"You're certain? One hundred percent absolute?" Karl asked, drumming his fingers on his office desk. Beside him, Lilian inclined her head as though confused.

"Are you doubting my information gathering capabilities, Sir Karl? Or do you hope my answer will have changed from the last seven times you asked?"

Sighing, Karl pinched the bridge of his nose to help suppress the headache forming behind his eyes. "No, no, I apologize. It's just... I thought I'd have more time to prepare subtle counter-measures. They're moving so quickly?"

"Yes. At least one group will act during the upcoming Trial. I am unable to determine what their plans may be specifically, but one can assume they will likely prepare means to deal with any Shadow Guards around Kira to provoke you and test your sincerity towards her security. If they sense any weakness, they will strike hard."

"I promised to do everything in my power to protect her, Lilian."

"You did indeed, Sir Karl."

"I'm not weak, and within the city I'm pretty influential if I do say so myself. But this, this is... I can't stop them. Not without risking the entire damned city! Lilian, how could this happen right under my nose?"

"Public news coverage of certain Council meetings aside... The Academia Shard could be considered as your private property at the moment, as you're the headmaster. But due to the nature of the Academia, many others have permissions to freely come and go. An initial background check only clears their past, it does not guarantee their future remains clean. Whether it was someone in the city or someone in the school, considering just how many are mobilizing and what preparatory measures some appear to be taking, there were clearly several snitches."

Karl covered his face with both hands and scoffed. "Clearly."

"You have always been lazy, Sir Karl. And too proud to realize your blind spots or ask for assistance when necessary."

He shifted one finger to create a gap in his hands through which he glared at the sassy Automata. "Thanks, Lilian. What do I do now? Should I give her a personal Shadow Guard in addition to the unit already watching her?"

Lilian didn't dare let her surprise show on her face, instead tilting her head again to look contemplative. He normally didn't ask direct questions like that since he preferred making his own plans and schemes. She was pleased that he thought to do so this time, when he was so clearly backed into a corner, and thought carefully about how to construct her response. "A personal Guard would be inappropriate, it would stifle her growth. She will need experience dealing with these matters."

Karl nodded. Personal Shadow Guards were different from assigned units. A unit could back out if they felt the situation was too dangerous, and was limited in what interactions they could have with their ward. A personal Shadow Guard, however, was prepared to lay down their life to protect their charge, and often took measures to protect their ward even if the situation isn't necessarily life-threatening. Assigning one to a child was indeed overprotective and stifling.

Children had to be protected, but not at the cost of their own competence. Making them reliant on a safety net early on killed their independence, harming their future prospects. Protecting a child was a delicate balance between wanting to keep them safe, and knowing that sometimes they had to get a little hurt so they wouldn't get hurt worse later on.

Sighing, Karl rubbed his temples. "She needs experience... So we should let it happen, whatever it is? Even if we don't know how dangerous it's going to be? Ailsa's gonna hit me again..."

"It is ultimately for the best, considering the promises you made and your lack of preparation in actually fulfilling them beyond what you've done in the city itself. But it is a slightly cruel course of action, Sir Karl, so you will deserve it no matter how thoroughly Mrs. Reid kicks your hindquarters."

The Archmage scowled, sparks of glowing ember spitting out from between his lips as he exhaled and slammed his hands on his desk. "I basically have the city on lockdown, Lilian! Nothing comes and goes without my notice, I know every single person passing through those gates and their backgrounds! The news is muffled and even the smallest market rumors have been manipulated or quashed to protect that child! She has her own Shadow Guard unit! I didn't sit back and do nothing!"

Despite the intimidation display, Lilian only gave him a cold sidelong glance. "This situation has come about because you've gotten lax regarding your own ability and influence, thinking you have everything in hand without focusing on the bigger picture. You have become the proverbial Horned Frog in the well, Sir Karl. Controlling the city is not controlling the world."

Karl seemed to deflate under the force of her sharp words, letting out a heavy sigh and sinking further down into his chair. His pride stung all the more because he knew she was right. "I've gotten complacent..."

"Interfering directly at this stage will be taken as an act of hostility and implicate the entire city. Since you can no longer prevent what is going to happen, you can only take measures to ensure she will be kept alive when it does. It will be frightening for Kira. She must overcome this fear. Experience creates confidence, confidence creates capability. Overcoming the upcoming difficulties will give her necessary experience in handling unexpected and potentially dangerous situations. Saving her too quickly will harm her in the long run, she will become fearful and dependent. Both are unsavory traits that would certainly be used against her."

"What are you suggesting we do then, Lilian?"

