"Say," Gaia started while caressing the rim of her emptied wine glass. Twirling her forefinger around the rim of the glass, Gaia conjures more of the luscious sanguine wine for herself to enjoy. "Aren't today the day where you're gonna test the abilities of those kids you brought back?"

The question brings me out from my munching of a sweet Mantou, a snack that Yggdra brought out some time earlier. Recently, I've found myself enjoying the soft and fluffy texture of this Chinese bun, and the savory fillings of its larger cousin, the Baozi. It all started when little Mei, my sister Ningyo's fiancee in all but name these days, cooked up a bunch of the white goodness for our family to enjoy. Honestly, the steamed buns have been a godsend for a person who is usually drowned in work like I am. It's also a nice source of stress relief as chewing on the fluffy layers has proven to be quite cathartic. I think I should pick up on cooking whenever I am free, maybe even ask little Mei to share her recipes for the buns.

But I digress, I still need to answer Gaia's question. Swallowing a bite of the taro-flavored Mantou, I respond with. "That's right, in fact, it's already in progress."

I tap the heel of my boots on the floor, bringing up a splendorous view of an arena stretching for kilometers on end. The arena is actually a separate dimension constructed by Yggdra inside the World Tree. Using it, Yggdra has trained Elysia to be the person more than befitting of her High Elf heritage. And right now, the arena is being used to test, examine, and research the extent of the girls we rescued from Auschwitz.

What better way to see them in action than a live combat scenario?

Gaia looks down at the projection, commenting. "I see, you ain't pulling any punch in getting to know them in and out."

I nod while Yggdra has taken it upon herself to continue feeding me in my stead. Though I can't see them, I have no doubt that my cheeks are a bit rosy while my lips are curving up contently. "Right now, Einstein, Mobius, Ningyo, Mei, and the godmother of the girls are supervising the test. The test involves the seven girls, namely Mash, Sirin, Bella, Bronya, Seele, Rozaliya, and Liliya, squaring off against Elysia. Our High Elf has taken it upon herself to guide these superpowered children, quite happily at that."

Hearing my words, Yggdra and Gaia pay close attention to the battle happening in the arena. Viewing the visual projection, one can see an unmistakable pink blur dashing around the sandy shore of an island. Elysia, dressed in a fitting white bikini with a sarong sporting a lotus motif, is being chased by quite a few murderous little girls. While I don't have the full story about that one, I can hazard a guess that Elysia must have fed the girls a primer for them to be so active in tracking and combating Elysia on the island terrain. Not sure why but I have a bad feeling about it.

As the chase continues, Elysia suddenly turns around with her favorite bow, Sonnet, now appearing on her hands. Pulling the bowstring, thus prompting the creation of a pink arrow, the glowing of her weapon, and the creation of a pink kaleidoscope film in front of the arrow, Elyisa then releases it. The energy arrow crashes into the pink film before it is further energized, increasing its speed and size, turning the arrow into an energy beam which then swiftly split off into multiple smaller ones. The smaller beams of pink then zig-zag themselves toward the group of girls, with each girl having a couple coming straight at them.

Recognizing the danger (even though the beams will cause nothing more than short-term paralysis), a girl with short lilac hair, lavender eyes, and fair skin rushes ahead of the group. Wearing black and purple female knight armor with a fitting purple waist cape, the oldest girl of the bunch, Mash, planted her cross-shaped tower shield into the sand, her knight sword still in its scabbard. With a yell, Mash faces the incoming projectiles that promise nothing but stiff pain. "Shield of Rousing Resolution!"

A burst of blue particles flies out from the shield before coating Mash's armor and skin, increasing her defense against the incoming attacks. Not stopping there, the activation of her ability seems to affect the surrounding area, more specifically the beams, on a conceptual level. The affected beams are now redirected to Mash's tower shield instead. Bracing herself, Mash tanks the attack, feeling the burst of exploding energy wafting all over her shield and body. And while the explosion of energy doesn't affect Mash that much, other than making her skin tingle, it has kicked up a lot of sand around her, setting up a smoke screen of sorts. With her vision impaired, Mash doesn't quite see another arrow flying through the gaps of her defense until it's too late. Bursting out in a flash of pink light and ear-numbing sound, Mash's senses are assaulted heavy enough that she is forced to keel over, barely able to use her shield as a support.

Elysia has been smart and swift in her actions. She properly realizes that Mash tends to be the one to attract all attacks toward herself. This is partly due to her equipment and abilities that are heavily geared toward the defensive attribute. While another part is due to the lilac-haired girl's self-sacrificing spirit. A problematic attribute to have if one does not know how to reign it in.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Mash, surname Kyrielight." I spoke up, mostly to give Gaia some basis to work with. The Will of the Planet, while all-knowing for normal human beings, doesn't have enough of a reach yet to know the girls that were experimented upon. Being protected by the top people of Belka has earned them some privacy, at the very least. "A 14-year-old girl, but not normal by any stretch of that definition."

