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On some level, she wanted to claim that she had missed their arrival because she'd been distracted by the announcements, but that would just be her deceiving herself. They'd obviously arrived earlier than that, seeing as they'd heard at least a part of the song. Truth was she'd just been too into the whole thing, having fun giving a little performance for her brother to pay attention to anything else.
"I'm not sure you have any grounds to talk when it comes to Charisma, Eva." She pointed out. The Shinso Vampire obviously had a lot of Charisma as well.
“I’ll have you know all mine comes from my Race and Classes.” Eva sniffed.
“Uh-huh. Likely explanation.” She wasn’t convinced. Whatever Eva might say, she’d always been vain about her looks. “What are you doing here anyway? We were supposed to be having time off.”
Eva pursed her lips a bit. “Mighty selfish of you to think everything is about you. This is still my resort and sometimes I have need for extra time. I just happened to hear singing when I arrived and decided to investigate. Lucky that I did. You clearly have talent. Although with all that useless Charisma, I shouldn’t be too surprised.”
“That’s the second time you’ve jibed at my Charisma. Are you jealous perchance?” Seraphiel did the iconic hair-flip just to annoy Eva further.
Eva just scoffed in response. “I’m simply questioning your judgement. Anyway, as I mentioned, we have a school festival coming, and everyone is expected to participate in some way. I think we just found a way you can contribute."
Now it was Seraphiel’s turn to scoff. “I’m not your dancing monkey. I’m already part of the school team. I read the rules. We’re exempt from any other club or event participation.”
She took a moment to review the announcements.
[You’ve gained the new Skill: Songstress!]
[You’ve gained the new Skill: Superstar Performer!]
[Your Skills Songstress and Superstar Performer have merged!]
[You’ve gained the new Skill: Star Of The Show! You have expertise in many different kinds of performances ranging from singing and dancing to gladiatorial battles and even quiz shows. Your vast knowledge of other universes, combined with your talent and high Charisma makes you ideally suited for the stage. Improves the enjoyment you get from performing and anyone watching your performance. Skill and the success of any performance are boosted heavily by both [Graceful] and [Charm Of The Firstborn]. Would you like to accept the Skill? Y/N]
Sure, why not? She still had a free Social Skill slot. Although…Skills that increased enjoyment? That had certain…implications.
“Are you sure? Because I think you just gained a Skill for it, and it would be a nice opportunity to level it.” Eva suggested slyly. “And while you might not be a monkey, you were just dancing.”
“Eh, it levels with any sort of performance, not just singing. Also doesn’t specify I have to perform for an audience.” She shot the idea down again, even if she had to admit that performing for an audience likely improved the Skill a whole lot faster.
“Suit yourself.” Eva shrugged. “I’ll leave you to it then. Just don’t bother me while I’m working, so no explosions.” The last one was addressed to Kaede.
As soon as Eva was gone, Kaede turned to her. "You do realize that my job will be to pressure you into performing, right? It's the obvious best way to level any performance-related Skill. Would also increase your popularity with the rest of the students. Besides, you've never struck me as someone who would mind the attention."
“It’s not about that. I just don’t want to give Eva the satisfaction. Besides. I just got the Skill. I’m certainly not going to be pushed into anything right away.” Seraphiel defended her decision, her reasoning sounding a little hollow even to herself.
"Just as long as you understand that we're not done with this," Kaede promised almost threateningly. "That said, the song sounded nice. Maybe not exactly your style, but…"
“I’m a little curious what you think would be my style, but I feel it’s better for my own mental health if I don’t ask.” Seraphiel chose to let the matter slide. “Same question to you, though. What brings you back so soon? Anything happen?”
“Not really. Just the usual drama that happens when you stick a large number of young people together for extended periods of time. Needed some time off, and this place is great for that.” Kaede explained briefly.
“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Seraphiel grinned a bit at that. “You certainly never experienced the same thing, like shenanigans with a certain nebulous organization, teen love drama, or getting transported into another world filled with magic.”
“Exactly. Nothing like that at all.” Kaede nodded, not letting even a hint of a smile on her face.