The Automata paused, closing her eyes so that their crimson light dimmed. She was silent for a few moments, and then her eyes snapped back open. "Considering the situation and its potential ramifications, I have received permission to deploy an Observer on Kira Hawthorne's behalf."

An Observer would only act from the shadows and not openly assist unless their ward's life was in clear danger. They were virtually undetectable chaperons, and would be able to report on Kira's condition and location even if she were incapacitated, no matter what tricks were pulled in the background.

Observers couldn't attack or defend effectively due to the somewhat ethereal nature of their bodily composition, but they were invaluable for important figures due to their ability to remain undetected and teleport their wards to safety. Their deployment was carefully controlled by the hidden organization which managed Shadow Guards.

Lilian, as a rather high-ranking member of said organization, put in a request as soon as she made the initial report to Karl about certain forces being mobilized. No matter what happened at the Trials, an Observer would ensure Kira was kept alive and showed the Archmage's sincerity in protecting her without smothering the girl with overprotection.

It also wouldn't be considered an invasion of privacy. Beings such as Observers existed in their ward's shadow, attached to their form yet hovering on the fringe of an immaterial shadow plane. Once attached to a ward, unless they were directly summoned by name or detected a threat to their ward, they couldn't interact with the material plane. Their physical senses were sealed while in the shadow plane so they only used innate metaphysical senses to keep track of their ward's condition and location, or report their ward's situation to a supervisor.

His eyes shining, Karl quickly made a hand signal that caused the obscured figure hiding in his shadow to partially rise up, sleepily blinking its violet eyes. "Haze. We received permission to assign an Observer to Kira Hawthorne, have them prepare a 【 Scroll of Recall 】 for emergency exit protocol."

Haze switched his gaze to Lilian, eyes widening in surprise. "Authorization?"

Lilian nodded, making Haze's eyes widen even further. "Confirmation code 23874-ARH-93L."

"Confirmed. Orders received."

Karl made another hand gesture, keeping Haze from immediately disappearing. "Keep the Guard unit on her, but when she goes missing they're to protect her teammates instead and let the Observer handle things."

"Yes, sir." Haze saluted, and sank back into the shadow.

"Lilian, I want you to gather and organize concrete evidence. Everyone making plans against her, no matter who succeeds in the end."

"Yes, Sir Karl."

"Should we... Warn her?" Karl mumbled, leaning back in his chair.

"I think not. Kira is still a child, and might give something away with her behavior should she feel threatened by the news. It is best she remains unaware until the time comes, to save her from unnecessary anxiety."

"The people moving against her have resources and backgrounds that can cause them to completely disregard me as anything more than a stumbling block. I'm confident against whatever forces were mustered by the other Councilors, but against multiple Human Clans? What can anyone even do?"

"Their best, Sir Karl. Only their best."

Kira sat on her bed, humming anxiously as she watched a countdown timer tick closer and closer to zero. Her hair was still wet from the bath, and her muscles had settled into a dull ache. A long soak after a day of struggling on the obstacle course was exactly what she needed, but instead of taking time to luxuriate, she closed all the curtains in her room and waited impatiently for the opportunity to see her own grimoire for the first time.

Ailsa checked with her wife and confirmed that manifesting a grimoire never cost mana, meaning Kira didn't need to sit in an MP-restoration circle when the time came to summon it. The only time a grimoire took mana was if she changed the hidden grimoire's shape, or purposefully channeled mana through it for other purposes. The thing that happened when she first activated 【 Arcana 】 wouldn't happen again.

'I shoulda sat in a training zone before with the circles activated,' Kira lamented in her heart. 'Next time I test out a new unknown skill or spell, I'm gonna make sure I have plenty of HP and MP restoration stuff going on.'

"AH!" She suddenly exclaimed, and smacked her own forehead with enough force to leave a red mark. "I had Safirite! I coulda... Aw, man!"

She suffered for nothing!

Well, not for nothing. She suffered for being stupid. Kira groaned, covering her face with her hands.

'Note to self, pay more attention to what's in my inventory.'

Kira shook her head, then went back to focusing on the little timer ticking down in the 【 Arcana 】 tooltip window.

One minute remaining...

The last few moments stretched for an eternity. Kira felt like she was gonna vibrate out of her own skin from a combination of trepidation and excitement.

Thirty-two seconds...

She squashed the rising doubts and fears bubbling to the surface, refusing to carefully examine her own concerns even in the darkest depths of her heart. Kira forced herself to only focus on the numbers slowly ticking down.

Fifteen seconds...

Who wouldn't be curious about the form of their own soul? It was like an honest glimpse into her own heart. Surely no matter what it looked like, she could come to love it?

