Chapter 7: Familiar Day

Edited: 10/02/16

Part 1

Touma thought Patricia Birdway was a miracle.

The miracle was not just only about Patricia having a way to save her comatose sister Leivinia as she cut and folded paper into curious shapes, and placed them on a large circle filled with complicated symbols she had drawn on the floor.

It was also about a girl who looked exactly like Leivinia with their hairstyle differentiating them apart, but she had a humble and sweet demeanour unlike Leivinia. Seeing a humble and sweet Leivinia was so miraculous that it felt extremely jarring, but at least their hair made it easier for Touma to tell the difference between the twins.

Siesta had left the room to help out with the preparations for Familiar Day, so it was only Patricia and him inside the room with the unconscious Leivinia as he leaned back against the wall, trying to figure out what Patricia was doing with no success. His knowledge about magic despite his increased opportunities to look at magic textbooks was still limited.

Patricia placed the last piece of paper onto the ritual circle, and sat down cross-legged facing the circle. She took out her wand, uttered a short incarnation before tapping the circle once with the wand.

This was heretic magic according to her.

Brimiric magic relied on 'willpower', or in a term Touma understood it best, mana. Thus, Brimiric magic was all about drawing power from the inside to cast magic in the most efficient way possible.

However, heretic magic relied on drawing power from an outside source to cast magic. Thus, it was all about aligning oneself using related runes and spiritual items to that source to cast magic. It was heretical because it was different from magic taught by Founder Brimir.

Special Academians like him were considered as heretics for that reason as well.

And nobles who uses Brimiric magic were people who could oppress commoners and execute heretics on the spot. Touma has not seen enough yet to judge how true that was, but from his experience with Count Mott, and the way some nobles treated the maids in this academy gave him a pretty good idea about the situation.

Patricia frowned as she kept tapping on the circle with the wand, "There is an odd disturbance preventing me from turning this room into a temple, but where?"

"What exactly are you trying to do? Temple?"

"It's a little hard to explain, and not even I fully understand it, but a temple is something that allows me to convert my willpower into specialized willpower that would make the ritual work."

The paper pieces shaped in different ways inside the drawn circle filled with complicated symbols in front of Patricia was a crude replica model of the room with the paper pieces representing the main objects such as the study desk and the bed inside the room. As long as the shapes were mostly accurate, the material used to represent the main objects did not matter at all.

Once the magical circle beneath the model was activated, the process of turning the room into a temple would be completed, but something was preventing the circle from being activated. Did she draw a symbol incorrectly, or did she not fold a paper piece accurately enough to be recognized as part of the room? If the disturbance was coming from an external source, then what would be the most likely suspect?

"I think the disturbance might be from my right hand." Touma said. Was it because his right hand came in contact with the walls when she activated her temple?

"Right hand? Oh yes, you're Leivinia's familiar... the Imagine Breaker. You can negate magic with your right hand?"

"Yeah. I don't really understand what you're trying to do, but I think my right hand might be negating the magic around the area. I guess I'll wait outside then."

Patricia nodded with a smile as Touma made his way outside.

As soon as Touma left the room, she uttered a short incarnation and tapped the circle once with her wand again.

The circle flared bright white.

Patricia could feel a odd connection between the model laid on the circle, and the actual room around her. She succeeded in turning the room into a temple with her as the power source.

A right hand that could negate magic... Imagine Breaker...

Imagine Breaker was the name of the dragon that her father Thomas Birdway once owned. She never met her father before, but from all the stories verified as true from her mother, he was an amazing guy. It was a shame that he passed away before she had a chance to talk to him.

Was it just a coincidence that the name of Leivinia's familiar happened to be the same as that dragon? Patricia did not remember the dragon having the ability to negate magic, other than the fact that it was a near indestructible dragon which could shrug off even a square class spell and continue fighting. Maybe it was secretly negating magic?

Perhaps Leivinia could tell her more when she wakes up.

If they were finally on talking terms.

Part 2

Saiai found the culture in Tristain disappointing.

Was the culture in Tristain all about blatant discrimination against people of her kind?

At least escaping into the forest still remained one of the viable ways to evade pursuit from the stubborn armored knights. However, as both Frenda and her ended up on a different route than planned, it took a considerable amount of time for them to reach the rendezvous at another forest located near Tristain's Academy of Magic where their leader Mugino Shizuri would be at.

"... You two are three hours late. Explain yourself." Shizuri said.

Mugino Shizuri was a woman who looked like a gentle big sister with long, brown hair instead of a terrifying demon if she wasn't clearly displeased with the both, arms folded as she sat on the headless corpses of two orcs stacked on top of each other.

Saiai gulped. A displeased Shizuri always meant punishments, and punishments was something she never wanted to experience again.

"Well... I and Frenda was just super chilling at a bar when a crazy mage super attacked me just because I'm an Academian! After that, we were pursued by armored mages for attacking that crazy mage, so we lost our way. Those Tristain people are super crazy I swear."

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence as Saiai endured the pressure from Shizuri's unrelenting glare, Shizuri let out a sigh, and her expression softened.

Shizuri must have understood her predicament! Saiai thought. After all, she was also an Ability User inside this country like her. It was a distant memory, but Saiai remembered a few non-native people in Germania mentioning about how Ability Users like her were known as special Academians outside of Germania... did they also talk about the blatant discrimination as well? Maybe. She did not remember them talking about it though.

"Whatever." Shizuri said. "But now that we're three hours behind schedule thanks to you two motherfuckers, our mission just fucking got ten times harder."

Their original mission was that Shizuri and Saiai would assist the professional thief that their friend Takitsubo Rikou hired in stealing the 'Staff of Destruction' which only the thief knew how it looked like, while Frenda would kill the unconscious Leivinia Birdway.

