Aika found herself in Takashima's lab. It looked a bit messy, but that was typical with all the constant research going on.
She sat in the chair in the middle of the room, connected to multiple wires that crisscrossed the space. The chair was usually used to fit magic items to those with great potential—people who could open the mana realm wide.
Aika was asleep, blowing a small snot bubble as she relaxed in the chair, completely unaware of the hum of the machines around her.
Takashima opened the door, walking side by side with Blitz.
They noticed Aika asleep in the chair. Blitz walked right up to her, her expression annoyed.
"Easy on the girl..." Takashima said, his voice calm.
Blitz placed a hand gently on the top of Aika's head, looking down at her.
"That wasn't too hard—"
Before Takashima could finish his sentence, Blitz sent a mana current into Aika's body, causing her to jolt awake violently.
"AHHHHH!" Aika screamed, falling off the chair and banging her head on the counter.
"Owie!" she muttered, rubbing her head with her hand, a small tear forming at the edge of her ear as she winced.
Takashima sighed, but quickly shifted into business mode.
"Alright, Aika, you're not in trouble... In fact, it's the opposite."
Aika looked up at him, confused. "Then why am I here?"
Takashima was about to answer, but was cut off by Blitz slamming her fist down on the counter, causing Aika to yelp in surprise.
"WE WANT TO KNOW HOW THE HELL YOU DID THAT!!"
Aika blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Takashima spoke again, his tone more serious now. "You used magic... without the proper equipment... which should be impossible."
Aika tilted her head in confusion. "How so?"
Blitz sighed loudly, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Oh gosh, girl! We went over this—" she flushed a little, realizing Aika totally slept through it. "Sigh. Takashima, please explain it to her so her dumb little brain can comprehend it!"
Takashima raised an eyebrow but chose to explain calmly. He crouched down in front of Aika, his voice lowering. "Aika, during the First Great Demon War, the great mages of the time, along with the First Mutant, exhausted the natural flow of mana in the world, causing a complete cutoff from it."
Aika blinked, still processing, her wide eyes filled with confusion.
"It wasn't until a few hundred years ago that we developed magic technology using the remaining magic stones left behind to force open the mana realm again... But that's only possible if you have specialized equipment."
Aika nodded slowly, her brows furrowing as she still didn't fully understand. Her wide eyes blinked up at them, looking completely innocent—like a cute idiot trying to piece everything together. "So what does that mean?"
Blitz, clearly frustrated, shot her an exasperated glare. "IT means you did something that hasn't been done in over 3 thousand years!"
Aika looked up at Takashima and Blitz, still unsure of what was going on. She tilted her head slightly, her wide, innocent eyes blinking in confusion.
"And that means...?" she asked, her voice laced with curiosity.
Takashima sighed, his shoulders sagging as he pushed his glasses up. "It means you are extremely powerful, and we are going to run some tests on you."
Blitz, already irritated by Aika's obliviousness, sighed too. With a flick of her wrist, gravity magic lifted Aika off the ground and gently placed her back in the chair.
"Just sit there and let our equipment do the rest," Blitz said bluntly.
Takashima and Blitz stepped back. A glass tube began to encase the chair around Aika, locking her in place.
Aika looked up, now slightly nervous. "Um... Is this gonna hurt?"
Takashima smiled reassuringly, "No, no..."
But Blitz, as usual, wasn't very comforting. "It's gonna make you wet yourself," she said bluntly.
Aika's face flushed bright red, her mouth opening in shock. "W-what?!"
Takashima quickly pressed a button on the dashboard, and the tube around Aika began to glow faintly green.
Aika's eyes widened as she felt something strange beginning to pulse through her body, but it wasn't unbearable. "This... feels a little funny," she murmured, shifting in her seat.
Takashima stroked his chin, glancing at the data on the screen. "Nothing seems out of the ordinary. But..." He squinted at the hologram, pointing at the brain scan.
On the screen, an outline of her brain appeared, and Takashima raised an eyebrow. "Her brainwaves... are over 12% more active than a normal human's."
Blitz leaned over, her eyes sharp. "That's interesting... Too much mana was used at once. It's likely why her brainwaves are so high."
Takashima nodded, his gaze fixed on the screen. "That makes sense... but look at this."
He pointed at a section of the scan, the cerebrum, where a small section of her brain was marked. "This is... damaged brain matter," he murmured. "But it's healed with a large amount of mana. It's like something forcibly healed it."
Blitz nodded in understanding. "That means a lot of mana was used at once. It left excess energy in her system, which caused the increase in brain activity. No wonder she's always so tired."
Takashima pressed his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Well, now she has an excuse for being tired all the time," he mused with a half-smile.
He leaned in closer to the screen, frowning slightly. "But what I don't get is how she could do this at all. Computer, bring up her medical files."
A hologram of Aika's medical file appeared. Takashima's eyes widened when he saw the name "Aika Nemizora." His finger hovered over the screen as he scrolled through her history.
Nemizora...
His expression hardened as he read through the files. "It says here she was in a horrible car accident when she was four. She should've died... How?"
Blitz, already well-aware, sighed deeply. "It doesn't surprise me. She's Seijin's daughter. That bastard..." Her voice trailed off, a hint of bitterness in her tone. "I wonder where that bastard is now... He disappeared after the accident."
Takashima closed the file, his expression cold, but something behind his eyes seemed to flicker—like he was hiding something. His lips pressed into a thin line.
"Well, that's not important," he said quickly, brushing it off.
He pressed a button that stopped the scanning process, and the glass tube around Aika opened up, allowing her to sit freely again.
Aika, of course, was asleep.
Blitz crossed her arms. "Of course, she's asleep," she muttered.
Takashima sighed, looking at Aika's peaceful face. "Blitz, you're going to need to test her again. We need to see if she can do it again. I doubt she'll be able to, not without some serious training. That blow to the head triggered something in her. I think... I think she'll slowly become more powerful from here on out."
Blitz nodded. "Understood," she said, her voice steady as she glanced at Aika. "But let's make sure we don't overload her just yet."
Takashima gave a final glance at Aika's resting form before he turned to Blitz. "We'll take it slow. But... this could be a game-changer."
Blitz nodded, her expression serious.
Blitz stood over Aika, her eyes narrowing. With a swift motion, she extended a hand, and a pulse of mana surged through her fingers. It wasn't gentle—it was enough to jolt Aika awake.
Aika's eyes snapped open, blinking wildly, confused as she quickly found herself looking up at Blitz's stern expression.
Blitz crossed her arms, glaring down at her. "Get up, Aika. We've got training."
Aika groggily rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of what was going on. "Training? But I'm—"
Blitz's glare intensified, her patience clearly worn thin. "Now. Up. No more excuses."
Before Aika could even get her bearings, Blitz reached down, grabbed her by the arm, and yanked her out of the chair. Aika let out a surprised yelp, barely managing to keep her feet under her as she was dragged out of the lab.