In the Euria Magic Kingdom, a fascinating and magical city existed. The capital of such a kingdom is named Macy, which is believed to be an abbreviation of Magic City.
The city was vast and serene, where magic and people coexist harmoniously. Street lights were made of [Fire], umbrellas were made with [Wind], and fancy high-end suits were tailor-made to withstand all the elements.
It was the very first morning of a new school year. The streets were lined with fancy horse carriages carrying royal, rich, or powerful adolescents. They were all attending the honorable Royal Magic Academy, a beautiful scene that filled the adults with high hopes for the future of this country.
"UWAHHH! I'm late! Mom's gonna kill me if she knows!"
This was the first time no one had woken Ashrosaliera up to plow in the fields at 5 a.m, so she might have enjoyed sleeping in a little too much. And the academy's grand opening ceremony was about to start.
With drools still around her mouth, Ashrosaliera hastily put on her school uniform—checkered skirt first, white shirt, necktie, and black blazer—before spinning around the mirror and admiring her beauty.
"My legs do feel a bit empty… I probably should wear these!"
She searched around her luggage and added thigh-high leggings before putting on her black flame-resistant boots. Daddy bought these years ago and kept them in the closet, saying they're expensive and shall only be used when she enters the academy and whatnot, to which Ash finally got a chance to try them out…
"It fits perfectly?!"
Ashrosaliera had sworn four years ago that the boots already fit and had begged, 'I'll outgrow them before I use them! Buy me bigger ones!"
But mom and dad didn't listen, and maybe they were right?
They knew she would still be the small, loud kid they loved, whether 14 or 18.
"Geez… You know me too well."
Ashrosaliera pouted before looking back at the mirror.
"I think my bangs could use a little trim."
With the attention span and brainpower of a squirrel, Ash had already forgotten what time it was and why she was in such a hurry.
"Fire Magic: Blazing Blade."
Ashrosaliera said, activating her F-Rank skill Blazing Blade.
A small butter knife with a scorching hot flame appeared on her hand. Ash was not immune to fire and should burn herself holding this knife, but thankfully, [most] fire skills wouldn't hurt its user. She began to trim her bangs to a more appropriate size.
sizzle
"Perfect!"
Ash looked in the mirror with pride, hands on her hips, uniformed, straight bangs with her short fluffy round white hair. ' Who is that cute girl in the mirror?' she flattered herself.
But one thing the little girl didn't notice was that she had forgotten to deactivate [Blazing Blade] and was holding onto it almost on autopilot. So she touched her hair again to give it one last fix, with the fire knife still on hand.
"KYAAAAAA! My precious hair! Deactivate! Deactivate!"
The knife disappeared from her hand. Ashrosaliera tried salvaging the situation. She lay down on the floor and started rolling around per her father's instruction, only to remember that it was for clothes burn, not hair burn. She started slamming her head against the bed mattress, which helped a bit, but the fire was still spreading. She snuffed the fire out with a towel, which finally worked! But the damage had already been done.
"Guh… Waaa…"
She was a disaster—half her bangs were gone, the rest a mess of burnt, uneven strands. Ashrosaliera bit her lips and started stomping the ground of her inn room.
"Come on! Guahhhhhhhhh! You must be kidding me!"
As if answering to her most significant problem, the system message suddenly appeared in front of Ash.
===
New Quest Available: Don't Be Late For School
Reward: 0.02 System Points
Status: Ongoing
Time Left: 00:14:29
===
"Fourteen minutes?! But I need another 10 for my skincare routine!"
Ashrosaliera started scratching her head and circled her room wildly, trying to find a way to save her face and be on time for school. She started slamming her head against the wall to think, believing that'd help, but that just made her wanna vomit.
Time Left: 00:13:59
"Alright, alright, I can do this!"
Yesterday evening, she bought something while strolling through the city and checking out the place. This something was too expensive for her pocket, which is why she stayed in this run-down inn instead of somewhere closer to the academy. But she has no regrets! Because she bought.
