I do go in alone."
"A power shield? That's your brilliant plan?!" Claudia noticeably tensed up again, but for different reasons. She expressed all of them while slowly marching each foot in front of the other, persuading Jane to pace backwards. "I won't let you do this. You have any idea how stupid of a risk that would be?" Without even thinking about changing her mind, Claudia cross her arms, glaring Jane in the face with her angry brown eyes. "And you're forgetting that your new shield is a Leray ability. All Leray magic's power and potential is cut in half when inside of a dark zone. So it won't even protect you then."
"Forget about protection. There is no life for a marked one! I have to do this Claudia!"
How can Jane just stand there and go along with this?! "We can talk about what to do with your symbol. I don't give a crap what any of the laws say. This situation defiantly counts as an exceptional case, but no way am I letting you into Alpha Zero. That's final!" Claudia was attempting to come to a compromise, but with Jane's short fuse, it may as well have been a threat.
Jane refused to listen to Claudia, but with her hopes shrinking down again, her eyes began to water while her voice deteriorated. "I'm a walking target with this thing on! Nobody will let me use Leray magic if I'm marked!"
Jane and Claudia were just arguing back and forth now, making the entire class synchronize in turning their heads to the moving mouths, but Alyssa had her eyes stuck on Jane's glowing hand. She had only heard partially about what being marked meant, but Jane lied to her about everything. The symbol on her hand was just small enough not to pass Jane's knuckles, and it has some strange oval with overlapping lines and an open circle in the front of it. How did she get that thing? Just when Alyssa compiled more questions filling up, Jane's symbol on her hand completely faded away, turning invisible like Jane said it had been doing.
"Yeah! It sucks!" Claudia was raising her voice to a new level. The walls in this room might not be sound proof for long if this keeps up. "But guess what. Professor Brightworth is a terrible excuse for a person, and his lair is the dark zone now. You can't just stroll right in and ask him for help. You won't even make it a mile inland before something jumps out and kills you!"
"I've come too far here to quit now!" Jane shot back. She turned to the side, ignoring Claudia's body language. "I'm going in and that is my final word. You can try to stop me all you want Claudi. I know for a fact that there is a back route that surpasses the northern gate exit of town, and when I find it, you'll just have to have faith in me. I was going to ask you for its location, but I'll just find it on my own."
"In that case, I'll just guard it myself! You don't understand the dangers beyond Alpha Zero."
Jane took that threat as a challenge, knowing it would not be enough to stop her. "And you do somehow? Good luck with your guard duty Claudia. I know an ability called Moonglow and Moon Shadow. I'll turn completely invisible under the cover of darkness, and nobody will be the wiser. See if you can stop an invisible person Claudi. I'm game."
Jane couldn't be serious, but even with more than one person at that back route, any Leray wielder could go invisible, use disorientation spells, or even long distance transference spells to break past a security sweep. However, getting more people involved just blows up her own secret too. "Ggghnnnnnah! Jane!" It was hopeless. Claudia wanted to stop Jane right here and now if she could, but the things she was saying, the way Jane was talking back to her like this, such determination just to get one task done meant only one thing. Jane was right. Claudia could do a lot right now, setting an example for the others and making sure Jane's talk is worthless, but even then, the second Jane retains her freedom again, she could just sneak right into Alpha Zero. That Moon Shadow trick didn't sound like a bluff either. In all likelihood that Jane was defiantly going through with this no matter what, Claudia sighed, reliving her stress and giving her no other option. She was beside herself in shock that she was suddenly on Jane's side, at least as far as helping her out went. "Fine. Fine! You want to walk into an veil of death, go right ahead."
Jane turned around, amazed at how quickly her teacher changed her mind. "Seriously?"
"No," she hissed. "Say what you may Jane, but you're just not experienced enough to enter the Alpha Zero and survive a minute in that place. There's a reason the GA isn't stepping in to get Brightworth right now, and you're an idiot to ignore that detail. But instead of fighting you..." Claudia hesitated. It sounded more ridiculous than anything she had told Jane all day. "Instead of fighting you, I'd like to make a deal."
"A deal?" Jane repeated.
"A deal. I'll personally train you as hard as I can for the next few weeks. It won't be anything like what we've been doing. I think we've already established your maximum capacity for learning, but I have a class here too. I'll be preoccupied with everyone. Jane, I won't give you special treatment over the rest of my students, not with training time, but since you're a so-called quick learner, it still should not take you long anyway." As much as she hated herself for trying to even allow this, Claudia hated the idea even more of this cursed woman to be found dead in the dark zone, if there were even a possibility.
