"Now that you have the means to attack, there's only one other thing left before you're prepared."

Sheila said while her eyes seemed to be staring blankly at something invisible in the air, or so thought others. She was actually browsing through the shop, searching for wand or staff that could assist Mia in either casting the spell or increasing the already huge mana, it would be nice if she could get both options but that might be more pricy and with her current expense, it might not be enough. 

It didn't take very long before she finds a single wind at a good price range with one of the options she wanted. Actually, this was the only one Sheila could get without wasting all her expenses—as much as she wanted to help Mia, she didn't want to use all the golds had been saved up until now. 

When she brought the wand out of the inventory, the three of them witnessed a wand made of unknown wood appeared, which also seemed to emit an aura of nature. It looks simple from a single glance but anyone with good eyes would know that there are wrong to assume as such. The cost of the wand is around 2k golds and the enchantment was one that assists the owner of the wand to control mana much more efficiently.

It was pretty cheap considering the Mana Sense Skill actual price is at 5k golds in the shop, which is much higher than the wand. The skill obviously much better than the wand since the former could level up while the latter stays the same, sooner or later, it won't be of use to Mia anymore once her control in mana is much better.

When the wand suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Mia had thought Sheila was going to show her magic but instead, the wand was given to her. Although alarm, Mia accepted it timidly when she saw that it was really meant for her, which means she now has another debt to be paid. The moment she equipped the wand in her hand, she could feel that her control with mana has become much better than before, at least she feels like she could conjure the fireball normally rather than the unstable one. 

"Fireball."

With the word uttered from her mouth, a small ball of flame appeared and stay floating midair, even more, the fireball didn't immediately disappear like what happened previously. Since that was the case, Mia controls the fireball and makes it flew a distance away from them before hitting the ground and exploded. 

Boom!

Mia was amazed to see her fireball leaving a small blackened crater on the ground once the smoke disappeared, swipe away by the wind. Although her fire magic is still at level 1, the firepower of her fireball was increased due to her high stats in intelligence. It was much stronger than when Sheila had first acquired the skill. The two were also amazed at the aftermath before Sheila nodded her head and call out to Mia.

"With that much firepower, you are preparing more than enough for the challenge."

Mia turned her head and asked.

"Challenge?"

"What else is there other than Slime on this floor? Currently, we can be considered in a safe zone so there is no slime around, but when you accepted a quest, they will start appearing in a countdown of 3. Are you ready?"

Mia gulped before slowly responding with a nod.

"Good. Since it was your first time, we will be watching behind you but you still need to be careful as we won't give you a hand unless the situation called for. Now then, I will begin."

With that said, Sheila snapped her finger and all of sudden, Mia could feel the air in her surroundings changed within that split second. Her grasp over the wand tighten as she nervously looked around and not a distance away from her, she could see a small group of blobs colored in blue, jumping around near each other. Mia turned her head toward Sheila who nodded to her in response before putting everything back into inventory and put a bit of distance from her, exactly what the latter said.

To be honest, she didn't want to fight if possible. The reason she went into the Mage Association was pure that she was awe by supernatural power like those seen in the movies. Of course, she didn't expect to use such power to kill another living being, no matter whether they are monsters or otherwise, she was still a bit hesitant about it. But when she remembers the information told to her by Ria, her hands gripping on the wand become even tighter as her meek expression slowly turned into that of determined.

If the world would truly be turned into a world where strength prevails, then there's only one thing she had to do, and that is to get stronger so that she won't be bullied or at worse, consumed by those at the peak. As an orphan that was adopted to a good family, she also wanted to repay them in kind. If they ever need help in the future, she could use that chance even if they didn't ask for it. As an orphan, she was more mature than people at her age, she had learned from the orphanage to repay in kind to those who help her when in time of needs instead of malice.

With that thought in mind, Mia stepped forward and ready to fire the spell until the slimes entered her firing range. Noticing the change in her expression, Sheila nodded her head before muttering softly to herself, but since Ria was close to her, she also heard the latter's words.

"She has the potential."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. I'm just glad that she didn't seem to be scared of the slime, or it might be that the situation didn't get to her as it appears she could think calmly. That's not the mentality that most normal people at her age would have, I guess being an orphan might be the cause."

Ria turned her head toward Mia who was calmly walking toward the slimes while also cautiously looking at her surroundings. She nodded in agreement before retorting.

"She's not normal, to begin with though. A normal person won't be able to get accepted into the Mage Academy, after all."

"True."

The two stopped talking when they saw Mia firing fireball at the group blob jumping toward her when they saw her approaching. But because their speed was too slow, they couldn't dodge as the fireball hits them head-on before exploding, killing the three slimes on the spot. Although she was level 1, her firepower was comparable to someone with strength at level 4-5, so it wasn't a shock to see such a result. If anything, it would be strange if the slime could survive such an attack that could leave a small crater on the ground. With that one single attack, Mia leveled up to 3 in one go.

But before she could take a breather, another group of slimes could be seen jumping as hard as they could toward her position as they were attracted by the sound of the explosion. Without giving them any chance, Mia immediately fires another fireball at the slimes the moment they entered her firing range. 

And that's how the started of another day of grinding, at least until Mia exhausted all her mana and ended up fainted right after because she wasn't told what would happen if she overused her mana. It had slipped past Sheila's mind since Ria had never had this problem, the same goes to her. Both of them always take a break whenever they feel tired or exhausted, but in Mia's case, she didn't take any break knowing the two were behind her in case the situation went south. That must have been the reason why she went all out, it can't be helped.

When the day ends, Mia was already level 6 and both of her skills also leveled up by one. If the previous her was an average person, now she could be considered as a real magus as her current capabilities are enough to fight against the mage from Mage Association but only those that were at her age. After all, even a genius couldn't conjure magecraft as fast as her, even more, it was chantless.

Before Mia took her leave, Sheila repeatedly warns her to not show the card to others, not even Angelica until she had enough strength to fight against them. Understanding the risk and danger if the card was made known to the public, Mia nodded her head and promised.

Seeing the small figure slowly getting smaller due to the distance, Sheila turned back and head into her house while contemplating her next plan. If she was going to speak of the truth to that person, she must also invite the other or the latter would feel wrong being left behind and makes trouble for such an absurd reason. It has happened many times, she even secretly dubbed that person as good-for-nothing. 

I guess I couldn't keep it secret any longer. I'm sure she would already know by now that I hold a secret since she's much sharper than normal people when it comes to this kind of thing. But she never inquires me after knowing that fact which makes me feel thankful yet guilty at the same time. I'm thankful that she's being considerate to me yet guilty because I only come to her when I need her help, thought Sheila. 

It didn't take long for her to arrived in front of a familiar room before giving a few knocks and entered the room when she received a response. When she entered the room, she could see a mature figure laying her back on the pillow on the bed. The latter smiled at her while she was walking before taking a seat near the bed. Although there's a stoic expression on her face that seemed to indicated she was calm, the mature woman on the bed could clearly see that she was nervous judging from how she keeps looking down without meeting her eyes directly.

"Is there something in your mind?"

Sheila didn't answer and keep her silence. Perhaps she has gotten courage after staying silent for a few minutes as when she looked up, one could see a determined expression on her face. 

"I have something to tell you, Mom."