Daphne POV
She had just finished engraving the magic circle that she had learned from Ayza into the bathtub.
The Magic Circle was created a long time ago as a way for Awakened to rank up faster. Some details in the magic circle changed depending on what rank one wanted to rank up into, so she and her sister had to spend some time figuring out how to calibrate it.
It was actually a fun time.
*Phew*
She sighed in relief. The Magic Circle was being properly sustained, and there didn't seem to be any errors.
So, she started on the next step.
She started filling the tub with warm water.
She had chosen this old bathroom for the exact sake that it did not use any form of magecraft to employ current water or to heat up the water or other use that she couldn't remember. This prevented the magic circle and the entire process from being jeopardized by the mana from these functions.
Soon, her vision was filled with the steam of the hot water in the bathtub.
It was now time for the next step.
Picking up three boxes that were placed nearby, she approached the tub.
She opened the first box. Inside were a few bags, which somewhat resembled tea bags, of magical herbs. Taking out a handful of these bags, she threw them into the water.
It didn't take long for the mundane water to magically change colors to an actual clear blue.
She opened the second box. Inside were a few magical gems. Without ceremony, she emptied the box into the bath. Soon a glow of various colors surged from beneath the water.
She opened the third box. Inside was a set of skin care products with magical properties. She opened the product that had the biggest magical density and emptied it into the water and watched it dissolve at great speeds.
After that, she went to check if the door remained locked and finally prepared to enter.
Leaving the clothes close to her towel, she entered without any caution.
Splash
It was hot.
Even for an Awakened, it was still very hot, but she endured.
She started circulating her mana as she stimulated her body to absorb the energy in the water.
A few minutes passed without any change.
Until the water rippled, with her at the epicenter, weirdly enough, the water did not ripple outwards but inwards instead.
It first started with a ripple every ten seconds, and then one every second, but now, the water was full of ripples converging towards the figure of the young girl.
Soon she felt her body starting to burn up while the water grew colder. It went to a point where she herself felt like her body was about to melt, a certain sense of fatigue washing over her body almost crumbling her meditating position.
'By now, it should have been more than ten minutes, right?'
She didn't dare to open her eyes to check the clock, afraid that visual inputs would scramble her concentration.
She decided to trust her instincts and moved on to the next step.
She started operating her profession [Holy Snow Maiden (SS)].
She felt the cold water grow even colder as her own body started to cool off. She felt the steam that had filled the bathroom slowly condense into water droplets.
She felt the sensation of ice forming at the edges where her body met the water of the bath until a thin ice layer covered the surface of the water.
She felt the water droplets running down her face freeze at various points: in her forehead, in her eyebrows and eyelashes, in her nose and lips, and in her jaw.
She felt her short white hair being constricted by the frozen water.
And then a sudden flash of pain.
Daphne resisted the urge to cry out in pain, silent tears leaving the corners of her eyes, freezing a few seconds later before even crossing half of her cheek.
And then the pain disappeared, a tad bit slower than it had appeared, but fast nonetheless.
The System's voice echoed in her ears.
[You have Ranked up by a minor rank, reaching G+!]
[Congratulations!]
Hearing confirmation that the process was over, Daphne immediately stood up and shook off the surrounding ice. With a slight tremble because of the cold, she reached for her towel and dried herself before dressing herself again.
Sitting on a nearby stool, she sighed in relief and opened her Status Window.
[
Name: Daphne Frost
Age: 6
[!] Rank: G+
Talent: B
Profession: Holy Snow Maiden (SS)
Strength: F-
Speed: F-
Stamina: F+
Vitality: F-
Magic: F+
Willpower: B-
Charisma: A (This stat is completely unrelated to mana or combat, this stat cannot be evolved)
Skills:
→[Basic Aura Control (G)](90% proficiency)
→[Basic Mana Control(G)](82% proficiency)
→[Sword Aura (G)](48% proficiency)
->[Higher Magecraft Knowledge (E)](5%profiency)
Profession Skills:
->[Holy Snow Maiden's Manifestation (S+)](25% proficiency)
->[Holy Snow Maiden's Intent (SS+)](5% proficiency)
->[Holy Snow Maiden's Domain (SSS+)](No Proficiency)
]
She had done it. She had ranked from G to G+, and thanks to that, most of her stats had ranked up as well. Stat ranks were a little different from overall ranks.
If two people were of the B rank, then the one with better stats would win. However, if one was a B Rank and the other a B+, then even if they had the same stat ranks, the B+ ranked would win.
Although ranking up your overall rank also meant ranking up your stats, it was better to train and reach better stats anyway, as those might make a difference.
Just look at her, thanks to her training, after ranking up, all of her stats were above G+, which was incredible.
She couldn't lie, Daphne felt incredibly strong, even if her strength was puny in front of behemoths like her mother or even Canon Daphne's power, but it was quite intoxicating to feel one's power grow in such a way.
It was better to settle down for a bit and be humbled in training sessions with her sister, otherwise, she felt that she would become complacent.
"I think I'm going to rest for a bit, I'm so tiiiired."
And in that stool, she fell asleep.
From the ceiling a small ice spider descended.
Its body was covered in several agglomerations of ice that had formed during the ritual.
As it reached the ground, it served as a medium for its caster to form a magical circle on the bathroom's floor, and from it, a new ice familiar was summoned.
It was humanoid, possessing a total of six arms, and wore a maid uniform made out of ice.
The familiar approached the sleeping girl and picked her up in a gentle princess carry with its two lower arms.
With its medium arms, the familiar served as a medium, much like the spider, for its caster to cast a simple spell using magecraft.
It was a magecraft that mixed things like fire, wind, and mind magic to make sure that a sleeping person was comfortable in their sleep.
The familiar started to walk out of the bathroom, its upper arms unlocking the door and opening it as it carried its caster's daughter to her bedroom so she could rest properly.
Watching through the eyes of her familiar, Yuki's eyes softened, her icy heart warming up like always once she saw her children.
She was proud, oh so proud. She was already planning how to make good on her promise while sneaking in some more rewards for her daughter.
After all, although she was a year younger than her talented sister, she had already reached the same rank as her, as well as that prodigy of the Blade family.
Although that topic hadn't been discussed in her negotiation with Richard, she was clearly on the aware side.
Marcus Forger Blade had ranked up around the same time as her daughter Ayza Frost.
That is, two months ago.
***
As Richard was resting his head against his fist as he watched the scenery go by on his way home, he couldn't help but feel that Yuki Frost was never surprised by any mention of Marcus' talent.
'Is she aware that Marcus already Ranked up?'
It was not strange when one looked into it.
Both Marcus and her daughter Ayza were being treated as geniuses at around the same level. Considering their talent, if Ayza ranked up, then Marcus was bound to have ranked up as well, at least around the same time.
Richard was not afraid or frustrated by that fact. He was mostly worried that Yuki would see the fact that he did not reveal that fact during their negotiation as a sign of lack of trust.
'I'm worrying too much. I should worry about something else.'
The Awakened Association would soon become aware of the Blade Family's shift in conduct and loyalty. They would soon start moving as well, even though Richard was not aware of how yet.
Not only that, Yuki had mentioned a big event coming up. Richard was not aware of what that big event might be—something to do with a bet? What did that even mean?
Anyway, he should be careful from now on. They were officially in the political battlefield now.
'We can't mess up. I can't mess up. Not now.'
***
Author's Note: Another Chapter! I hope I didn't make it too flashy, the ranking up I mean, because this was just a minor rank from G- to G. Also I just noticed that I made her a minor rank above what she should have which is G- in the other chapters, once I have the chance I will fix it... someday
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