Having lain in the dormitory the whole day, Kate felt groggy all over, and it was only toward evening that she cleared up a little.
Divine Flames or whatever—the taste was far too overwhelming.
The last time collecting a System reward had left her this badly battered was the very first time she'd received half of Old Man Dumbledore's Mana.
But back then, every one of her base attributes had been appallingly low, so suddenly taking in that much Mana and being unable to control it was only natural.
Now, however, her attributes averaged 40 across the board—higher than most adult wizards—and a few individual stats could even arm-wrestle with Voldemort's.
And yet, receiving this spell had still dealt her no small mental shock...
Truly enough to make one's hair fall out.
She instinctively touched her own hair and smacked her lips. She hadn't cut it in over half a year, and it had grown long enough to tie up.
Better to just cut it short—too much bother to manage.
Struggling up out of bed, she sat down in front of the mirror, and the instant she lit the room with a tap of her wand, Kate couldn't help freezing for a moment.
Her originally smooth, glossy silver hair looked as if it had been highlighted with bright red dye, gradienting all the way down from the roots, fading from pure silver gradually into a flame-like crimson.
Luckily the proportion of red wasn't large, so if she tied it up it could still be covered.
"System, what's going on here?" She summoned the System straight away.
[The Host's own attributes are not high, so when receiving the Chongli Divine Fire, her appearance was influenced to some degree by its power. Once the Host raises her attributes to their utmost, the anomaly can be erased.]
"Utmost? What value counts as the utmost?"
[An average attribute of 90 or above.]
Goddammit!
Kate was left speechless.
Wouldn't that take seven or eight years of grinding?
She sat dumbstruck for a good while, then carefully inspected every part of herself in the mirror again.
Thank goodness—from the outside, only her hair had changed noticeably. As for the rest, it was just that her complexion had a bit more rosy color to it, nothing serious.
Resigned to her fate, she combed her hair up and cast a Confundus Charm on it, finally hiding that streak of strikingly unconventional red within the silver.
There, white hair looks more pleasing anyway!
Having lain in bed all day, only now that she was sitting up did she feel like her stomach could no longer hold out.
Kate searched for ages before finding the little snacks the old butler had forced on her before term started.
She had never much cared for these little trifles, but under abnormal circumstances they'd do well enough to line her stomach.
A few bites filled her up. She glanced at the clock—it was already nearly eight, and her condition was decent enough now that she could try out the Spell Extension she'd leveled up.
As for the Chongli Divine Fire… she wouldn't dare test that indoors. A spell like that, where one try could mean death—how could she possibly attempt it without an absolutely safe place?
There was no need to test the clone either. Though her Spirit had already reached 49 points, in theory she should need 60 Spirit to perfectly control two clones.
So… better to test the Grand Summoning Spell.
"Let me see—who will be the first human I summon!"
Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she adjusted her Mana to its current optimal state, then incanted and gave her wand a thrust—
After a blinding white light, Kate opened her eyes at once, and saw a hooded, white-haired girl with a dazed, adorable look written all over her face standing inside the summoning circle, staring wide-eyed back at her.
"Uh…" Her social-anxiety trait flared up instantly. Kate swallowed hard with difficulty, raised a hand, and said, "Hello, I'm the one who summoned you. The details are very complicated, I think—…"
The girl blinked, then broke into a smile: "So this is what you looked like as a kid, huh, Kate-chan!"
Being suddenly called by name, Kate's eyes widened in surprise: "You know me? Have we met before?"
"In my time, we've already met many times," the girl said breezily, plopping straight down cross-legged and gazing up at her with a smile brimming on her face. "But in your time, this should be the first time we've met."
Not understanding, Kate crouched down along with her. "I… you mean, in the future I'll summon you many more times?"
"Summon?" The girl's eyes rolled, the smile on her face growing all the more radiant. "Then let's just call it summoning!"
Hsss… this was a bit complicated.
Kate smiled awkwardly, her brain spinning at top speed.
The Grand Summoning Spell randomly pulled someone from along their timeline—which was to say, from her perspective, this was her first time summoning the other person, while from this girl's perspective, she had already met Kate many times.
Although the concept of this unfamiliar friend was a little odd, logically it still held up.
"Hello, nice to meet you for the first time," Kate said obediently, reaching out a hand to her. "Since you already know my name, then I wonder what I should call you?"
The girl stroked her chin thoughtfully, then suddenly grinned mischievously: "Don't be fooled by how young I look—actually, I'm old enough to be your granny! So call me Granny!"
Ah, this…
Kate shrank back, regarding this girl who was about the same height as her with the look one gives a weird auntie. "Granny?"
"Yes, good granddaughter!"
The girl positively shook with laughter, the very picture of someone teasing her for fun.
The corner of Kate's mouth twitched faintly, and she simply stood up, muttering to herself: "This summoned person won't behave—maybe I should just summon a new one."
