Chapter 99: Advancement (3)
Chapter 99: Advancement (3)
“Now then…next, Feng Mian,” Song Qian Long said after Yu An Xue accepted her reward.
“Yes!” Feng Mian replied, walking up to his desk, fidgeting excitedly.
“Hm…from the information I have here…you possess the Ice, Shadow, and Poison elements. An overall assassin-type, correct?”
Feng Mian nodded several times, and Song Qian Long smiled as if he had just thought of something.
“Well, I think I have something here that you may like, then…” he murmured mysteriously as he pulled opened his own Space Locket in the form of a ring and took out what looked like a purple cloak. “Here.”
Feng Mian appeared confused, but took the cloak in his outstretched arm regardless. “This is…?”
After closing his Space Locket again, Song Qian Long began explaining.
“This is called the Cloak of Invisibility. Like its name implies, it provides its wearer with invisibility, making it a perfect piece of equipment for assassins like yourself. Go on, try it on.”
“C-Can I?” Feng Mian asked just for confirmation, eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Go ahead,” Song Qian Long replied with a warm smile, not unlike that of a doting grandfather.
Hearing this, Feng Mian happily tossed the cloak over her head and wrapped it around herself. “D-Did I disappear?”
“No, not just yet,” Song Qian Long wagged his fingers a bit. “You have to imbue some mana into the cloak for it to work. It is a Magic Artifact, after all.”
“Oh, right!” Feng Mian slapped her own forehead. “Ah…sorry, I got so excited I forgot…”
Saying this, Feng Mian closed her eyes and began channeling her mana. Suddenly, a faint purple glow enveloped the cloak she was wearing, and she vanished from sight. I discretely ran a Detect Presence on the area, and was shocked to find even her presence was completely erased. Undoubtedly, this was a very beneficial item, especially for those who moved in the shadows. This would make assassination or espionge missions so much easier…
All of us were stunned at what just happened, with the exception of Song Qian Long. He wore an unfazed expression as if he had expected this all along.
“Congratulations, student Feng Mian. You have successfully activated the artifact.”
“Really?! You guys can’t see me anymore?!” Feng Mian exclaimed.
From our perspective, it appeared as if a voice came out of nowhere. My heart skipped a beat, but soon came back to realization. “Holy shit…yeah, I’m going to have to get used to this…”
“Feng Mian…you scared me just now…” Qing Yue murmured, clutching to my arm as if it was the last strand of hope in her life.
“Oh, um, sorry…”
Although I couldn’t see her, I could almost picture her head drooping apologetically. Personally, I thought the gesture was hella cute and made me want to cuddle her, but that’s a secret I would take to the grave.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Yu An Yan hurriedly cheered her back up. “More importantly, we know it works, so you can deactivate it now.”
It seemed like a natural enough request, but what ensued was a prolonged period of uncomfortable, awkward silence.
“…”
“…?”
“…H-How do I deactivate this thing…?” Feng Mian asked at last, stuttering from embarrassment.
Oh. So that’s why she remained silent just now…but it is a valid question. If the artifact was activated through injecting mana into it, then to deactivate it you should drain mana from it, no? But, see, the problem is, we don’t have any way of doing that. Adding and removing mana were two completely different things, after all.
Yu An Yan seemed to have the same thoughts. “Why don’t you just take back the mana you put in?”
Feng Mian sighed. “That sounds easy, but how exactly do I do that?
Hearing this, Yu An Yan fell into silence once more. However, then, a certain old geezer cleared his throat.
“Ahem…I think you young ones are all overthinking it,” he said exasperatedly.
“Huh?” the five of us all turned to look at Song Qian Long (well, at least, I assumed Feng Mian did as well).
What does he mean, overthinking it…? Wasn’t it only natural to think doing the opposite would reverse the effect? I mean, I understand this rule didn’t really apply in real life most of the time, but it was the logical to think when it came down to magic. In this case, the only other ‘doing the opposite’ I could think of was to remove the cloak completely…oh, wait.
“All you have to do is take off the cloak to become visible again, no?” Song Qian Long laughed heartily.
Yeah…as much as I would like to deny it, he’s right. We were completely overthinking it. I didn’t even need to use Psychic Magic to read what was going on in the minds of the girls right now. Undoubtedly, they all wanted to facepalm very badly. Hell, I wanted to as well, for not realizing sooner.