However, three hours later and now the security in the academy was heavily increased thanks to the presence of the Crown Princess of Tristain. They could no longer sneak in covertly, and escape in the same manner.

Shizuri jumped off from the orc corpses, "Therefore, we have no choice but to go for Plan B."

Both Saiai and Frenda paled upon hearing Plan B.

Frenda clutched her stomach, seemingly in great pain judging from her expression. "I'm not feeling well. I think I might need the day off to rest."

A green blob of light appeared in front of Shizuri.

"You were saying?"

Frenda forced a smile, and let out small, awkward chuckles. The green blob of light was such a great medicine that it took away her 'pain' in an instant just by looking at it. "No-Nothing! Isn't it amazing how sometimes the human body only needs a few seconds of rest to be fine again?"

"Of course." Shizuri waved the green blob of light away, "The human body is amazing in many ways. Especially yours, Frenda."

The beam fired from that blob of light may be predictable, but no one has ever succeeded in deflecting it. It was either scream in agony as the beam tore through your skin, or dodge it. Frenda also did not have a good feeling about how Shizuri emphasized that her body was 'especially special'.

Saiai gave Shizuri a mock salute, acknowledging the plan, and shot Frenda a grin.

"As quoted from the strongest man in Germania, when the going gets tough, super overcome everything with guts. Plan B is going to be a breeze!"

Frenda rolled her eyes, "Right. If I followed his advice, I'd be dead a long time ago."

Despite Saiai's slight eccentricities, it always felt good to have a team member with a positive attitude like her.

Rikou appeared from the trees with her usual, odd pink outfit.

Saiai rushed over and gave her a big hug. She must have missed Rikou a lot.

It has been quite a long while since Rikou parted ways with them after she finally found her beloved 'Hama-chan'. It was also nice to have someone who knew what she was doing executing the plan. Frenda thought.

Maybe... Plan B was going to be a breeze after all.

Part 3

Matilda sat inside the office of the Headmaster of the Tristain's Academy of Magic at her simple desk located further ahead from the Headmaster's own desk, clearing paperwork after paperwork.

She put down her quill, and looked at the bright blue sky through the window.

"I should take a break."

Today was Familiar Day after all, and being stuck here alone doing work while everyone was given the day off sucked.

As she was the only secretary in the whole academy, the amount of paperwork she had to do was not a laughing issue.

Also, being molested and having her panties peeked at by the pervert Headmaster was not a laughing issue as well. If it was not for a stable job which paid well, and him not going beyond that, she would have reported this to the Royal Court.

Matilda took out her wand, uttered a short incarnation before levitating through the window and landed softly onto the grass below her.

Normally, being a secretary was a position in the academy reserved for commoners, but she was a fallen noble aka commoner who could cast Brimiric magic, so she sometimes did remedial lessons in Earth Magic for Dot Level students.

In a secluded area obscured by the walls of a tower, she spotted a student crying.

"What's wrong?" Matilda said.

The student turned back, shocked. It was Katie, a student Matilda vaguely remembered as quiet, but studious. She must not have expected anyone to find her here.

Katie frantically wiped her tears away in embarrassment. "It's nothing! I'm fine, Miss Longueville!"

Matilda sat down beside Katie and gave her a comforting smile, "If you need a listening ear, I'm here for you."

Just like how she dealt with those children at the orphanage whenever they got into conflicts against each other and ran off into some secret corner in the small forest with tears.

Katie stared at the grass in front of her, remaining silent for some time before she relented.

"Is it wrong of me to think about stealing away someone else's boyfriend. Founder Brimir taught us not take what does not belong to us, but I really love him. I can't live a day without him by my side! What should I do?"

"What do you think love is?"

"God sent us Founder Brimir to grant us magic as proof of His love for us. I think love is about giving the best you can to everyone so that they would be happy."

Matilda put a hand to her chin, "Hmm, that's true. You definitely want to give him the best you can so that he will be happy because you love him, am I right?"

Katie nodded, and Matilda continued.

"But if he's happy with another girl, why do you want to take that away from him? If you truly love him, I'm sure you don't want him to be upset if you take that girl away from him."

"I want him to be happy, but... can't that girl be me? I'm sure I can make him even happier than that girl. All that Montmorency does is to boss him around. It makes me sick looking at her treating him like some kind of a pet!"

Matilda patted an agitated Katie's shoulder to calm her down. "If you think that stealing him from that girl could make him even more happier, then fine. But have you thought about his feelings? Love... isn't just about what you think is right for him. It's also about his feelings as well. If he's happy with that girl, then shouldn't you respect his feelings instead of ignoring it just because you think you can do better?"

"Maybe you're right... it isn't just about me. I was selfish."

Despite what Matilda said about love isn't just about one's own opinion on what is right for the other party, she was a hypocrite.

It wasn't supposed to be like that. It was supposed to be just Plan A where only Leivinia Birdway would die and she would steal the Staff of Destruction with probably a few casualties who were in the way.

But the mercenary team was late for three hours already, and now the security at the academy had been increased because the Crown Princess has arrived for Familiar Day which would start anytime soon.

Tiffania would not approve of this just because she did it for the sake of protecting her from harm.

Matilda heard a soft, mechanical click.

Katie fell over with blood oozing from a circular wound through her head. It was like someone had stabbed a wand through her head without any resistance.

It was Takitsubo Rikou holding a weapon similar to a flintlock pistol in shape, but the design was very different. Not only that, a metallic pole was attached to the muzzle, making the weapon longer than a usual flintlock pistol.

"Let's go. There's no time." Rikou said.

It frightened Matilda a little at how remorseless Rikou seemed to be when she took away an innocent life, but at least it was not Tiffania.

That was all it mattered to her.