Ten seconds...

Even if the grimoire was potentially something horrible, something that reflected a part of herself she didn't want to admit might exist.

Zero! Kira took a deep breath to chase away the sudden anxious nausea churning in her stomach, steadying her nerves before holding her hands out palms upward.

"【 Arcana 】!"

A lavender mote of light formed above her palms. It grew to the size of a grapefruit, before little tendrils of light began to reach out away from its glowing core. Kira tried not to despair at the thought that her grimoire really would be a creepy crawly, as she watched the tendrils change thickness and length, branching out more and more.

The glowing tendrils wove together, faster and faster, the light growing brighter by the second until Kira couldn't even bear to look at it. The air felt strange, crackling against her skin like static electricity, and she had to concentrate in order to breathe more than simple, shallow breaths.

She only ventured to open her eyes when she felt something big and solid drop onto her outstretched hands, and the power in the air abated enough for her to breathe freely.

Kira held a rather hefty tome in her hands. At the sight of its cover, she completely forgot about her previous fears regarding something creepy or gross appearing, and could only stare in wonder at the tome that felt both new and familiar.

The front cover was an inch thick. Several interconnecting layers of thin lavender crystal shaped into complex curves and spirals, forming delicately detailed crystalline leaves and vines. The back cover was a solid half-inch sheet of the same lavender crystal embossed with an intricate design no less complicated than the front cover, glowing iridescent runes periodically appearing and fading within the crystal itself like little fairy lights.

Woven metallic golden thread formed the spine, in smooth patterns swirling around a large cabochon gemstone in the exact center that occupied a good third of the spine. The gemstone was beautiful, but looking at it made Kira's heart pound faster.

It looked like a piece of flowing magma churning within an invisible containment force, the glowing golden light within pulsing in time to her own heartbeat. She was almost afraid to touch the gem in case it burned her fingers, but after a moment she worked up the courage to do so anyway.

"Warm," Kira whispered, a slow smile spreading across her face as she pressed her fingers against the gem's smooth surface. It wasn't too hot, but it was definitely generating heat of some sort. Every time the light in the gem pulsed, it sent out a brief shimmer of golden light that gently spread through the crystalline vines and leaves forming the front cover.

A single teardrop fell on the cover, and she hurriedly set the book down on the bed away from her face. She couldn't stop the tears that fell silently down her face as she looked at the beautiful grimoire, her shoulders trembling with emotion.

It wasn't creepy, or sinister, or menacing.

It wasn't broken or disturbing.

It was pretty.

Her soul was pretty!

She felt so relieved that she cried for a good few minutes, releasing all her unspoken fears and anxiety.

Once she calmed down, Kira reached a trembling hand toward the grimoire, and opened the book. The grimoire's pages were diaphanous and iridescent. Despite them feeling almost silken beneath her fingers, exerting any sort of force revealed the pages were actually pieces of an impossibly flexible metal as thin as a cicada's wing.

Kira flipped through the whole book. The first page had a detailed description of 【 Throw Rock 】 written in beautiful flowing script with shimmering purple ink that looked fresh but was dry to the touch, while the rest of the pages were entirely blank. She closed the grimoire and leaned back, exhaling a long breath.

Only then did she realize there was a System screen floating above her bed, which she'd missed because she started crying like a fool. Though there was no one around to see it, she still ducked her head to hide an embarrassed blush.

-----

【 Arcana Bloom Successful 】

Grimoire Quality: Mithril

Grimoire Connection: 1%

Rank: F

Congratulations! Due to a number of outstanding contributing factors, your Grimoire is remarkable!

Take your time to build a connection with your Grimoire to help it develop further and increase the Rank.

The Hidden Grimoire function is available at Rank E, once the Grimoire first begins to manifest an intelligence and personality.

To call your Grimoire, visualize holding it in your hand.

To dismiss your Grimoire, visualize it melding into your heart.

Summoning and dismissing a Grimoire may take some practice, and the speed of both depends on the accuracy and clarity of your visualization.

-----

Scanning the Grimoire basically provided the same information as the tooltip, without the congratulatory blurb. Kira dismissed both System screens, then closed her eyes. She suddenly felt exhausted, like crying earlier had drained what little energy she managed to store up after her bath.

Kira turned the Grimoire over in her hands a few times, scrutinizing every detail, to get rather familiar with its appearance. Then she practiced summoning and dismissing it a few times, until she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She dismissed the Grimoire, tucked herself into bed with her consolation slime, and fell fast asleep.

She didn't even twitch so much as an eyelash when an obscured figure crept through her window, and deposited something into her shadow before leaving.