The purple-haired woman's eyes drop, go wide, and her whole face turns red. She scrambles back so fast she almost falls over.
"W-why are you naked?!"
Hey, I'm not exactly happy about this either, you know. But you do have a point. I probably should have done this from the beginning.
I immediately get up and whip myself up some new clothes with a new technique I previously learned. I can use Qi as the material for the clothing and mana as the thread that connects it.
Using that technique, I make myself a pair of black pants, red boots, and a red shirt with a diamond crest attached to the right shoulder.
The girl stares at me, still red, but at least she's no longer looking at… anything she shouldn't. Well, it's not like she'd find anything anyway.
"Y-you can just make clothes?"
"Yeah. Pretty much."
"Excuse me, but what did you say?"
Hmm? Did I stutter or something?
"I said, yeah, pretty much."
The purple-haired woman looks at me, then places her hand on her forehead.
"Great, there's a language barrier. Now I can't even communicate."
Umm...what is she saying? I can understand her just fine.
"Sorry, what do you mean—?"
She sticks out her hand and cuts me off.
"Save your breath. I can't understand you."
Is it just me? There's no way I can understand her, but she can't understand me.
Is this you?
Nope. If it were me, I would allow you to understand and speak.
In other words, it seems I can understand her, but she can't seem to understand me. Interesting.
I highly doubt it, but perhaps it's just me she can't understand. Perhaps she might be able to understand Claudia.
I snap my fingers to make the body double disappear. It shouldn't be long before Claudia comes out of the bathhouse. While waiting, I extend my hand and help the purple-haired woman up.
Whoa, she's tall.
Nope, you're just short. She's around 5 feet and 3 inches. You're just 5 feet exactly.
...You're not funny.
That wasn't a joke.
The purple-haired girl looks down and thanks me just as I'm about to answer.
"Abel," I hear a voice scream from behind me. "You forgot your clothes."
Claudia comes running down the hallway. She has changed out of her dirty Selene Academy uniform and is wearing a plain white shirt over a black jacket and black shorts. As for shoes, she's changed from the worn-out boots to a pair of sandals. She's even tied up her hair in a ponytail.
Oh yeah, I should probably do something about this, I think to myself as I twirl my hair.
Perhaps I'll tie it.
Anyway, back to the main issue at hand here. Claudia runs to me holding my clothes. She quickly hands them to me before noticing the purple-haired woman.
She looks at her for a moment, then looks at me, then back to her. From the sudden scowl that forms on her face, I can tell she's thinking something bad.
Well, at least she didn't come when I was naked. That would have been hard to maneuver out of.
The purple-haired woman just looks at Claudia and gives a light smile and wave, but Claudia doesn't let up. She's like a lion trying to sniff out its prey.
Just as I'm about to try and explain who the girl is, or at least how I found her, Claudia speaks and breaks the silence.
"Who are you, and what's your relationship with my brother?"
That wasn't what I expected, but she's at least attempting to talk,, so that's good. Right?
The purple-haired girl gives a light smile before responding.
"Sorry, but I can't understand you."
Well, that confirms that. She can't understand Claudia either, so I'm assuming she can't understand our language at all.
But maybe Claudia—
"What did you say? I don't understand what you said."
Seems she can't understand her either. So let me get this straight: I can understand her, but she can't understand me, and aside from me, no one can understand her. Great. This just made things a lot harder.
I stick out my hand to the purple-haired woman, signaling her to wait for a moment.
I then grab Claudia's hand and pull her to a corner. I try my best to explain everything about my fight with Azar and how this girl was pulled in from the rift. By some miracle, she listens to everything I say without getting surprised. Guess she must really be mad.
By the time I'm done, Claudia sighs and walks towards the purple-haired woman. I told her that she can't communicate with her, so I don't get what she's trying to do.
Then she gets down on her knees and places her head on the ground.
Wait...is she trying to apologize?
The purple-haired woman's face turns red, and she starts waving her hand around frantically.
"What are you doing?" She says, but Claudia can't understand, so she continues kneeling.
I walk up to Claudia.
"You can get up. She doesn't even know you were suspicious of her. Besides..."
I look up at the purple-haired woman.
"...She doesn't seem to be the type to hold grudges."
"Perhaps, but I must still do this."
Suit yourself.
I walk up towards the purple-haired woman and flash a smile to her to show I'm being friendly. Then I point towards the door leading outside.
She takes the hint and nods. Then she begins to walk towards it. I drag Claudia as we walk to the door. The purple-haired woman grabs the handle, then twits is. The door opens slightly, and she turns to look at me.
I give a slight nod, reassuring her, and just like that she opens the door.
As we step out, we're greeted with the sight of millions of blinding stars in the sky. Each of them is a different color, and they're all connected by lines. When done the right way, they can form images in the sky.
While not my strong suit, I used light magic to create these miniature stars within Infinity's Domain. They serve as the source of light here.
The purple-haired woman looks up in amazement. It's not just her. Even Claudia looked up to see the stars.
If they like it this much, maybe I'm not a complete amateur at light magic. Maybe I should practice it more.
I brought the woman out here just for a change of scenery. I got bored inside, and needed some air.
The whole Luna situation can wait. Right now I've got someone who can't even understand thisnworlds language. If I'm going to keep her around she needs to be able to talk. And to do that, it's first need to know who she is.
Khaos, you're up.
Understood.
As I wait for the result of Khaos's analysis, I sense Shiro and Astra's presence. Aside from Astra, I haven't seen Shiro since Claudia woke up. What was he doing- napping?
But I guess it doesn't matter right now. Once they arrive, the two stand right beside me.
Analysis Complete. She possesses the Core skill: Regeneration, Soul Skills: Crimson Genesis and Void Horizon, Link Skill: Spirit Possession, Spirit Control, and Spirit Weaver. She seems to have a Sovereign Class Astral Skill lying dormant within.
Is that everything you could get?
Well, I did find that she has a small contraption in her pocket, but I cannot tell what it is.
And?
That's it. What more were you expecting?
What a disappointment. I was hoping you could find some actual info like her name. But whatever. You said one of her Link Skills was Spirit Possession, right?
Correct.
Spirit Possession is a Link Skill that allows one to gain the power of a spirit of their choosing. Gaining the skill itself is rare but not unheard of. The problem is the fact that spirits themselves can be quite...picky, to say the least. Since the Era of Demise, spirits have been in a different realm together, except Minor Spirits. If I can travel there, then maybe I can convince a spirit to possess her and allow her to communicate with us. Once I finish with that, I'll go and have an...audience with the Spirit King. It's been a while since I last saw him.
Doesn't sound like a bad plan, but how do you suppose we get there? Your mastery of Trinity hasn't reached a level at which you can freely traverse realms.
You're right on that part. I'm not there yet. And I don't know anywhere I can travel to get there. At least, not yet
So you're suggesting we look for any entrances?
Correct. And the best way to do it is at the best library. Unfortunately, though, that library is in the Selene Academy of Mages and Knights.
I'm guessing this means—
Yup. Say hello to the newest student, Noir Drake.
But if you enroll as that, then it means you'll have to—
Come clean and tell Claudia, yes. I'm trusting your judgment on this, ok?
...sure.