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Seraphiel agilely dodged around the kunai Kaede kept throwing at her. To give some extra challenge, she was doing this while standing on thin wooden poles on the ground. Each pole was barely large enough for one foot, and some of them bent and wobbled a lot more than others, just to make things even more difficult. [Graceful] and her high Agility were working wonders in keeping her on the poles, and both her [Precognition] and [Chronomancy], in conjunction with [Dodging] were doing the heavy lifting when it came to actually avoiding the projectiles.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Suddenly Kaede just stopped. “I think we’ve just about reached the limits of this type of training for now. You could get a few more levels to your Skills, but it’s becoming horribly inefficient. You’re going to have to spend more time in actual combat for a while to balance things out.” She explained.
“Ah, some of the other instructors did mention that there are heavy diminishing returns with training combat Skills if you don't use them in actual combat," Seraphiel remembered. "And considering how much time we've spent here at the resort lately…"
“Exactly. It’s not just the one-sided training either, but the speed at which you’ve been pushing yourself. I know you have some sort of Skill that gives you extra leveling speed, and I’m sure that one has been working overtime lately. You need to get into real battles to even things out. The efficacy of this kind of training will go up again if you use your Skills in real combat for a while. It would be better if you could get some levels from actually killing something as well. Most of your levels have come from pure Skill training after all. Usually, our students spend more time in the arrays and on the field to get some experience. You don’t really need the real experience considering your past, but mechanically you’d be rewarded for it.” Kaede gathered all her kunai with a wave of her hand. It wasn’t telekinesis, but some sort of a ninjutsu Skill.
“I think I’ll need to take part in the 2nd-class group exercises as well. I’ve soloed most of the required excursions so far, but I think I’m required to do some work with the Mage- and General-track students.” She recalled some of the requirements. “I think one of the basic requirements for Knight-track was the ability to protect our teammates.”
"Exactly. I seem to recall Mana saying something about new group exercises being arranged two days from now. Until then, go socialize or something." Kaede ordered.
Raziel had left the resort a couple of 24-hour cycles ago to spend some time with his friends as well. She didn’t want to interrupt them, so she decided to just take a walk around the academy grounds and relax. It was still early in the day, so most students were either still taking lessons, or just getting released from the instructors’ clutches. Her feet slowly took her towards the large tree at the heart of the academy.
The World Tree seemed like a much larger version of the classic cherry tree, except in many ways it wasn’t. There were no cherries to be had. Instead, the tree seemed to be constantly flowering, with pink petals slowly floating down from the old tree in the middle of the island. It had been one of the twelve holy grounds of magic back when it had still been located on the original world, and there were many legends about the thing, mostly cooked up with the wild imagination of bored students. That said, it was a fount of magical power, and had many effects over the entire academy, and everyone within.
“It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it?” A soft male voice asked behind her.
She turned her head just enough to note the reddish-brown-haired man behind her. Negi had aged somewhat. He'd been just a child when she'd seen him last, and now he looked like his father. "In a very simple way. Sometimes there's great beauty in simplicity." She responded.
Negi gave a small chuckle. “Yes, I expect you’ve seen many more exciting sights. Welcome back Seraphiel.”
“Eva told you?” She asked a bit surprised. She hadn’t expected that.
“She didn’t have to.” Negi smiled mysteriously. He’d always been quite sharp. He’d also been extremely dense at times when it came to certain subjects, but very sharp in other things. “I expect many others will be able to recognize you as well. Just as a friendly warning.”
“I suppose that was going to be inevitable.” Seraphiel gave a small sigh. “So, a Champion huh? How’s that working out for you?”
Negi grimaced a bit. “Varying levels of success. I’m doing well enough to help support the academy and keep my patron happy, but I have to admit some of the other Champions are a lot more hardcore than I am. It’s not so much level of power, it’s just…”
"You always did lack the killer instinct necessary." Seraphiel smiled a little. "Although, considering how young you were, I would've been more worried if you didn't."
"There's that, but some of the other Champions are just…I can't explain it any other way than to say they can get a bit crazy. They will stop at nothing to gain victory. I'd like to think I'm hard-working, but some of the other Champions push themselves beyond anything I've ever seen. Anything I would consider…human.” He finished a little nebulously.
“Perhaps that’s the thing. You assume they are Human like you. Just because they carry the same race name doesn’t mean they’re the same. It’s the conditions we grow up with that form us into what we are. Despite your adventures when you were young, you grew up in a relatively peaceful world. No constant struggle or war.” She suggested.