Part 4

It was a breeze for Kirche to take care of the unconscious Leivinia while Tabitha and her darling were away by asking those horny males clamoring after her body to help her out.

Today was Familiar Day, so the courtyard were packed with many students like her doing some last minute practising with their familiar.

Kirche nodded at Flame, her beautiful red fire salamander from the treacherous Firetop Mountain.

Flame spat out a stream of fire while she waved her wand around like she was pulling the fire out from the creature with magic before twisting the fire into a burning design of a large butterfly with intricate pattern woven on the wings.

A group of males clapped and cheered at how dazzling her performance was. Being able to manipulate fire to that extent was also a sign of her talent in Fire magic.

Kirche bowed to her audience with her usual confident smile before nuzzling up against Flame affectionately.

"You did a great job, Flame!"

Meanwhile, some of the girls gathered at a corner and started talking among themselves.

It must be them gossiping about her again.

After all, Kirche Von Zerbst was a controversial figure in the academy second to Leivinia Birdway for sleeping around with guys and stealing them away from other girls.

It wasn't her fault if those guys chose to cheat on their girlfriends. All she did was to throw herself onto those weak-willed Tristain males who would immediately jump at the first opportunity at fornication with an attractive lady like her without caring about their beloved girlfriend.

Honestly, those girls should just loosen up a little. Acting so prudish like a pure maiden all the time isn't going to keep your boyfriend's heart from straying.

Kirche sighed as she noticed the grandiose stage at the end of the field.

If only her darling wasn't too busy taking care of that Leivinia, then he would be able to watch her perform on that stage.

There were nasty rumors about how Tabitha slept with her darling during the six days they were away, and how her darling and Tabitha were Reconquista members who killed the Imperial Messenger as part of their plan to invade Tristain next after Albion.

While the first rumor were just bullshit that those girls love to spin against people they hate, the second rumor worried Kirche quite a bit.

Her darling was an Ability User, or Academian heretic in Tristain. If such a rumor were to go out of hand, the Royal Court of Tristain might just use this as a reason to execute him despite being Leivinia's familiar. If he had not proven himself as a strong Ability User from the start through the duel with Guiche, some of the more fanatical nobles in the academy might have already taken the chance to kill him while his master Leivinia was unconscious. But if he were not strong, then he wouldn't be her darling in the first place.

Kirche felt someone nudging her with a staff.

"It's time." Tabitha said.

She made her way to the seats placed in front of the stage with Tabitha. It was rather impressive that Tabitha managed to avoid knocking into people despite having her eyes glued to a book as they moved through the crowd heading towards the seats as well.

The Crown Princess of Tristain was rumored to have beauty unparalleled by any other females in Tristain. Many guys would literally give their arm away just for a date with the princess.

"So... that's the Crown Princess?" Kirche mumbled, unimpressed.

Loud ceremonial music rang across the courtyard, signalling the arrival of the Crown Princess of Tristain.

Flanked by two rows of six heavily armored knights each, and accompanied behind by the Headmaster and a few senior lecturers like Professor Colbert and Professor Chevreuse, and the Royal Band of Tristain further behind playing the music with their long fanfare, the Crown Princess made her way up the stage.

She was attractive with her features giving off a youthful, lady-like personality adorned by her short, wavy, purple hair, but she was not exceptionally attractive like a painting of a beautiful goddess done by a master artist. Yet, those lustful guys were looking at the Crown Princess like a goddess.

Kirche nudged Tabitha seated beside her before whispering towards her, "Who do you think is the most beautiful? Me or her?"

"Truth?"

"Of course I want the truth."

Tabitha put down her book, and looked at Kirche with her usual, blank expression. "I'm the most beautiful. That's the truth."

Kirche stared at Tabitha awkwardly. That was not the answer she expected from her. If that was her attempt at being humorous, then she was clearly living up to her runic name 'Blizzard'.

"That was as cold as your runic name."

"I see." Tabitha said before her eyes went back to her book.

Kirche shook her head with a smile. At least Tabitha was trying to be more sociable, even if she was not very good at it.

Princess Henrietta, the Crown Princess of Tristain took out her wand and waved it once.

"Good afternoon to everyone of you present here." Henrietta said with a warm smile, her voice amplified by a simple wind spell. She waited for the loud cheering and applause to end before continuing her speech.

"As all of you know, a familiar is a lifelong companion of a mage summoned through a scared ritual laid down by our Founder Brimir. Familiar Day is just an event meant to improve the bond between your familiar as you two train together to put up a great performance for this event. As such, please do not feel bad if you did not win anything, or if you accidentally slipped up during the performance because of anxiety or any other reasons. The experience and bonding you get from training with your familiar is the most important thing I hope everyone is able to get at the end. Thank you."

The loud cheering and applause resumed as she made her way to the juror table located at the side of the stage.

Kirche clapped in relief. Finally, the Crown Princess's boring speech had ended.

Come to think of it, was there any mage that failed to summon a familiar?

Summoning a familiar was something that any mage could do given enough education about the runes necessary to carry out the ritual. Even so, the runes were so simple to draw that even a three year old could draw one within a few hours of teaching. Leivinia was an exception that summoned a familiar through pure willpower, but then again, she was a prodigy who reached Square class at the age of 12 so maybe that was kind of expected.

A person came into Kirche's mind.

The third daughter of the Valliere family, Louise Francoise de la Valliere.

She was a second year mage in this academy that failed to summon a familiar about two years ago from now while Kirche was still a first year in a magic academy in Germania. Soon after, Louise got transferred into another magic academy in Albion. Perhaps they thought that maybe the professors in Albion might find a way to fix Louise's ineptitude in magic if they did the same for Leivinia's ineptitude in magic. Somehow, Louise went missing in Albion and since then, she remained missing.

