Nova woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling, prompting him to drag himself up.
『G..guh.』[Nova]
After his attempt to move, he heard Mune's voice ask him a question.
『You awake?』[Mune]
『...Yes. What happened?』[Nova]
Mune gave Nova a thumbs up, letting him relax a little bit.
『We're in the palace. It ended up alright. Zousa was taken in for questioning, and we'll probably be next.』[Mune]
『That's… good. I'm… hungry.』[Nova]
His stomach growled, as if asking for some way to replenish the energy that he had used up.
Mune had a helpless look on his face.
『...Not much we can do about it right now. Our phones got taken away as a precaution, so we can't order Mage's Meals. We'll have to wait it out.』[Mune]
Nova groaned and sat himself up.
He knew that he could have eaten some Stardrops, but he'd prefer something more nutritional and nourishing than that.
『...I kind of wished that I had food on hand with me, sometimes.』[Nova]
『I agree.』[Mune]
That's when he noticed that all of the other people were missing.
『Where is everyone else? Did they come with us?』[Nova]
『Yeah, they did. They're in the room over.』[Mune]
He raised his arm and pointed to his left with his thumb.
Nova leaned back, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
『...Man, what kind of vacation is this?』[Nova]
『Tell me about it. I haven't even been able to practice my sword technique like I planned.』[Mune]
Nova's entire body felt like it lacked any power in it.
『You feeling tired? You strengthened your Raiment before you woke up yesterday.』[Mune]
Nova was a bit confused
「...Strengthen? Is that… oh. The brink of life and death thing.」[Nova]
『Did I use my Raiment in front of them?』[Nova]
『Yeah, but they think you unlocked it there. Your friends had no idea what it was, so I can only assume they thought it was a seed ability.』[Mune]
『Well, that's good. Strengthened in what way, exactly?』[Nova]
Mune leaned back on the stiff chair, in an attempt to get comfortable.
『Remember when I talked about Raiment being something that gets stronger when in a pinch?』[Mune]
『I do. That's how I first unlocked it, after all.』[Nova]
『Well, you unlocked a new ability for it, similar to unlocking a new seed ability.』[Mune]
He put a finger on his wrist and traced it down his arm.
『Your Raiment had a blue hem, and your outfit had a new cape. I'm not sure what happened to you, but I think it was a passive ability.』[Mune]
『Passive ability?』[Nova]
Mune gave him a strange look.
『Have you played any video games before?』[Mune]
『I have. Why?』[Nova]
『You know how in those RPG's you have active skills, passive skills, ect?』[Mune]
Nova understood now.
『Oh! Yeah, I do.』[Nova]
『I think your Raiment has a healing passive, but well, it's still kind of hard to tell.』[Mune]
『How many abilities do you have for your Raiment, Mune?』[Nova]
『Uh… I haven't been almost dead in a while, so it hasn't really grown...』[Mune]
Nova couldn't help laughing when he worded it like that.
『Pfft. Haven't… Haven't been almost dead in a while!』[Nova]
Mune had a helpless half-smile on his face.
『Hey. It's not cool to show up your seniors by almost dying all the time, Nova.』[Mune]
Now Nova had the helpless look on his face.
『It's… not on purpose! I'd rather relax any day of the year. How hard is it to get some rest anyways?!』[Nova]
『No kidding. We made so many points from that last Raidagem mission that I was ready to actually have some rest for once...』[Mune]
He put his fingers to his chin, as if in deep thought.
『...You think I could have you clear missions out while I take a break?』[Mune]
Nova felt a chill when he thought of fighting the rank 7 brownlings.
『...Ha..Haaa…?』[Nova]
『I'm joking. You need a fourth year to supervise Raidagems anyway.』[Mune]
Nova inwardly sighed a breath of relief.
『...Still, how long do you think we'll be stuck here?』[Nova]
『A while. If your mana is doing alright, I got permission to practice in here.』[Mune]
He materialized Lucifius, who Nova just noticed had a red edge to his blade.
But first, he had to worry about what Mune said.
『Prac-Practice?! In the palace?!』[Nova]
He looked at Mune as if he was insane.
『Watch this.』[Mune]
He swung his blade, using the Falling Sun sword style, scattering red rose petals into the air.
Last time, the moment it touched a brownling, it had cut the brownling into ribbons.
Nova watched in horror as he expected the entire room to get destroyed.
Much to his surprise, however- the petals dissipated into the air in a few seconds.
『Wh-Wh-What?!』[Nova]
『...Palace has an anti-magic circle, and probably made out of some anti-magical material.』[Nova]
Nova suddenly remembered when he was visiting Reagan's wife's establishment and he found Sir Fluffles.
Sir Fluffles also spoke in his mind.
「It's true! There's no way for me to leave. It's just like that dark room!」[Sir Fluffles]
Nova nodded.
『Ah. Then we really are able to practice then, I guess.』[Nova]
Nova was wondering what to practice when Mune suddenly realized something.
『...Wai-.』[Mune]
『Etoile.』[Nova]
Before Mune could stop Nova, a shot from Nova's finger hit the wall and made a hole the size of a fist.
『...-t.』[Mune]
『...I have a feeling that I have made a horrible mistake.』[Nova]
『...I forgot to say… Using Raiment extensively will make your mana improve rapidly as you try to adapt to the maximum potential of it...』[Mune]
Nova hid his face in shame as he heard a knock at the door.