“Maybe.” Negi didn’t sound convinced, though he wasn’t rejecting the idea either. “Anyway, I looked at some of the materials Setsuna and the others handed to me. They’re quite excited about trying to figure you out. They’re still pretty far from the truth, but they’re getting there.”
“Kaede already figured it out.” Seraphiel chuckled.
“Unsurprising.” Negi smiled at that. “She’s always been special. Anyway, as a Champion, I was somewhat curious about the presence of another Champion in my academy. Especially since even my Patron doesn’t seem to know whose Champion you are.”
“Charlotte Richards.” Seraphiel threw her Mother’s name out without hesitation. No need to mention the System.
“Who?” Negi asked, confused.
“That’s the name She herself picked. I’m not sure how widely it has spread just yet.” She continued, being slightly vague on purpose.
“O…K…well, whatever. Now that I’ve seen that you’re that Champion, I can rest relatively easy. I know you’re not here to cause trouble.” He seemed to relax at the information.
“Wait. You knew I was a Champion even before knowing who I was?” That one caught Seraphiel by surprise.
“Well, you’re on my home territory. Of course, I’d be able to sense the presence of another Champion. Taking petty revenge is forbidden by the rules, but it wouldn’t be the first time some Champion decided to bend the rules.” Negi revealed.
“That reminds me, no one has bothered explaining the rules of the Champions to me.” She stated suggestively.
“Ah, usually that’s the responsibility of whoever summoned us…” He replied hesitantly.
“Yeah, I don’t think my patron is even aware of any such rules, much less bothered learning them.” She shot that down.
“Right. You’ll really need to get a proper explanation from your patron, as this would be a rather lengthy lesson. At the very basic level, Champions are expected to participate in various activities that bring their patron glory once they become active. There’s no set number, as that’s between your patron and you. New Champions get time to level and get used to this universe before they’re expected to participate. Champions are often used to resolve contests between races and worlds as well. Partially because of that, other Champions are not allowed to go after the families and friends of other Champions, unless those people pick a fight with the Champion. That one’s more of an unwritten rule, which is why some less scrupulous Champions occasionally seek to break the rule. Usually doesn’t end well for anyone involved, as the other Champions usually then band together to kill off the offender and anyone they hold dear to make a point.” Negi explained.
“I suppose it would be impossible for the Champions to have any semblance of normal life otherwise.” She nodded in understanding. “However, I’ve been here for most of the year. If I was hostile, you showed up way too late.”
“Well, that’s partially what was confusing me. You didn’t register on my wards until recently. I sensed the presence of some god at the same time. As I was also getting news from Eva, I guessed it was about you, so I wasn’t in a rush. Still, I came as fast as I could. I was in the middle of a tournament and couldn’t come before now. I am somewhat curious why you didn’t register before now, if you have any insight?” Negi asked.
“It might be because I hadn’t met my patron until then. Charlotte paid me a visit, and She’s the god you sensed.” She frowned a little. “Or was She? I don’t think you should’ve been able to sense Her presence.”
“What do you mean? The gods aren’t exactly subtle.” Negi sounded a little worried.
“Yes, but Charlotte isn’t your normal god. If you sensed Her presence, it’s because She deliberately let you sense Her. Which isn’t necessarily out of character.” Charlotte was more the type to not care.
“I really need to look into this Charlotte. A bit odd of a name for a god if I may say.” He was being careful. Some Champions were probably quite defensive about their patrons.
“That’s what I said as well!” She replied enthusiastically instead. “Although apparently it was the name of some mortal She has a connection with.”
“That…sounds odd. Usually, their name and anything associated with it is extremely important to gods. It’s the focal point of their faith after all.” Negi sounded really unsure of himself, the whole thing throwing him off balance.
"You'll only get a headache if you try to figure Her out." She patted him on the shoulder. "Anyway. I've officially been given the order by my patron, and the System itself, to take things easy and relax, so you don't need to worry."
“Good. I didn’t want to say, but from everything I’ve heard, you seem to be associated with a whole lot of trouble. You also fix that trouble, but…” He left the rest unsaid.
"But you don't necessarily want those you love to get mixed in said trouble." She finished for him.
“I know it’s unfair.” He grimaced. “But if you really are just here to relax…”
“That’s what I’ve been told. It’s not like I go out to seek trouble myself.” She explained, before muttering. “Though that doesn’t mean trouble can’t find me…”