Oh well. Louise might be probably dead by now if she was still missing.

"... With that, let us begin this year's Familiar Day!"

Kirche had been so lost in her thoughts that she did not notice that the Headmaster was now on the stage announcing the start of the event.

An odd, metallic smell struck her nose.

She did not expect Familiar Day to begin with such an explosive start.

A blinding flash of light robbed her vision as she heard multiple explosions with the smell of acrid smoke filling her nose.

Part 5

The Founder's Music Box.

It was a music box said to be left by the Founder himself.

Patricia placed it at the center of the magical circle she had drawn in front of her.

Other than it being an item left behind by the Founder, there was nothing else written about the music box. Legend says that this was a music box where only mages aligned to the element of the legendary Void just like the Founder could hear what was being played.

She always thought that it was just a broken music box that the Founder did not discard because of sentimental reasons, but it turned out to be useful in heretic magic because it was an item aligned to the Void if it belonged to the Founder himself.

With the temple ready for her to convert willpower into specialized willpower needed for the ritual, and both the magical circle and the spiritual item aligned to the Void, Patricia closed her eyes and began chanting.

She was now using magic so similar to Void magic that it could be referred to as Void magic itself because of how close the Founder's Music Box was aligned to the Void, to create a phenomenon she desired.

As the legends claimed that Void magic was magic used by the Founder to liberate people from the chaos caused by the downfall of Academia by creating the new world known as Halkeginia, by interpreting the aspect of 'liberation' in her own terms, it would mean that she could remove the 'chaos' that was keeping Leivinia unconscious in order to 'liberate' her.

That 'chaos' was brain damage, so to 'liberate' Leivinia from the 'chaos', no matter how great the brain damage was, it would be erased with no exceptions.

After the chanting was done, Patricia felt the temple fading away by itself. It was a sign that the ritual was complete.

Leivinia opened her eyes to see her twin sister Patricia, and the paper models together with a familiar looking music box placed on a magical circle laid on the floor.

No. That was definitely not Valhalla.

"You're awake!" Patricia said, overjoyed.

Somehow, her retarded twin sister must have used that dangerous heretic magic to wake her up.

Leivinia got out from her bed, feeling as good as new. There was a small problem from being 'liberated', but that could be fixed within a few hours.

"Yes. You clearly should be happy if you didn't get your bloody arms blown off or something."

Patricia flashed a nervous smile. "But it all worked out in the end, so that's alright I guess."

"Well, thank you for your help then. Now get lost."

Being around with Patricia made her sick. Seeing herself acting so timidly and so... different had that effect.

Tremors shook the room. From the window, Leivinia saw a huge earth golem about the size of a tower running around the academy, destroying whatever that was visible with its huge stone fists. The passive enchantment placed on the academy must be taking effect if it was not destroying the buildings and towers with one punch.

"Oh no, Princess Henrietta is in trouble! And everyone as well!" Patricia paced up and down the room, flustered. "I g-got to do something! You find a place and hide. It's dangerous."

"Why in the world would she even be here?! Can you tell me what in the bloody hell is going on?"

Touma entered the room, "Apparently, it's Familiar Day today. I think its Reconquista planning something. Anyway, welcome back. Thought I was going to live a easier life from now on. Guess not."

Leivinia snapped her fingers, and her wand appeared out of thin air in her hands.

"Sorry to disappoint you then."

If it was Familiar Day, then everything was clearer to her.

She jolted Patricia out of her flustered state with a small explosion.

"Calm down and listen to me, you retarded sister."

When Leivinia was sure that she got her sister's attention, she continued.

"You'll go down over there and do your bloody job as a healer. My familiar will protect you, so no need to be scared."

"But what about you?" Patricia said.

"Fight the golem of course, and..."

Leivinia jabbed her wand at Touma's chest, and glared at him with such intensity that it caught him off guard for a moment as he blinked wide-eyed.

"You! You will stay with Patricia at all times. You will not be a retard and jump in front of any danger just to save a random person and leave her defenseless. Is that understood? If she dies, you will answer with your life."

In the end, how matter how much Leivinia disliked Patricia Birdway, she was still her sister.

Part 6

Saiai landed on the burning courtyard, smoke all around her.

Unconscious students on fire were scattered around the field together with bits and pieces of wood and cloth that used to be parts of the decoration placed up for Familiar Day.

She took out a two revolvers from each pocket, and fired at the unconscious bodies.

In about one to two seconds, Saiai finished firing the six bullets inside each revolvers, killing 12 unconscious nobles plus maybe four more as she snapped the empty guns into two and hurled each parts with so much force that it was embedded deep inside their skull.

It was a special kind of flintlock pistol from Rikou made with primitive Academia technology, and it was a super good one unlike that stupid, slow flintlock pistol.

Her task was to kill as much nobles as she could. The destruction of the structures would be handled by that huge earth golem almost as tall as the structures itself.

A flash snow storm blew the smoke away and put out the fire, revealing Saiai's exact location.

She leaped backwards to dodge a flying ice javelin from a blue-haired bespectacled girl wielding a staff.

A Germanian noble with tanned skin and red hair hurled fireballs at her which she dodged with ease as well.

However, a flame snake erupted out of nowhere and slammed her to the ground. Saiai winced at the painful, burning sensation around her body. The flame snake had almost penetrated through her barrier.

An earth pillar shot up beneath her, knocking her into the air.

A bald, middle-aged man waved his staff, and a flame snake burst into life as it cut through the air in an attempt to catch Saiai midair.

She tensed the muscles in her legs, and kicked down the flame snake with all the strength she could muster.

Saiai landed back on the ground, panting.

Those mages strong enough to survive that explosion reacted so fast that she could not even capitalize on the confusion to take them out.

