The lump enlarged to the point that Ciel's throat bloated a little. If given time, it would surely explode and blast her head clean off.
But the lump suddenly retracted back, with a relieved gasp escaping from Ciel.
The pulse from the tree root stopped before returning to its lush bark and green leaves, coating them with a deep green aura.
That aura soon called for a wind that grazed upon Ciel's skin. A sigil, with simple strokes that depicted a tree, soon appeared at the back of her hand, glowing with vitality just like the tree's.
As the breeze calmed down and the green aura dissipated, Ciel made a command instinctively to the sigil.
As the symbol glowed an eager green, a staff flickered into existence for Ciel's grip.
It was made of healthy wood with a simple blunt tip in the end, decorated with a small leaf that stubbornly attached itself.
Amusement washed over Ciel's look before a panel explained her first-ever weapon.
[ Item: Everangarde's Staff - Umbra (Lv 20) ]
[ Description: A staff imbued with the last trace of vitality from the Drudic Leader ???. The spirit from within was watching you with caution.
Currently contracted to deliver the staff back to its homeland and kill the Queen of Fire.
INT + 10 when holding the staff. Potential to reach Lv 100 with more stat points and investment. ]
A spirit within, was it?
The staff trembled on its own, as if it were a form of grumbling.
Ciel soon responded to the cute gesture by patting the wooden body, her expression casual. Regardless of past grudges, she wished for only the best of relationships ahead.
She had read about the grading system from torn records. Common, rare, epic, and then Umbra were descriptors of such items, and obtaining a staff with an Umbra grade was a huge find.
The Witch soon unsummoned her first-ever weapon to head back, only to instead stop at a tingle over her skin.
She narrowed her eyes into the tree's shadow where the shadebeast most frequented. Contrary to her expectations, footsteps echoed in the silence, the sound light enough to suggest they belonged to a human.
Eventually, a woman dressed in an academy uniform invited herself out with an amused gaze.
Ciel observed: a shade, vivid and revealing, coiled within the intruder's irises. Paired with the unnaturally stiff face and a hunched posture, Ciel recognised the intruder's true nature.
"...a mimic?" She frowned, her palm opening to ready her staff summon.
The student, or rather, the mimic, wore a wide smile before nodding stiffly.
Mimics were shadebeasts that were shaped like slimes, but held the capability to invade and possess a corpse, at the cost of inheriting only half of the original owner's ability and mana.
Yet by wearing human skins, they could easily invade the society in broad daylight, not needing to retreat when the dawn rose.
The mimic before her spoke. "We welcome your arrival, our Queen."
Then, it aimed with its hand. "And may we meet at the Black Sea yet again."
Swoosh. The mimic blasted an arc of wind to Ciel, its edge dark and sharpened with precision.
Ciel's instinct, honed through countless battles, allowed her to leap aside as the bladed wind chewed through where she was, leaving a thin cut mark.
The mimic aimed again, but froze when Ciel ran towards it and closed the distance.
Upon reaching an arm's distance, Ciel summoned her staff to stab the mimic's stomach, eliciting a groan.
Another wind blade came hastily. Ciel tilted her head aside, allowing a strand of hair to be sliced off.
She muttered out with mana gathering at the staff's tip. "Moonblast."
A pure-blue ray burst forth and pierced through the mimic's stomach, as Ciel's cold eyes stared into the bloody hole she gifted to her kind.
The mimic stumbled, its trembling feet backing away until it leaned against a tree with hushed breaths.
Its hand that traced the air, however, gave away everything.
Ciel didn't say anything at its last-ditch effort to attack. With a raise of her staff, another ray of light boomed and splattered apart the top half of the mimic's head.
Its body, lacking a brain to coordinate it, collapsed to the floor, unable to gather its mana and fight back.
Though this time, no groans escaped from it, as if the need to 'fake' its emotion, pain, or fear was no longer there.
Instead, a genuine joyful smile invited itself at what remained of its face.
"We knew it… you're perfect as you are… Ciel…"
At the wake of morning, dawnlight weaved through the forest's darkness, enveloping both the shadebeasts.