"Eh! No, no, no!"
The girl stood up too, wanting to step out of the summoning circle, but her body staggered and she pitched straight forward.
"Careful!" Kate started, immediately stepping forward to catch her.
Only she hadn't expected that, although the other was a good five-foot-something in height, her weight would be unimaginably light.
Kate, having used too much force for a moment, lost her footing and tumbled into the summoning circle together with the girl in her arms.
"Mmgh ah..."
Her body instinctively shielded the girl beneath her—one hand cushioning the back of the other's head, the other arm half-propped against the floor. Kate squeezed her eyes shut in agony, unable to keep from crying out in pain.
That snapping sound just now… it must have come from her bones, right?
The bones of a minor break all too easily.
Only once the pain had subsided enough to be bearable did she open her eyes, drenched in sweat, and realize that she now seemed to be pressing down on the girl's soft body.
"Ah… s-sorry!"
Startled, she sprang up at once and hurriedly backed away a good distance—but the bones of her right hand, rubbed again, throbbed with waves of pain.
She couldn't help knitting her brows, reaching to grope for the wand that had fallen on the floor to ease the pain, when the girl before her suddenly sat up and extended a slender fingertip.
A surge of Mana welled out from her fingertip, and almost in an instant a gentle white light wrapped around Kate's right hand, healing it.
Such powerful Wandless Magic...
"Thank you!" She lifted her head at once, only to find that the girl's body had already begun to gradually dissipate.
"You haven't told me your name yet!" Kate immediately lunged forward, wanting to grab her, but clutched at empty air.
The girl smiled faintly, and before dissipating, mouthed a few words, then vanished along with the summoning circle.
"My name—is Merly."
Kate's heart jolted. She tried to throw herself forward, but lunged at nothing.
Merly?
The gender-swapped Merlin from FGO?
White hair, a hood, not quite five-foot-three… the design did seem to be a bit of a match.
Then could it be that King Arthur had become Artoria too?
As someone who was no enthusiast and had only seen FGO-related fan art—the racy kind—across the various social platforms, Kate began to feel a little regretful.
What use was looking at all that lewd art? Learning a bit more relevant knowledge before transmigrating was what really mattered!
Oh well, it wasn't a big problem now.
The wizards of this era still prayed to Merlin, not to Merly.
Which meant this Merly was very likely just someone who happened to share a name with the gender-swapped Merlin from her memory—otherwise history would have been thrown into chaos.
"...Or maybe I should try summoning Artoria instead."
After agonizing over it for a good while, she still raised her wand, meaning to give it another try—only to belatedly realize that the Mana inside her seemed to have gone empty again.
Heavens above—wasn't it supposed to support three uses of the Grand Summoning Spell? Her Mana had grown so much; how could it be used up this quickly?
"System, could it be that summoning humans consumes more Mana?"
[Yes—and moreover, the Mana the summoned person uses to cast magic comes from the summoner herself.]
So when Merly healed her just now, she'd actually been using Kate's own Mana?
For a moment Kate was at a loss for words.
Never mind—by Merly's own account, they were bound to meet again someday, so she could ask then.
Habitually rubbing her head, Kate realized that the splitting headache from the mental shock had already completely vanished.
Was Merly's healing magic really that miraculous?
Next time she summoned her, she absolutely had to wheedle this trick out of her.
Cheerfully opening up the System—even though her Mana was drained, she still had to exercise her body and squeeze every bit of wool out of the System.
One hour later...
[Ding! The 28-day monthly exercise quest has been completed. Reward obtained: 5 Attribute Points!]
Checking in 28 days each month—this was a perk Kate had negotiated from the System half a year ago. Except for February, she could rest two or three days every month.
After happily allocating her points, her personal attributes were once again improved.
[Charisma: 40]
[Strength: 41]
[Agility: 40]
[Spirit: 50]
[Vitality: 72]
[Luck: 32+5]
[Mana: 66]
[Academy Reputation: 47]
[Family Reputation: 18]
Thanks to the Chongli Divine Fire, her Spirit had already met the school-year target ahead of schedule. Next, all that remained were Strength, Agility, and Luck.
But merely receiving the Chongli Divine Fire had left her in agony—she had no idea what it would be like when she actually used it.
Kate had already decided: unless it was absolutely unavoidable, she would not lightly use this spell before her average attribute reached 70.
Which was to say, she couldn't use it until before her fourth year, and the only offensive means currently available to her were the Fierce Fire Charm and the Bluebell Flames.
Both were fire—it looked a bit monotonous.
But thinking back to yesterday, when she'd traded blasts with Harry and the Bluebell Flames had taken on a scene as though they'd come alive, Kate found some ideas forming in her mind.
It seemed she'd have to find someone tomorrow to test it out with her.
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