Saiai may have immense strength coupled with a very powerful barrier protecting her, but she could only move as fast as a normal human.

The bald, middle-aged man urged the couple of nervous looking nobles still standing around him, seemingly unharmed by the explosion, to run away with the Germanian noble and a plump, middle-aged lady.

So her opponent was just going to be that baldy and the blue-haired girl... the Germanian noble decided to join in the battle as well.

Saiai kicked a few unconscious nobles lying on the field near her onto an onslaught of fire and ice magic directed towards her.

It was the look of horror on their face that reminded Saiai why she loved her job as a mercenary.

Part 7

"How's Leivinia coping with school recently?"

Patricia said as she rushed down the dormitory corridors with Touma keeping up beside her.

It was embarrassing that she had to rely on her sister's familiar to ask how was her sister doing, but they were not on talking terms, and the few letters she sent to Leivinia never got a single reply.

"She's doing fine bullying the other nobles in classes, or skipping classes to hide in the library." Touma said.

The most memorable example was his first day attending classes with Leivinia when she intentionally performed a demonstration changing a pebble into gold which ended up as an explosion.

Also, if everyone else except Tabitha was willing to pair up with Leivinia during practical magic classes, then there must be something very wrong. Something around the lines of 'if I partner with Leivinia I'm going straight to hell'.

Even Touma himself made it this far still alive thanks to his fast reaction speed. That sadistic Leivinia loved to shoot fireballs whenever she thinks he let his guard down as a form of 'training'.

Patricia sighed, "She isn't going to make any friends if she keeps acting like that."

"I guess that's her personality. No one except her can change that."

Touma wondered if Leivinia actually saw him as her friend, or just a tool at her disposal? A familiar was in the end, a slave after all. Then again, he wasn't exactly her familiar because she apparently could not bind him as her familiar. Must be the right hand negating the bond.

Despite her arrogance, stubbornness and sadistic tendencies, she seemed to be a kind person deep down inside. That was enough for Touma to stay by her side for now even if it meant that he was walking a path that could bring him straight to hell if he was careless.

They walked down a spiral staircase and arrived at an atrium.

Standing at their path down to the lower levels was Takitsubo Rikou.

She started to approach the both of them.

There was only three paths available in this large space filled with various art pieces and ornaments.

The way down blocked by Rikou's presence.

The way back up behind them.

And the way towards the dining hall.

Touma remembered Rikou as an enemy who pointed a gun at Misaki, forcing him to rescue her at a railway track in District 18.

Like Leivinia, Rikou should not be remembering what she did back in Academy City. Even so, was Rikou truly an enemy? Even back in Academy City, Touma did not know much about Rikou just like Leivinia. She might not be an enemy.

Rikou bowed, "Good afternoon, milady. If I may ask, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Oriz instead?"

Patricia blinked in confusion, "Good afternoon. You are...?"

"I am an agent from Necessarius. Apologies for the commotion outside, milady. My fellow agents are out there acting as a distraction for me. There's a mission we need to accomplish."

Rikou's blank, expressionless face struck Patricia as unusual, but there were many unusual people in Necessarius.

"Necessarius?" Touma said.

"It's an organization where heretics would capture other heretics in exchange for a pardon in Albion. Normally, heretics would be executed if captured, but if they are willing to lend their services to the Queen, they will be pardoned." Patricia said.

Heretics hunting other heretics. Touma found the idea disgusting, but it was logical and smart. The only way to hunt heretics was to understand how heretics works, and only heretics themselves would understand how they work. Whoever thought of this must be a cold-blooded psychopath.

"And who might that gentleman beside you be?" Rikou said to Patricia.

"Oh. He's my sister's familiar. If I may ask, what mission have you been tasked with?" Patrica said.

"Stealing the Staff of Destruction from this academy. The situation in Albion is worsening day by day. If we do not successfully acquire the Staff of Destruction, Albion might fall in the next month or so."

Patricia tensed her lips. The danger of Albion falling in the hands of the evil rebel group Reconquista constantly troubled her. She always wanted to help even if it was just a little instead of being trapped in Tristain, but her mother demanded and made sure that she stay out of this.

This was her chance.

The Staff of Destruction was rumored to be a powerful magical artifact that has enough power to wipe out an area around one quarter of an average sized forest with just a single use.

With this, Albion might be able to turn the tables around.

"I believe my sister's familiar may be of help to you."

Rikou turned to look at Touma, her expression as blank as ever.

"How so?"

"I'm sure the staff is locked up somewhere in a vault right? No matter what kind of magically enchanted lock, he can negate it."

"Really?"

Touma nodded.

"Follow me then." Rikou said, directing them to the staircase behind them.

After much walking through corridors and staircases, they were now standing in front of a large oak door.

This was the vault of the Tristain's Academy of Magic, and beyond the door was where the Staff of Destruction laid.

"Touch it, and everything that is enchanting the door will fall apart." Rikou said.

Touma raised his hand, hesitant.

He just did not have a good feeling about this. Maybe he was overthinking it, but what if Rikou was lying?

"What proof do you have that you're from Necessarius?" Touma said.

"I have no proof. We were not tasked to do this mission to prove our affiliation to someone else. I could disenchant this door by myself, but it takes time, so that is why my fellow agents are buying time for me. If you doubt my identity, that is fine. Just do not get in the way of my mission or I will be forced to eliminate you." Rikou said, her voice soft and calm. She sounded more like it was a matter-of-fact than a threat.

Patricia smiled. "I trust that she's speaking the truth. Don't hesitate anymore. We don't have much time."

She was an Academian, and rather odd looking. That was more than enough proof. After all, it was not like she never spent time with the people at Necessarius. It was the people at Necessarius with her mother that taught her heretic magic.

"Alright, if you say so."

