"This should be the place. It's pretty remote. Why couldn't she just give it to me at the house?" Alistair wondered as he arrived at a clearing beneath an abandoned building on the Sakura Public Academy campus.
"Oh, here she comes," Alistair said, standing up from a stone bench as his phone buzzed.
Suddenly, Alistair felt an inexplicable 'gaze' sweep over him. It was so penetrating it felt like he was being stripped naked and scanned to his very core.
"Who's there!?" Alistair shouted, looking around. The gaze wasn't hidden; the observer clearly didn't care if he noticed.
"Alistair-kun."
Mina's voice sounded right in his ear. Alistair almost threw a reflexive punch but pulled back at the last millisecond. If he'd hit her, even the Horse Talisman might not have been able to save her from being turned into paste.
"Mina?" Alistair retracted his fist but remained wary. He wasn't sure if this was a disguise.
"Mhm, it's me! I brought you something amazing!" Mina reached for a strange badge on her chest and held it out like a trophy.
"I suspect your boyfriend does not require my assistance," a raspy female voice echoed in the air. Alistair instinctively leaped back.
"Don't be scared, Alistair-kun! This is Sister Georgia. She's a mage from the ancient era. She's sealed inside this badge—well, it's actually a shield. It can definitely help you!" Mina explained with a smile.
A shield? Alistair looked at the tiny object. And there's a person inside? A 'Grandma in a ring' trope? Are you the female version of a shonen protagonist, Mina?
Alistair confirmed it was the real Mina. He could sense the consciousness inside the shield thanks to his Demon Ring's ability to perceive desire and intent. There were no negative thoughts toward him coming from the object.
"Wait, you're giving this to me? This is the gift?" Alistair realized. He didn't really need it; he had his own path to power.
"Yes! Georgia, please," Mina said to the badge. The tiny shield suddenly expanded, growing until it was a massive six-foot-tall slab of metal.
"Mina, have you started your Transcendence?" Alistair asked, frowning. He couldn't sense any 'Mystery' from her.
"No... the method Georgia told me was too cruel. I couldn't do it. So I wanted her to help you become Transcendent instead. You'll protect me, won't you?" Mina looked at him expectantly.
"Of course I will. But Mina, once you become Transcendent, you stop aging. You stay young until the day you die. Are you sure you don't want that?" Alistair took her hand and looked into her eyes. He knew no woman could resist the allure of eternal beauty.
"Transcendence keeps you young and fit?!" Mina's eyes lit up. She had been worried about the growing number of girls around Alistair. If she could stay beautiful forever, she was definitely in!
"Georgia, is that true?" Mina asked.
"Yes," Georgia's raspy voice confirmed. "Transcendent beings can use mana to lock their physical appearance." To Georgia, this was common sense, but she realized that in this modern, magic-starved world, it was a supreme temptation.
Alistair sighed in relief. He wanted her to be able to keep up with him. Besides, the idea of a "damsel in distress" who secretly had a legendary mage teacher was a fun trope to play with.