Rewinding back a little: Valry left to find her own way of infiltrating deep into their target's security.
She didn't have Fritz's Charms, Betty's data and logistics support, or Christina's wide vision, but what she DID have was the skills she'd cultivated as someone who was used to going in by herself.
This was enough for a lone wolf like her…
Her mood was bad. The thoughts and memories of those time she DID accept help started to arise.
["Help me!"]
["We can't keep up with your level!"]
["No one can support you!"]
["You're better off by yourself!"]
Being exceptional didn't mean she could easily cultivate close relationships with her 'comrades'.
It was always those who couldn't fit into 'normal standards' that were outcasted by society.
Everyone of the army respected her. She was an Extractor Rank who was capable enough to gain the respect of even veterans on the frontline. The only people who didn't was her so-called 'Squad'.
To her, they treated fighting Martial Artists and saving people like a game. Asking her to slow down to their level was like putting a chain on her. How was she supposed to fight with burdens like them?
One should put forth all their effort when trying to save civilians, but 'they' only cared about merits.
As an 'Executioner' of the Superior Magic Investigation Unit, or SMIU for short, she believed holding back equated to lazing around. Those who held her back, like her 'teammates', were scum!
Even the 'Dragoons' that were less important in comparison to them at least had professional dignity. They may just be foot-soldiers in the grand scheme of things, but she truly respected them.
After ironically being assigned to this 'Support Squad', she could only see their laziness.
Perhaps THEIR limit was just stealing back the designated Treasured Artifact. That wasn't too bad in terms of usefulness. The only difference between them was her 'limit' was much higher.
Much, much higher…
And so, she looked at the skyscraper from an inconspicuous area near the building. Like Fritz before her, the only thing she saw in front of her was a concrete wall. There was no way to go in.
She checked the retractable yet heavy blade behind her ways as well as the gun holster hidden under her skirt. The latter was taken out so she could have a good look of what she's working with.
D Rank Magic Capacity... This was lower than the strength of her own innate Magic Capacity of her Life Seal, but it was workable. She'd already seen how many veterans used this tool as Executioners.
The only difference was that she wasn't only limited to firing bullets infused with magical power.
As a true Magus, she'd already gone through basic training to control the power of a MagiPistol.
In the time before they actually went on this mission, she'd already mastered what took regular Magi months to figure out. Only a cursory glance was enough to fill her understanding of the matter.
She read through multiple books regarding Magic Formula Word Sequence theory, and the listed Skills provided to them by the Academy itself. The only thing to be done now was gain experience.
"I'll finish this like a proper Magus." She murmured while holding the Artificial Inverter in her hand.
First, she connected herself to what will be her power source. In other words, her Inverter.
Since she couldn't bring the power inside her body at all, she used the memorised formulas she knew.
In fact, 'Magic Formulas' were actually 'simple' to her. All she needed to do was remember them.
Others would find it hard to keep track of the kind of words needed for manual operation of 'Skills'. A thing she couldn't really empathise with. To her, it was easy to remember the nature of 'Manual Skills'.
All you had to do was 'inject' the right formula for the Skill into the Inverter (Magical Energy Storage Device), which would then be processed by the Macro Converter (Onboard Supercomputer).
The result was like a wizard using a wand. The kind of Skills desired only needed to be 'injected' into it.
Those Auto Skills already prepared through being 'inputted' the Macro Converter were practically shortcuts for emergencies. At least, that was what had been the intention of Academy instructors.
It was too bad most students weren't like Fritz Lazrik, who she saw as a role model of aspiring Magi. He was a bit of a pushover, but she couldn't help but admit that he was a capable in the field.
The former 'Scarlet Villainess' was no longer who she was back then. She was a lot weaker than before. That's why she couldn't help but feel competitive towards these new 'allies' of hers.
Truthfully, she didn't even have a plan before lashing out and going off on her own to infiltrate.
Her mind was blank for a good few moments, then tried to think of a way to use what she already had.
The blade on the back of her waist was only useful for battle, but the MagiPistol she had gave versatility. Like a MagiBlade used by swordsmen of the Academy, it only had 'Loading' Type Auto Skills.
The rest of the space on the Macro Converter was free enough to let her use high ranking Skills.
Even a mere D Rank Magic Capacity was a 'high rank' within the army, so she only needed more creativity. Without the freedom of her personal Limiter Inverter, she needed to think up a new plan.
It was then she thought up a new plan: She was just going to climb up instead of going inside.
To get this done, she needed some 'Passive Skills'.
Scouring through her own memory, she found some useful Skill formulas that could be of help.
The only problem was that there was only a limited amount of Skills a Macro Converter keep activated at once. A Passive Skill especially needed attention since it took data space for the duration applied.
She couldn't turn herself invisible using illusions like Fritz did, but she could at least distort the light reflecting off her body to hide herself. That's why the 'Camouflage' Skill was her first choice.
Valry starting coding the Seal Craft necessary to inject into her MagiPistol. It didn't take long thanks to her incredible photographic memory. The she moved onto 'compressing' the Seal Craft herself.
This process was not too dissimilar to compressing a file on a computer. The moment she 'injected' it into the Inverter, she used her Macro Converter to shorten the formula entered however possible.