"A giant wizard hat!"
The conversation between her and the magic items' shop owner was something like…
—
"Do you want the smaller one?" The older man asked,
"Nuh uh! I want the biggest and coolest one! That one!" Ash replied.
"It won't fit…" He added.
"No worries! I'll grow into it." She placed her hand on her hips, all proud-like.
This was when the shop owner gave in.
"It costs 20 gold coins."
"WHAT?"
"It has the magic property of a [Dark] Pocket Dimension and can be stored and restored anytime, anywhere," he added as a sales pitch.
"... 15 coins and I'll advertise your shop when I become the Elemental Empress!" Ashrosaliera said confidently.
"No haggling."
"16?"
"No haggling."
"17, please?"
—
She ended up paying 19 gold coins for a ridiculous hat that was bigger than her, and now she was putting it on before going to school.
"But it will make me look like a really cool sorcerer! And now I can hide my bangs."
With only 13 minutes left to spare before school started, Ashrosaliera thought of the perfect way to move around town.
===
Name: Ashrosaliera Inmopotalten Empyreanel Säpphroaleryst
Age: 18
Unallocated System Point: 0.95
Status:
- HP: 150/150 (Requires minimum of 1 system point to upgrade)
- MP: 300/300 (Requires minimum of 1 system point to upgrade)
Skills:
- Fireball: SSS (Unable to upgrade any further)
- Fire Flight: B (Requires 2 system points to upgrade)
- Blazing Blade: F (Requires 1 system point to upgrade)
===
"Alright… Let's do this," she rubbed her hands like a mosquito.
"Fire Magic: Fire Flight!"
Ashrosaliera activated her B-Rank skill, the highest-ranked skill she was allowed to use without being chased by an angry woman. The little girl primed herself and leaned at a 15-degree angle, aiming her head at the open window.
Bfoom
A burst of flame shot up from underneath Ashrosaliera's shoes, propelling her through the air precisely and perfectly through the window, just as she had always practiced at home when trying to escape from Dad's lecture.
One slight problem though…
Her new magic hat didn't quite fit through the window. It barely squeezed through, slipping out of Ash's head and falling to the ground below.
"Ah!"
Ash was perplexed when her head felt empty (like always). And the girl started spinning around wildly to try and find the hat. Upon seeing it fall to the ground, she tried to divert her flight path, but to her dismay, she never learned how to do a 180-degree turn.
"WAAAAAH!"
She started fighting against herself in the air, twisting and bending her short legs against each other, trying to maintain balance. She'd tilt to the left, then to the right, then upwards, then down, then spin upside down and have her skirt fall over her shirt. Her legs wobbled and wiggled in the air for a good five seconds.
Ash's brain short-circuited, so she tried to do something. Maybe propel and straighten her flight path with another fire skill like Fireball? Maybe tuck herself into a ball and close her eyes? Maybe just deactivate? Oh, right! Deactivate!
Ashrosaliera started falling to the ground.
===
New Quest Available: New Friend
Details: ???
Reward: 0.05
Status: Ongoing
===
Ashrosaliera didn't have the time to read her new quest when she fell into the conveniently placed water fountain just outside the inn.
Ash was soaking wet, her entire outfit was ruined, and now she would most definitely be late for the opening ceremony!
"Excuse me, are you also a first year?"
Then Ash realized someone was talking to her. She looked over and saw a woman around her age (but not her height), wearing the same uniform.
"Yeah, who's asking?" Ashrosaliera replied with a question.
The young woman had long, smooth, silky black hair, square glasses, and beautiful blue eyes. She frowned annoyingly at Ashrosaliera, and only then did Ash realize she had spilled some of the fountain water on the girl. Her clothes were mostly fine, but she was holding a pile of books, and they were soaked in water.
"Good," the young woman answered. I'll know where to find you to make you pay for these."
Ash looked lowered and saw something surprising… She didn't see any fur or animal-like features on the girl, but she had a round, black, cat-like tail protruding out of a small hole on her skirt.