After several awkward moments of silence once again, Feng Mian took the cloak off, and she was immediately visible again. After placing it down on the table though, we noticed something weird.
“Huh, that’s interesting…it doesn’t render the part of the table it’s being placed on invisible,” I noted. The cloak, upon being removed from Feng Mian’s body, was now mysteriously back to its original, purple form. Contrary to all expectations, it didn’t make anything placed underneath it invisible.
“The artifact only functions when worn by a living being,” Song Qian Long explained. “Otherwise, it would be very inconvenient, no?”
That certainly was true. If the cloak worked on literally anything it was put on, biotic or abiotic, then it would really be troublesome if say, for example, you lost something and were looking for it. If it was just lying on your table, just beneath the cloak, you would never be able to find it until some day you decide to randomly touch that specific spot and realize what should’ve felt like wood (or whatever your table is made out of) felt like a smooth silk instead.
“In any case, student Feng Mian, are you satisfied with this reward?” Song Qian Long asked after seeing us fall into silence.
“H-Huh?! Yes, of course! In fact, this is a bit too much…” Feng Mian replied in a fluster, trailing off a bit at the end.
The principal nodded. “I see…that’s good. Then, next up is you, student Yu An Yan.” He clapped his hands together as he said ‘then’, and pointed at Yu An Yan. She tilted her head, as if asking ‘me?’ in a cute way.
Song Qian Long smiled as he understood the meaning behind Yu An Yan’s gesture. “Indeed. Just giving your sister a Divine Weapon would be unfair, no?”
Yu An Yan’s eyes widened at this, and to be fair, so did the rest of ours. “You don’t mean…” she began.
“I have a feeling you are on the mark,” Song Qian Long replied with a smile. Saying this, he pulled out a long box from within his drawer, similar to the one he gave Yu An Xue. “Here.”
Yu An Yan took the box carefully, and opened it up. What was awaiting her…
“No way…how do you have not one, but two of the Six Divine Weapons?!” Yu An Yan exclaimed in surprise. She took out the Magic Artifact within the box, and held it within her hands, examining it carefully.
“That is…the Axe of Fire…Flaming Dance…” Yu An Xue murmured in surprise.
Just as Yu An Xue said, within Yu An Yan’s hand was a battle axe nearly as big and tall as the person holding it. The rod was black and looked relatively safe to touch, but the head of the weapon was extremely sharp, and more importantly, ablaze with deadly orange flames.
I gulped. “Uh…Yu An Yan? I know you have affinity for the Fire Element, but is holding that massive weapon literally on fire not hot?”
She shook her head. “No, not at all…in fact, quite the opposite. The handle feels cool and comfortable to hold. The weapon itself is also quite light, despite how large and heavy it seems from the outside.”
“Huh…I see…” I muttered in reply.
Was this the power of one of the Six Divine Weapons? Cool and hot at the same time, customizable weight, and literally a weapon of mass destruction? I wasn’t jealous. Nope, not one bit.
“Well? Student Yu An Yan, do you accept this reward?” Song Qian Long asked with a grin that didn’t suit his age on his face.
Unlike the two before her, this girl accepted the artifact without a second thought. She looked brimming with confidence at being able to wield this weapon well and using it to its maximum potential. I knew her personality had undergo a change due to all the shit with Ghosteye and the Midnight Syndicate, but still, it was hard to imagine she used to be the same cold beauty Yu An Xue once was.
Well…Yu An Xue still is kind of a cold beauty, I guess? Ever since her sister came back, she’s softened up a lot more. Even the way she’s talking has become a lot less ruthless and became more shy and cute. Still, she refuses to talk to anyone she doesn’t know, so I guess she really hasn’t changed that much at all.
Either way, Song Qian Long seemed to be satisfied with this answer, and nodded happily. “I hope to see both of you Yu sisters grow even stronger with the help of these two weapons.”
“We definitely will!” Yu An Yan replied, while Yu An Xue gave a firm nod.
He then smiled once again, and adjusted his gaze to Qing Yue, the last of the girls to receive her reward.
“Now then…what should your reward be, I wonder?”