It was a process similar to changing the Magic Formula Word Sequence of 'Water With Fifty Degree Celsius Temperature' into just the two words of 'Hot Water'. What mattered wasn't the words itself, but the imagination behind it.
Clearer visualisation of the manually injected Skill was needed the more vague the sentence was.
It was the same with already inputted Auto Skills.
Once she finally completed it, her body became transparent to a certain extent. At least, someone looking at her from afar wouldn't be able to actually see her using their naked eyes. It was a good Skill.
Now that she wouldn't instantly get caught by anyone looking at her from outside the building, a problem normal people would have is actually trying to climb up a building with their frail bodies.
Movies made it look easy, but doing this kind of outrageous act in real life was way too dangerous.
Not only were strong winds enough to throw a person off, but it wasn't like skyscrapers were built to be climbed from the outside. The physical strength and skill needed to do it was too high!
But Valry Vagabond was an anomaly...
She was a 'Hero' among Magi manufactured to get the impossible done. Her capability was inhuman...
'Gust Dampening.' She imagined. Another Seal Craft was injected and compressed to make space.
Then she started her climb...
This time, she used the Active Skill of 'Leveraging Stakes' to shoot places he could hold onto into the concrete wall. Her hands then grabbed onto them and climbed up. Whenever she got high enough, it didn't take much for her to 'hang' on a stake.
The weight of her body and durability of the magically created leverage was taken into account along with the gusts around the skyscraper. She made the impossible possible with pure ability.
The higher she went, the more it felt like gravity was trying to drag her down to her messy doom.
Her body would instantly flatten if she fell...
This would normally make someone more nervous the higher they went. Climbing up was frightening!
Valry showed off her nerves of steel though. It didn't seem like she was bothered whatsoever.
She had tremendous confidence in her ability...
Even going as far as to monitor to her squad members just to see what they had been up to.
The prodigy was impressed by their creativity.
'Still…' Valry couldn't help rolling her eyes when she saw Fritz silently taking down a thug.
The fact he used so much effort disappointed her a little. However, she became more interested in him.
His fighting style was eye-catching and unique.
It was at that moment she explained her situation.
But as she was talking over the line, her eyes suddenly made contact with someone in the building. Because of her distracted mind, she didn't notice someone opening a window.
Of course, it wasn't the type you could poke your head out of. That would be a hazardous design.
Still, the thug inside heard her talking on the line.
He seemed ready to contact others, so the beauty reacted with the agility of a tiger lunging at prey.
Despite the thickness of the window, her hand immediately shattered it into pieces and grabbed his collar. In the next instant, the man was dragged outside the building's 40th floor high in the air.
She adjusted her position before the leverage she was holding onto broke. Since the room the man was in was empty, she first decided to take care of the screaming gangster she had in her hands.
"Shut it." She slammed him on the outside of the building, causing the man to shut his mouth in fear.
"P-please let me go!"
"And make a mess on the pavement?"
"D-don't! Please don't drop me!"
"That depends on your cooperation." She threw him inside and locked the doors. It seemed to be an office, which made her sure that someone would come in to check on him sooner or later.
Once that actually happened, she'd have no choice but to deal with her existence being found out.
There was no choice but to be satisfied with how far she climbed outside the skyscraper now.
"What happened?!" Christina was shocked by her lack of response and asked worriedly on the line.
"I'm fine. Anyway, I got someone on the 50th floor."
After she finished speaking, a banging sound could be heard on the door. Someone wanted to get in.
Since her camouflage was still partially active, she gestured the man to stay quite and opened the door. The security guard banging on the door quickly opened it and pointed at the thug.
"What the heck happened?!" The shattered window and messy room indicated a struggle.
The thug wanted to reveal her, but the barrel of her gun being pointed at him reflected in his eyes at that moment. The more she stood still, the more invisible her body became despite their proximity.
It was like seeing colours vanishing in a large body of water. All until nothing was left of her existence.
She even controlled her breathing to not make a sound. This made him swallow his words deeply.
"W-what! You know how angry I am about that bastard being let off scot-free, alright?!" The man pretended this was about that gothic 'healer' that came earlier. This made the guard look helpless.
"Even so, you can't break stuff even if it's your own office. The damage to that window is coming out of your pay." The thug nodded at the security guard before sending him off. He held in his anxiety.
The moment the security guard turned around, all he saw was empty space behind the room door.
Paying it no mind, he went out from where he came. Even closing the door behind him.
It was at that moment that two eyes opened and revealed themselves in that ignored empty space.
Her camouflage was deactivated, which finally revealed her true appearance to the thug.
Eyes cold, she held the man at gunpoint.
"W-what do you want?"
"I came here for the Treasured Artifact you vermin stole. Lead the way to it, and don't try any funny business. I know it's general direction, just not how to get there. I'll really drop you from this floor if you try anything." Her eyes were deadly as she spoke.
There was a dangerous feeling around her much scarier than even the toughest gangster of the underworld. Her intimidation worked so well only because he felt the 'sincerity' of a psycho from her.
She really WOULD drop him...!
Seeing that her teammates were catching up, she moved slower since the nature of the task altered.
Having a 'guide' was easier than having none...