The bombshell he dropped was enough to stun everyone other than Tristan into silence. “T-t-that…can’t be…true…” Edna mumbled. “Oh my, that is…” Michelle was equally stunned, and even Magnus was silent, apparently unable to come up with something to say. Noticing Edna about to cry, Tristan hurriedly tried to assuage her.

“Not that that’s a bad thing! There are plenty of human like races out there, like Zephyrs, or Orcs, or Elves!”

That didn’t really make her feel better. Having that fact confirmed was probably quite a shock.

“But, I mean, she’s no different from a regular human being,” he continued after Magnus and Michelle had calmed Edna down. “Physically, her body is the same, but it’s her magic energy. It’s off the charts, frankly, and her mana circulation is far too different from a human’s to be considered as such. She may have a physical body, but I suppose you could consider it a ‘shell’ of sorts, a physical manifestation of pure magical energy! I’ve never seen anything like it,” Tristan said.

“A manifestation…of magic energy?” Edna queried, not sure what he was talking about. Magnus closed his eyes, than nodded. “Well, that’d certainly explain the crystal ball,” he said. “The closest being I can relate her to is that of a natural born magician, or perhaps, given how primordial the magic is, more like an Elemental, but with a human body! Well, in that regards, I suppose she’d be closer to a Zephyr…”

Elementals were primordial beings of magic, and were very strong in their affiliated element, but, they were at best amorphous beings with no set shape; and didn’t have much of a conscience or will of thought.

They were quite dangerous to deal with, though their magic cores were a valuable resource used in magitech and enchanting items. Natural born magicians were basically the same as humans, but unlike humans, who weren’t always guaranteed to use magic, or even become powerful with it, natural magicians were always guaranteed to be able to use magic, and were often more powerful than regular human wizards.

Magnus slowly nodded once more. “Yes, that seems a reasonable statement. So you think she’s a natural born Magician?”

“Well, I’d say she may as well be one, if it wasn’t for her magic and mana. But, I think it’s best if we chalk her race as that,” Tristan agreed, and then continued his report. “Moving on, her internal body temperature is 120 degrees, rather than the usual 95.6 degrees. Fevers, for the intent of killing disease, can cause the temperature to go as high as 110 degrees, but any higher than 100 and it will start to suffer damage as a result. However, her natural temperature seems to be 120 degrees, well above that. To be frank, it’s basically impossible for her to get sick, since no illness can possible survive in her.”

Well, that certainly explained her unusual warmth, and the fact she never got sick. “As a side note, she seems to have a high resilience towards flame and cold. It’s impressive how resilient she is at her age; we think that as she gets older and practices, she may become totally immune to heat.”

Magnus looked surprised at that. Total immunity was not impossible for wizards- most had at least some sort of resistance towards their affiliated element (while contrastingly having a degree of weakness towards that element’s opposite), and elemental resistance could be boosted through talents, spells, and potions.

Immunity was even possible, albeit temporarily, with higher tiered spells. But natural immunity to any element was basically unheard of for humans, and for Edna, such a thing was achievable. “Wow, that’s amazing!” Michelle said, genuinely impressed. The resilience to heat and cold explained why she was able to eat hot foods without trouble and go through snow without a coat.

“Her magic affinity is solely fire, and it’s absurdly strong at that; the strongest we’ve ever seen. It’s equally baffling how despite that, she doesn’t seem to have much of an aversion towards cold, which should be her natural weakness.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Well, that’s just because of her body temperature, isn’t it?” Magnus asked. Tristan nodded once. “But, that’s not all. Her body may have its perks, but it has it’s downsides…”

“Like?” Tristan sighed at Magnus’ prompting. “Well, for one, due to her high temperatures, she cannot sweat, though, I suppose her body has a way of naturally taking care of any issues that may arise from that. She cannot physically cry, as well.”

That part was quite depressing, but what he said next was even more depressing:

“Furthermore, although her body is basically human and it would be possible otherwise, the high temperatures mean she can never bear children.”

“Oh…” Michelle quietly mumbled. "What's that mean, Magnus?" she asked, but was instead answered by Michelle. “…I’m so sorry, Edna…” Michelle hugged Edna in an attempt to comfort her. Despite not really understanding, Edna gratefully took it.

“Now then, moving onto physical and mental aspects…her range of movement is good for someone of her age; there are no bone deficiencies or weak muscles or anything of the sort. Her literacy skill is a little below average, but adequate for normal conversation. Reading is below average, and general knowledge is also below average. In contrast, however, her language comprehension is quite high, as is her critical thinking skills, memory, and general comprehension. She can easily learn that which she does not know.”

Tristan smiled wryly towards Edna as he read the next part. “As for development, her body is a bit small from malnourishment, but not as bad as one should expect, we think it’s most likely because she obtained her energy and nutrients from the mana that is naturally latent in the air. It’s too early to conclude, but her growth shouldn’t be stunted. Mentally, she’s quite stable, but, as with others with her affinity for fire, is emotional. Uniquely, she seems to have quite a sensitive sense of touch, as well as an apparent reliability on physical contact, suggesting either a sheltered life or a mother who doted on her far too much.”

Edna cast her eyes to the side guiltily, considering the latter was at fault. She was a bit handsy, as some might call it, and even craved physical contact. She wasn’t quite old enough to be ashamed of it, though she was aware that it might be a problem when she was older. “Yes, I’ve noticed that,” Magnus said dryly, casting a glance at Edna, who was still holding his hand. “Though, will it become an issue?” he asked.

The man hesitated. “Well, she shows some naivety, given her willingness to easily hug anyone who asked. It’s quite amazing for her to be like that, given that she grew up in such a rough environment,” he admitted. Magnus laughed. “That’s probably because she had an exceptional mother!" he patted Edna on the head, ruffling her hair. "The girl is surprisingly sharp; when I first met her she was unwilling to trust me because I was a stranger. It'll be pretty easy to break her out of it, I think."

“A valid plan, if there ever was one,” Tristan said. “She’s won the hearts of our nurses, that’s for sure.”

“Really?”

“Yes…unfortunately, they indulged Edna too much with cuddling, so your job is probably going to be a lot harder than before.”

“Surely you jest?”

“Considering it’s you, I’m glad I’m not.”

“How dare you!” The two bantered for a while, much to Edna’s amusement, but eventually, the testing was over, and she found herself exhausted. “Are you tired?” Magnus asked her. Edna nodded, rubbing her eyes. “No doubt a lot happened today, and you’ll need a lot of time to process it…” he patted her head gently. “…keep the fact you’re not human a secret, ok? You’re nothing like we’ve ever seen before, and unless you’re incredibly unlucky, no one will be able to tell you’re something else. For what it’s worth,” he said, trying to cheer her up when he saw downcast she looked after he brought up that dreadful fact that she wasn’t human, “you’re more human than most people, and that’s what counts.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah, really. Now then…” he reached up and scooped her up in her arms. Surprised at the gesture, Edna let out a startled shriek. “I’ll carry you to the carriage, so get some sleep, ok?” Magnus told her. Being embraced like this…was very nice. She felt warm and safe, and before she knew it, she was in a deep sleep. “We were lucky we caught her when we did,” Magnus said softly. “Hm?” Michelle, who was walking beside him, tilted her head.

“Given her latent power, who knows how much damage she might’ve caused without supervision?” Michelle chuckled uneasily. “I don’t want to think about that…” she gazed warmly at the sleeping girl. “…she’s awfully trusting though, how do you plan to break her out of that habit?”

“I know I said it'd be easy, but honestly I'm still trying to think of a good way to do that….”