Touma slowly placed his hand on the door. He still had a bad feeling about this, but if Patricia trusted Rikou, maybe she knew what she was doing.

A loud unnatural sound like glass shattering rang out, and the door swung open.

Ignoring the few treasure boxes filled with gold, the various staffs each with unique designs lying by the wall, books that were too valuable to be exposed to the outside world, and enchanted crystal balls and talismans inside miniature, transparent cases, Rikou went for a slim, white box with a refined looking rose carved on it.

Inside the box laid an ordinary looking grey staff.

Rikou placed a finger on the staff, and her irises flashed red.

This was the Staff of Destruction as she expected.

She closed the box. Carrying the box, Rikou made her way out with Patricia and Touma following behind.

"Thank you for trusting me." Rikou said.

"No problem!" Patricia's eyes were filled with hope. Her country might actually have a chance of winning now. "Please save Albion with this. I can't do much since Mother banned me from participating, but this is the least I could do for my country."

Rikou leaped through a window, and landed on the grass.

She thought about hope as well.

The definition of hope was a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen.

Unfortunately, for Hama-chan, she had to crush the hopes of a girl named Patricia Birdway.

Part 8

Matilda stood on the shoulder of her huge earth golem with a hood over her face. For added protection, she cast a dark cloud obscuring her features. She had no intention of losing her job over this chaos and destruction caused by her. Still, it was unlikely that her golem could do much damage if it took several punches just to cause a crack in the towers.

However, she was the one responsible for giving the entire layout of the academy to that inhumane Takitsubo Rikou.

All Matilda wanted now was to get a decent job and send money over to Tiffania and her orphanage. Her job may not be the best with the Headmaster sexually harassing her, and the tedious paperwork plus the extra work of being a substitute teacher, but the money was good.

The legendary thief Fouquet the Crumbling Earth was a thing of a past.

But... but...

She clenched her fists in anger as the golem punched off the roof of one tower after several attempts.

The golem lumbered off towards another tower and began punching again.

Other than giving Rikou the layout, Matilda's task was to cause as much as destruction to the buildings, while two out of three mercenaries Rikou hired would provide aerial support, and the last one was tasked to kill as much nobles as possible. As such, if possible she should take out any nobles who happens to be near her golem as well.

It was not like she wanted this to happen!

The golem's punching grew more and more intense.

But Takitsubo Rikou threatened to kill Tiffania and the orphanage children if she did not comply with her instructions.

To prove her point, Rikou kidnapped Matthew from Tiffania's orphanage in Albion and placed him unconscious at Matilda's doorstep with a message.

Do you understand the situation now? Or do you require further explanation?

No further explanation was needed.

And so she was here doing as she was told to do.

It was all the mercenaries fault for coming three hours late! All of the chaos and destruction could have been avoided if they were punctual!

A powerful explosion tore the golem's arm apart into raining chunks of earth bouncing off the structures around it.

It was Leivinia Birdway.

Matilda stared at the blonde Albion girl wielding her signature flower-shaped wand who seemed so small and insignificant like an ant compared to the giant earth golem in front of her.

Leivinia was anything but small and insignificant.

A Square class mage at the age of 12, she was a magical prodigy who once took down dragons around the size of that giant earth golem.

How could a mere Triangle class mage like her take down Leivinia?!

Matilda wanted to switch her golem into automatic mode and run away, but if that would lead to the Rikou's failure of stealing the staff, Tiffinia would most likely not be spared.

She had to fight even if it was a losing battle. Then even if Rikou failed in the end, it was not her fault.

Matilda waved her wand. The debris around the area flew up towards the golem to form a new arm, and earth pillars shot out from its chest towards Leivinia.

A series of explosions took care of the pillars in seconds.

Leivinia had not even moved a single inch from her position as she looked at the hooded figure with a bored expression.

"Is that all? I honestly expected better from a hooded clown like you."

As Matilda invested all her willpower into conjuring this giant earth golem, she was limited to shooting projectiles from the golem, and hurling its fists about like a drunk orc. If she was a Square class Earth mage coupled with the right knowledge, her golem would be equally as big, but more nimble like the elves.

She wanted to say something in response, but her voice might end up exposing her identity, so it was best to endure her irritation from being taunted by a mere 12 year old brat and stay silent.

Another series of explosions ripped holes into the golem which Matilda frantically tried to regenerate them faster than what Leivinia could blow away while directing the golem towards Leivinia.

At full speed, the golem was at best walking at a brisk pace. In exchange for brute strength to crush towers, she sacrificed speed.

Leivinia's explosions may be powerful, but Matilda managed to regenerate the golem fast enough to keep it from falling apart.

But something was very odd.

Why was Leivinia smirking despite being unable to take down the incoming golem with her explosions? She also seemed to be showing no signs of moving aside.

The golem swung its fists down above Leivinia, but a water barrier appeared to protect her from that fatal impact.

Of course. Matilda thought. She must have already prepared a barrier against it.

The golem kept on pounding on the barrier, but it showed no signs of collapsing.

However, Matilda saw Leivinia struggling to keep the barrier intact. Leivinia might not be at full power since she probably just awoke from her coma if she was struggling against a Triangle class mage like her.

Maybe the Triangle class mage Matilda had a chance against a Square class after all.

The water barrier seeped inside the golem's earthen arms. It fell apart as a wet mass of earth.

Leivinia fired water lances from her magical cup towards the broken earth golem left with no arms.

Instead of piercing through the golem, it ended up being absorbed into its body.

Matilda leaped off her golem and made her escape. Just like she predicted, the rest of her golem melted into a wet mass of earth.

Although Water magic was very effective against Earth magic, but only a powerful Square class like Leivinia could liquefy her high Triangle level golem that easily. Perhaps she never stood a chance at all.

Running was the only option left.