[ Bounty Ledges: Unlocked ]
[ Slay more of your kinds to unlock further upgrades to base stats. The humanity is counting on you, former Queen. ]
[ You have slain a mimic. The first bonus stat will be allocated in advance. ]
[ MP: 130 -> 145 (bonus added upon
[ Slay three more ??? to choose your upgrade next (SP + 1; HP +10; MP +10). ]
Her first feat as a witch, reduced to a mere 'bonus' to the System's liking.
Ciel's eyes remained locked on the mimic's corpse. Despite the warmth in her skin, she couldn't celebrate greeting the first dawn she witnessed alive.
A mimic was just like any other shadebeast, an empty vessel engineered for the extinction of humanity.
Mindless that they were, at least a singular purpose drove their every action, not like Ciel's simple resolve to survive, which had long been polluted with unhinged bloodlust.
She hadn't even had many chances to encounter a Queen, the only lucid type of 'shadebeast' that held the capability of speech like a mimic.
Thus, Ciel didn't know: who the 'we' the mimic referred to, why it knew her name, or why it seemed so happy dying at her hands.
Then she realised that throughout the millennia, Ciel never properly communicated with her past brethren.
Ciel's eyelids fell, her staff driving into the corpse's heart with another blast readied.
Some mimic could regenerate, she told herself. Thus, that corpse must be completely out of sight, she lied to herself.
The world is better without 'them', she confessed to herself.
Yet before she could incinerate it, a familiar grasp clenched onto her shoulder, the gusts from Summer's landing just now dying at her feet.
Ciel's nose tickled at the sweetness of shampoo, then glanced up to meet the Dragon's unfaltered gaze.
A bathrobe adorned Summer's body, her voluptuous figure unhidden even beneath the thick fabric.
Ciel whispered, adjusting her skirt-like pyjama. "Miss Dragon."
She didn't know what sentiment her voice let slip, but Summer made a funny face in response.
The draconic eyes moved at the staff, the mimic, then back to Ciel, despite already witnessing how everything unfolded through the Spell on her.
A frown flashed through Summer's brows. "I suppose you have a grand reunion, with our academy's most welcomed… 'guests', no less."
Ciel blinked dazedly before Summer patted her head, the gesture surprisingly tender and filled with no hostility from before.
"I was going to just dissect you, but putting you through our examiner's game seems like a much more efficient interrogation." Summer cut off Ciel's thoughts. "Interested in our academy exam? Though I will not promise you returning alive."
Was it inspired by her efficient dispatch of the mimic? She earned access to the academy's exam quite easily. Quite suspiciously, too.
Ciel chuckled in defeat, but wore a lovely smile afterwards.
"Sure."
The dragon's lips twitched, as if not expecting Ciel's immediate, casual agreement.
Though the next request by Ciel irritated her so much that her doubt crumbled apart.
"Then will I stay in your house before entering the academy?"
"No."
An instant rejection. Summer made a funny face, then continued.
"I will organise a dormitory room immediately."
"Ah. But can the roommates and flatmates really suffer a Queen, who may or may be hiding her power, living under their roofs?"
"..."
The Dragon sent a quiet, menacing glare at Ciel.
With a groan, she lifted Ciel with wings unfolding, preparing to take them to the sky.
Unsummoning the staff, Ciel smothered her head into Summer's firm chest. "I take the silence as a consent?"
"Enduring you just happened to be more preferable." Summer sighed. "Be quiet, Ciel."
Ciel's eyes then closed, allowing the sleep to take over with fulfilment.
Because it was her first time hearing Summer acknowledge her name.
It completed her, even if the Dragon didn't mean it.
Yet as she fell asleep from tonight's events, she missed the glint of regret from the Dragon's sharp eyes.
She couldn't help it: the girl felt way too fragile in her arms.
-----------------
Status Screen:
[ Name: Ciel ]
[ Status ]
Name: Ciel
Race: Witch, Queen(?)
Mastery: Moon
Level: 4
HP: 70/70
MP: 150/150 - > 165/165
SP: 0
[ Stats ]
STR (Strength): 5
AGI (Agility): 7
VIT (Vitality): 5
INT (Intelligence): 11
CHA (Charisma): 15
[ Racial Trait(s) ]
[ Skills ]
[ Spells ]
[ Note – Queen's Bane System ]
Awaiting Upgrades: Tarot Shuffle