Ding! BOOM!
A muffled explosion rocked the second floor as Alistair walked up.
"Is there a chemistry club here?" Alistair wondered. The noise came from the room labeled Manga Club.
He pushed the door open. "Holy—!"
The room was a disaster zone. Shelves were shattered, and shredded manga pages covered the floor like snow.
A head popped up from behind a pile of debris. "Alistair! You scared me!" Chitose gasped, clutching her chest.
"I think the explosion was the scary part. What happened here?"
"We... didn't mean for it to be that powerful," Chitose said sheepishly.
Alistair picked up a scrap of paper. He felt a lingering magical residue. "Magic? Does Aoi know magic?" He looked at the quiet, large-chested girl in the corner.
"Actually, we were studying a book from Aoi's family," Chitose explained, holding up an ancient-looking tome.
"Aoi's family? I thought they were just normal villagers?" Alistair frowned. When he'd gone looking for the Dragon Talisman, he'd been told she was a regular girl. Now she had a family grimoire?
"I just found out today too," Chitose said, looking away guiltily.
Alistair sighed. "And you tried to cast something? Without a containment circle?"
"Aoi used a spell called 'Radiant Array.' She can cast it instinctively because of her bloodline, but she lost control for a second," Chitose explained.
"Instinctive casting... she's a Sorcerer bloodline?" Alistair was stunned.
"Sorcerer?" both girls asked, looking confused. Alistair quickly explained the difference between a learned Mage and an innate Sorcerer.
"Whatever. I'll fix this." Alistair activated the Horse Talisman. Emerald mana flowed from his hands, wrapping around the shredded books and broken wood. Like a film being played in reverse, the scraps flew together, the wood mended itself, and every book returned to its proper place on the shelf.
Behind them, hidden by high-level invisibility, the Red-Cloaked Elf watched in awe.
"That's it! That's the energy! Pure, overflowing Life Force! He is the 'Savior' I've been looking for. This energy... even if it's incomplete, it's enough to restore the Mother Tree! And with that much vitality... the success rate for 'Conception' would be nearly 100%! Our race is saved!"
She grew so excited her mana flickered.
Alistair paused, glancing toward the corner. "Is someone else here?"
The Elf held her breath and slipped out the window. Alistair shrugged, assuming he was just being paranoid.