Only an idiot would even think of fighting a Square class mage alone.

Part 9

Given enough coordination, two Triangle class mage, and a Square class mage should be more than sufficient to take down a single Ability User.

However, the unconscious nobles lying around the courtyard prevented them from going all out against the Ability User.

If one of them were to hurl a fireball, that brown-haired female Ability User would lift up a nearby unconscious noble as a shield. And similarly if it was an icy spear instead.

Tabitha could not even use her 'Windy Icicle' spell which involved raining down icy shards over a certain area because it would hit the unconscious bodies scattered on the field.

For the bald, middle-aged man known as Jean Colbert, or to his students, Professor Colbert, it must be the same as well when he refrained from using his 'Flame Snake' spell after the Ability User hurled several students which were burned into unrecognizable black masses when they got caught in his fire magic thrown against the heretic.

Kirche was at a loss.

None of them were strong enough to discard their magic and engage in physical combat against that Ability User.

She seemed to possess great strength surpassing even the strongest knights in Germania as she lifted unconscious nobles as shields against their spells without breaking a sweat.

They could only watch as that Ability User strolled past the unconscious nobles, crushing one or two of their skulls while keeping the rest alive as a shield for their spells.

Tabitha levitated nearby unconscious nobles towards Kirche and Colbert as she made her way closer to that nonchalant murderer.

"Are you crazy?!" Kirche said.

Mages were not adept at close combat. If they were ever forced into that situation, unless their next spell allowed them to create distance between their enemy or survive the next blow, it was over.

Kirche and Colbert were both fire mages, and fire could not blow enemies away or form strong barriers unlike wind, so when it comes to close combat, if their fire or magma barrier did not burn any incoming threat into oblivion, this was probably the end.

Tabitha could form a barrier to protect herself, but that would mean she could not cast any other spells to protect herself, neither could she cast 'Levitation' spell to move the unconscious nobles to a safe place.

In hindsight, Kirche realized how short-sighted she was.

Tabitha zipped around the field using a wind spell to boost her movement speed, levitating unconscious nobles around her towards where Kirche and Colbert were at.

Saiai noticed what Tabitha was up to. Humming a happy tune like a farmer hard at work on the fields, she hurled unconscious nobles at dizzying speeds towards the levitated nobles.

Her aim was deadly accurate. She threw the unconscious nobles in such a way that their heads would clash with the levitated nobles, and because of her throwing speed, both their heads would end up being ripped apart from the neck.

Tabitha ended up levitating nobles that soon turned headless as soon as Saiai noticed.

Kirche clenched her wand in anger at this monstrous act.

Why wasn't anyone else coming to save them? Did the rest of the professors and guards decided to focus their efforts on evacuating the Crown Princess of Tristain and the First and Third Form students?

Tabitha's usual blank expression turned into a slight frown.

It was the first time Kirche saw her friend show so much emotion before. A slight frown must mean intense rage.

Tabitha gripped her staff so hard that it snapped into two.

"Showdown." Tabitha muttered.

Just when she was about to initiate a showdown between that murderer, an explosion knocked down Saiai.

She tried to get up, but mysterious, rapid explosions kept pinning her on the ground.

"Wh-What?!"

The explosions did not hurt, but its firing rate was the problem. If she could not move, how was she going to kill unconscious nobles?

A sadistic smile similar to Shizuri greeted her.

Leivinia lightly shook her wand that was aimed at Saiai, turning it into a sword. "You had a lot of fun, didn't you?"

Saiai's face twisted into pain like someone had assaulted her with a sledgehammer.

"What's the matter?" Leivinia smirked, "You don't seem to be enjoying yourself."

All Saiai could splutter was incomprehensible noise, and Leivinia's smirk grew wider.

"But that's alright. Because I'm enjoying myself."

The explosion grew even more intense.

Everything felt so distant as Saiai's vision started spinning and flickering black. The pain from being battered so relentlessly by sudden explosions that bypassed her barrier almost forced tears out of her eyes, but she grit her teeth in defiance.

"Let's see how long you can keep that face up then." Leivinia said.

When her explosions only knocked down that special Academian, there was clearly an invisible barrier around her absorbing the impact.

Even if those special Academian were using some form of 'firstborn' magic like the elves, it was still based on the four elements.

If this special Academian knew that her barrier was made of air, she would not be in so much pain. What Leivinia did was to open holes in her barrier by manipulating the air forming the barrier, and let her explosions conveniently pass through it.

In the meantime, Colbert and Kirche levitated the remaining unconscious nobles away from the courtyard into shelter while Tabitha stayed behind with Leivinia to protect her from any surprise attacks.

From the shelter, Colbert spotted something in the air and stopped Kirche from exiting the shelter.

It was something he only saw in rare books.

The Staff of Destruction.

A powerful magical artifact rumored to have enough power to wipe out an area around one quarter of an average sized forest with just a single use.

But calling it a magical artifact was technically incorrect.

It was actually standard Academia technology disguised as a staff which nobody knew how to remove that disguise for use, so the Royal Court decided to keep it locked up in the academy's vault.

Many times smaller than a battleship, but possesses even more destructive power than one. If a country ever found a way to mass produce such technology ahead of everyone else, this would be the end of the remaining four countries. Not even Germania with the strongest military power could fight against 50,000 elite battleships.

Attached to an Academian female's back hovering in the air was a cylinder as long as an ordinary staff, but as thick as a tree, and metallic tentacles extended from the cylinder with mini gun barrels clustered together on its flat, circular end. Two translucent wings were also attached on the head armor she wore as well, connected to the cylinder with colorful thick strings.

Almost just like how it was depicted.

Tabitha raised an ice barrier against the bullet shower fired from the tentacles. However, her barrier only managed to protect Leivinia, herself and Saiai who was somehow in range. She had no time nor the willpower to raise a large barrier strong enough to protect everyone.