I continue, watching as the battle carries on even with Mash being incapacitated. "Mash is a Demi-Valkyrie, at least that's the term Mobius has given her, and she is the first attempt to enhance a normal human to a supernatural level. Born with a sickly constitution, much like all of her sisters, Mash is elevated to supernatural status through the abdominal methods of Lyssa, but conducted by Cocolia herself. Now, you may be wondering why Cocolia would like to experiment on her so-called children. Believe it or not, it was an act of love. She ran an orphanage for terminally ill and invalid children, the enhancement process was the only ticket that Cocolia could have grabbed to save the kids under her care. Mash has been the first child to be saved by the sacrifice of many others, a fact that she has come to accept and live on in their stead. Quite a stalwart mindset for a 14-year-old, don't you think? It would also explain her guardian nature, having taken upon herself the role of being the eldest of Cocolia's adopted children."

Hearing what I just said, Gaia smacks her tongue in derision of Lyssa's name. I keep on feeding her information. "Despite Mash's case being the first success, she had come quite close to dying. If not for Lyssa suddenly feeling pity or whatever had crossed her mind back then, Mash would have perished. It's unsure how or when Lyssa came into possession of the armor, the tower shield, and the knight sword that Mash is now equipped with, though they're unmistakably supernatural in origin. By binding Mash to a ritual alongside the entire set, Mash survived the enhancement process. That said, the enhancement provided to her is minimal, making her barely qualified as a D-rank Valkyrie."

Gaia raises an eyebrow at this, while Yggdra solely maintains her focus on me, having already learned of the information prior. Gaia goes on to ask. "So that's why she is classified as a Demi-Valkyrie? Her enhancement process is much more different than the other ones, not to mention her lacking prowess."

I nod. "Quite so. Mash lacks not just the strength, but also the ability to easily cast magics by virtue of imagination that most Valkyries can easily perform. That said, her durability when equipped with her gears is astounding. It has already been noted that her defense is likely to be tied to her willpower, something that can be trained given the time and effort. Other than that, Mash's equipment is conceptually bound to her, making her the only one to wield them. Interestingly enough, nobody knows about the origin of that set of gears. Still, some theories are floating about, with one being quickly cemented lately due to Mash's magical abilities."

"And that is?" Gain posed another query.

I take a breath, answering. "The purple armor and the sword with the red hilt, it's highly probable that they belonged to the Galahad, a Knight of the Round Table."

Gaia stops the motion of swirling her wine glass, having heard the answer. Her eyes glaze over as if checking on something far away. After a few seconds, she returns to reality. "I presume that the sword and armor came from an alternate universe or even prior to Ragnarok? Because I just checked and Galahad's personal belongings are still undiscovered on this planet."

"If it's really Galahad's stuff, then yes, it might come from a different timeline altogether. The same can be applied to the shield, I think." I added.

"And the shield is theorized to be...?" Gaia said, her curiosity growing ever so slowly as the conversation progressed.

I drop the bomb promptly. "The Round Table itself, the one object where heroes and heroines gathered around since time immemorial."

Gaia sputters, nearly losing her grip on her wine glass before managing to catch it. "Y-You! Are you pulling my leg!? It's a fucking table for Void's sake! The fucking thing on her hand is a shield in every single aspect!"

Gaia's shock is quite easy to understand if you think along the lines of myth and magical here. The Round Table has witnessed legends rise and fall, meaning it is carrying a significant amount of presence in the annals of history, both magical and mundane alike. It is the perfect catalyst to perform a magic ritual with, no doubt it's what saved Mash's life back then.

"It's quite easy to understand how the Table is, in fact, a shield now." I explained. "It's either the Round Table is, in fact, an actual shield from whence it came from. Or it's because the Table has been morphed into a shield, either by Lyssa or Mash herself. The latter is most probably because Mash's mental state at the time has had a profound effect on the artifact. Honestly, it's quite intriguing to learn about."

I then shrug. "Either way, we have floated the idea that: The more Mash unveils the mysteries surrounding her gears, the more power she can wield from them. This is reinforced by the fact that she uses a defensive ability, a skill self-buffing skill with a conceptual effect on incoming attacks."

"Shield of Rousing Resolution, am I right on that one?" Gaia said.

"Yup. Currently, due to your planet-wide suppression of magic, it's nearly impossible to cast a spell or a skill with a conceptual effect like what Mash just did. Even if Valkyries are rule-breakers, even the S-rank Kallen Kaslana isn't able to cast something that's way beyond her ability to understand. Mash, being only a Demi-Valkyrie, was able to do that quite effortlessly. This means that her equipment might have aided a lot in the casting process."

Gaia lets out an "Oh~!"

I add. "But everything comes at a cost, the more Mash draws on the artifacts she carries, the faster she will exhaust herself. Even her Demi-Valkyrie status won't be able to keep up with the rate of consumption."

Gaia nods, now sporting a vested interest in the lilac-haired girl. "Ok, now you're making me want to meet little Mash here. She would be a fine Saint or champion, don't you think?"

"Maybe." I answered. "But I reckon that Mash, and the other girls, deserve whatever bit of normalcy they can get. I will not make them torchbearers if I can help it."

"Understandable." Gaia replied. "Oh my, I think there's a new development in the arena."

And true to Gaia's words, the battle is shifting, with Mash now shrugging off her concussed state. The shielder now moves to cover for her sisters, leaving the task of attacking Elysia for others to handle. Namely, Bronya and Sirin with their impressive long-range bombardment capabilities.