"I don't have a few weeks." What is Claudia trying to prove? Doesn't she understand the risks of being alive with this symbol?
"Then you just let me know when you're ready. And believe me when I tell you that you are still not ready, not at your current skill level."
"Ready for what?"
Claudia cleared her throat before announcing the bargain. "I'll give you the final test that is the prerequisite to graduating from my class under level three advanced Leray training. The final test does not involve written exams, but instead a full battle against a certain Leray champion himself."
"A battle with the Leray champion?!" She couldn't be serious! The champion doesn't come here for battles!
Jason nodded his head in disillusion. "She must mean Cadastro." That guy is one of the elite warriors.
"Cadastro," Claudia announced. "He used to be a member of the Elite Five, but dropped out to advance his other careers and goals. Now he offers special training battles for Eldora's high league school and this facility too. We have an agreement with him. Any level three or four class that is ready to graduate from their specified levels from this facility must defeat Cadastro in a battle. We usually have specific schedules for each prepared student, and a small ceremony set up to legitimize it. If you can handle publicity in a battle, then when I've taught you more of the skills belonging to my course, I will set up a performance battle with you and Cadastro."
"So," Jane needed to recap. Claudia was really throwing her hand out for her this time. "If I learn enough from you and then declare I'm ready, you'll have me battle against Cadastro. And if I beat him,"
"Which won't happen," Claudia hinted.
"Then you'll let me into Alpha Zero via the hidden back route." Jane totally ignored her teacher's comment interrupting her own. It sounded like a good plan so far, and it seemed like a well-placed concern. Claudia just doesn't want Jane to walk in there and get her head chewed off by a horrible monster. That must be her reason for keeping Jane out, but if she can prove herself to her, then it means she should be able to survive even the worst that the dark zone has to offer. Jane hated having to force extra time in the way like this, but even she felt highly threatened by the existence of the creatures in Alpha Zero, more so thanks to Claudia's incredible concern and total disregard for the marking. Still, in that extra training time, her symbol could become news here, especially now that the whole class of 1607 knows of this dilemma.
"That is the deal," Claudia agreed. She then glanced around everywhere, searching to see that every single person of her class was present for today. All of her students that previously held their expression of absolute fear in their eyes now had nothing left but total confusion and curiosity. To their perspective, being marked is illegal no matter what, but in Jane's unique case, it was accidental, something that has never happened before. Now that they all know about this crazy stuff, it was time to set some more ground rules. "As far as that goes, I expect everybody here to keep a word of secret silenced. Nobody is to speak about symbols or markings or unusual spell bombs outside of this room. Nobody is to talk about Jane Venn's early graduation, or the upcoming battle between the subject and Elite Cadastro. Am I clear?"
"Yes Ma'am!"
Jane was surprised to see how incredibly loyal so many teens were to their own teacher, more so to her situation. Are they all really this sympathetic to her own cause? No, they must just be less afraid of the threat Jane posed than before. Still, not a single one of the students here appeared as if they were going to yap to the nearest Leray agent, a few of them even looked stoked by the sudden opportunity of keeping such a secret. It was so unusual, but it does make sense. They respect Claudia above all else. Losing her due to legal disagreements would be very bad for everyone. Maybe that is the reason...
"I want to train you for at least a week or two Jane, but you get to make the call this time. Let me know a day before, since that is how long it will take to set up that battle we talked about." Claudia checked the watch on her wrist. "And we only have half an hour left. Everybody should get ready to pack it in for today. Jane, I expect the same out of you as well. You might be one of my students now, but as I said before, no special treatment."
Jane's muscles became firm, and she responded to Claudia with respect, almost like she couldn't control herself. "Yes ma'am." It felt strange to speak to Claudia like this after that entire brawl, but Jane could sense it now. The reason Claudia was hostile about her own decision was the very concern for Jane's own safety. In just mere seconds of explaining herself, Claudia cares more about Jane's situation and condition being repaired than she does about facing the legal consequences. Perhaps Claudia would hate to send Jane somewhere in which there is no chance she could survive. Still is this the one and only way to reverse all that has happened.