Bullets pierced through the unconscious nobles that were still at the courtyard. Blood oozing from their bullet wounds stained the courtyard further red. It was like an army with pistols storming inside and started shooting at all of them at once.

The Academian's female's right arm transformed into a huge, weirdly designed cannon around five meters in length, its barrel glowing an ominous orange as the tentacles kept on showering bullets on the sturdy barrier that showed no signs of collapsing anytime soon.

Leivinia read about the Staff of Destruction in books as well.

This was a shot that could definitely destroy the entire courtyard.

She reinforced the ice barrier with another layer of the strongest air barrier she could conjure.

Leivinia and Tabitha glimpsed at shockwaves ripping apart the buildings like wind blowing away sandcastles before their vision turned bright orange.

Part 10

A gruesome scene of destruction greeted both Touma and Patricia.

After Rikou took the Staff of Destruction and left through a window, they wanted to go check on the people attending Familiar Day at the courtyard.

Rikou said the other Necessarius agents were outside creating a distraction for her to steal the staff.

Was this what they meant by distraction?

There were only rubble surrounding a scorched black ground littered with charred lumps. Some shaped like an arm, or a leg. The large lumps were shaped like a person.

All this destruction and killing for the sake of stealing the Staff of Destruction from the academy's vault.

Patricia clasped her hands together and made a small prayer to those who were killed as she trembled in confusion.

Was it necessary to go that far?

All Rikou needed was a distraction, not a slaughterfest! Why? Why did her fellow Neccesarius agents have to resort to murder?! What was their reason?!

Touma nudged Patricia out of her thoughts, and pointed at Leivinia and Tabitha lying on the ground up ahead with burns all over their body, but still conscious and breathing.

Patricia rushed over with Touma following behind and cast a quick healing spell to remove their burns.

"What happened?!" Touma said.

Leivinia sucked in a few deep breathes before she managed to muster a reply. "The Staff of Destruction. It was all a distraction. The golem, and the killing in the courtyard."

Just like what Rikou said, this was all a distraction for her to steal the Staff of Destruction.

"They succeeded." Leivinia got up on her feet, brushing dirt off her clothes. "But I was having fun torturing one of their comrades. So they probably sent someone to save her using the Staff of Destruction."

That explained everything.

Rikou must have known how powerful Leivinia was, so she used the Staff of Destruction to save one of her fellow agents tortured by Leivinia. Because the staff was too powerful, it ended up destroying the entire courtyard, killing anyone not protected by a barrier or something.

If both him and Patricia had made in time here before Rikou used the Staff of Destruction, all of this could have been avoided by explaining what was going on.

"Did you refuse to let her go or something? I don't certainly see why would someone unleash such a terrifying power against you without any warning." Touma said.

"That's what she bloody did. Without any warning at all. If it wasn't for Tabitha raising an ice barrier in the nick of time, I would have been killed by the rapid bullet firing tentacles first."

"Rapid bullet firing tentacles?! Are you sure that's the Staff of Destruction you're looking at?"

"It's called a Staff of Destruction because it was found in the form of a staff. Its true form is a cannon capable of great destruction supported by tentacles that can fire a lot of bullets at once. According to the book, this is an example of standard Academia technology. Have you seen something like this in your world?"

"Definitely not something that could be mass produced in my world."

Touma never saw one before, but given Academy City's technological advancements, it might be possible that such technology has already been invented.

"Ah yes. You're from the primitive age, aren't you?" Leivinia said.

"Primitive age? Don't make it sound like your world is more advanced than my world. For starters, your world has no cellphones to begin with, so you people can only send letters back and forth instead of texting each other. "

"How fast can your so called texting be anyway."

Leivinia only remembered 'texting' as a function that an object called a cellphone was capable of. And... what exactly was a cellphone again? But she could not look stupid in front of her retarded familiar.

"Less than a second."

"Well then." Leivinia folded her arms with a smug smile. "Why don't you explain how this is achieved? I'll admit that I'm a little ignorant regarding Academia's technology, but surely you'd know right? Your world is more advanced than my world after all. "

And so, this marks the return of the arrogant brat Leivinia Birdway like how he remembered her during their first encounter.

Touma was not about to let her emerge as the victor as he launched into his best explanation about how a cellphone works.

Author's Note:

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing this story :)

This was a really, really hard chapter to write because the ideas I initially had for this chapter kept on changing as I wrote it. For example, Shizuri was supposed to just barge in, meet Touma outside the door, and get into a fight, but she was eventually relegated to air support as I continued writing.

To get some inspiration for this chapter, I went and read a couple of other ZnT's crossover stories involving the Familiar Day and Fouquet Arc like vendetta543's Twisted Reflection which by the way is a pretty good story, but I don't know much about Dark Souls, so the later chapters got kinda confusing for me sadly. Actually, if you noticed, this chapter was greatly inspired by Twisted Reflection Chapter 11, so to vendetta543, thanks and hope you keep updating :)

And Leivinia is finally back, so yay I guess?

I thought with the backstory I thought up for Leivinia, she would utterly detest her sister Patricia, but somehow I was wrong. Although Leivinia doesn't like Patricia, she's still rather protective of her which surprised me quite a bit.

It was also interesting to combine ZnT's lore and To Aru's magic system to wake Leivinia up. For the readers who knows nothing about To Aru, hope it wasn't that confusing.

Do leave a review if you liked it, or if you're kind enough to offer ideas or advice to me so that I can improve this chapter and also not struggle as much writing the next chapter.

Edit (10/02/16):

After a review saying that my chapter was kinda rushed, I thought about how I could improve it, and this is the result. I hope its better, and thank you for providing suggestions to help me improve :)