Claudia turned away, going about her business to make everything seem less strange. The situation was already far past that. Everybody in the same room knew that Jane was a total weirdo, and worse a liar. Jane wondered if this was really going to work out like she thought it was.
"Uhhymm!" Alyssa cleared her throat in a sarcastic manner, getting Jane to turn around towards her. All of the other students were dispersing like their teacher was, but a few of them stayed behind, now reforming right behind Alyssa. It became clear to Jane quickly that Alyssa had a bit of unannounced friends. Was Jane finally going to talk to her now, or admit that she was a stupid liar? Who would walk into a public facility, running crazy and unusual tests and experiments with a mark on the outside of their skin? Nobody is crazy enough to try that. Then again, Alyssa had never heard or seen anything like disappearing symbols before. Jane was a mystery in herself.
Jane studied the faces behind Alyssa before apologizing. Alyssa was just waiting for an explanation, probably to interrupt and make her look worse than she already was. "I'm sorry Alyssa. I didn't know what else to say."
"The truth wouldn't have killed you."
Harboring a symbol on her body is nearly dangerous enough to get killed though. The police search for folks like that, treating them like criminals because of their likely illegal action, while any real criminals or organized thugs will see people with symbols as walking weapons and try to use them for their cause. Jane learned a lot from this in history class back at Dakota under the table, but she never imagined she would end up with one herself. "I— I didn't know what to expect."
"You aren't even officially registered in our class. That makes you - not one of us." Alyssa had another friend who was also a girl, with two guys standing in the same place too. Jane didn't know their names, except for the one Claudia referred to as Jacob.
What she just said was most concerning to Jane. All it took to ruin what was left of her life is a phone call to the police regarding that symbol on her hand. Now that Alyssa knows as much as Claudia does, she might not be so sympathetic. "The real truth, is that I didn't think you would be able to believe in such a crazy story. I needed to learn things with Claudia, not just for information either. What I was learning, she was learning. I thought she could help me."
Her voice grew loud and tense with a hint of an upsetting sadness. "All you did was try to use her," Alyssa accused. "Though you failed, you still tried. And what you do to one of us, you do to all of us. Remember that the next time you want to stab us all in the back."
"Alyssa, I didn't—" Jane stopped short of a few more words. Alyssa and her team were already leaving, walking away with their things pack in their hands. It was only now that Jane also got to see something more regarding Alyssa's physical condition. One of her friends held onto her arm, the other supporting her waste as Alyssa struggled to walk forward properly. Something was obviously wrong with her health, perhaps a simple injury that occurred only recently. But out the door they went, while others barely continued training with magical abilities. It defiantly didn't go too well. What a messed up first day back at school this was turning out to be.
Jane felt much worse when thinking back about Danny and Taylor. They were going to be so pissed off once they find out that Jane has been branded by that spell bomb. For as long as she could remember the events, Jane always hid that from them. Taylor and Danny, as well as all of her previous opponents had no idea whatsoever that there was a partially invisible symbol on the top of her hand. She had to lie to her only two friends in the world. Jane carried the notion that the low endurance bothered her the most, and though it did get to her a few times, the entire behavior was so childish. That was the facade she had to wear on herself in front of those two. Jane was now separated from her only two friends, and it didn't seem like she was about to make new friends any time soon.
Even if the entire class here was willing to swear themselves to secrecy, Jane would never be okay with herself until this tattoo fades away forever. This can't happen without making it past Alpha Zero and through the Den of Purity to meet this so called criminal. Even if Brightworth is responsible for the Alpha Zero, surely he would at least go as far to perform his own duties, perhaps due to impressions Jane would make by getting through the dark zone with minimal damage, but first she would need to impress Claudia. That won't be easy, because this entire time, Jane has been pretending not to understand what was happening inside of her, all of it was a sheer lie!
I knew. I knew the entire time that my poor battle performances were directly responsible from the spell bomb. I knew it because the symbol that formed in the sky that night became engraved into my skin. I knew because of the evidence that followed all of it. I knew why my endurance was so low the entire time, and I couldn't even tell my best friends about a piece of it. Jane knew for certain that it was a terrible mistake. She trusted Danny and Taylor more than anything in the world, and then still kept them both in the dark. If there is any light at the end of this tunnel, it will require a miracle just to see it.
----------------------------------------
To be continued...
----------------------------------------
> Liking the series so far? Click >here< to continue to the next book. Don't forget to like, bookmark, and support.