The midterm exam monster extermination was not yet over, but for Vinny and Mirexia, it had already ended.
After the nuns repeatedly confirmed that their injuries had healed, the academy deemed it unnecessary for them to stay at the fortress of Reiswyn any longer. They were sent back in a small carriage, escorted by several combat instructors.
The two of them had encountered an attack by the Demon God Pillar cultists, making their situation special.
Thus, they were granted permission to return to the academy early for rest. Although Aesphyra was also idle there, since she hadn’t encountered any special circumstances, she still had to follow the main group, tally the number of monsters exterminated, and return to the academy according to the normal procedure.
However, these days on the carriage were not exactly private for the two of them, as several combat instructors were also accompanying them.
Although these days were comfortable, Vinny was extremely bored, for no other reason than the fact that there were no card-playing companions on the carriage this time.
Mirexia didn’t know how to play cards. This workaholic princess was clueless about entertainment activities and probably didn’t even know the rules of the game. He couldn’t possibly ask the accompanying instructors to play cards with him, could he?
Joking aside, would he even dare to win?
Moreover, Mirexia was a very busy person. Even if she wasn’t handling student council matters, she had to deal with some affairs of the Camella Kingdom.
She wasn’t idle even on the carriage, working in her room all day, only meeting during meals. In comparison, he was a big idler with nothing to do, feeling too embarrassed to speak to her when they met.
In short, Vinny, with no fun or playmates, lay half-dead on the carriage like a salted fish for several days.
“Vinny, are you feeling unwell?” Mirexia suddenly asked during dinner.
“Huh? No, why?” Vinny looked up, not understanding why Mirexia would ask that.
“But I noticed you haven’t been coming to find me... I mean, when I see you, you always seem so listless, silent, and not talking to anyone.” As soon as Mirexia said this, she immediately added.
“Well.” Vinny pursed his lips. Of course, it was because everyone on the carriage had something to do, while he was the only one wandering around aimlessly. Naturally, he felt too embarrassed to disturb Mirexia’s work.
Moreover, he thought if Mirexia wanted to talk to him, she would surely initiate the conversation. It had always been like this; Mirexia would come to him if she had something to say.
If she didn’t come, it meant she had nothing to discuss. At most, he would greet her when they met. He couldn’t just start a conversation with her, could he?
She wasn’t like him, with serious matters to attend to. Wouldn’t that be annoying?
So, these days, Vinny didn’t chat much with Mirexia. To avoid disturbing her work, he didn’t even go to Mirexia’s room to find her. They only chatted a few words when they coincidentally met during meals.
“By the way, Mirexia, there’s something I’d like to ask you for help.” After looking around to ensure no one else was present, Vinny spoke quietly, looking mysterious.
“What is it?” Seeing Vinny’s demeanor, Mirexia knew it was probably a secret only known to the two of them.
“Well, after returning to the academy, there will be a few days when the campus is quite empty. I was thinking...” Vinny whispered a few words to Mirexia, who leaned closer.
“You want that thing? Are you planning to...?”
“Yes, of course. If it’s too troublesome afterwards, then forget it. It’s no big deal.” Vinny added, afraid Mirexia might find it difficult.
“No, it’s not a big problem. Come find me the day after we return to the academy.”
“Thank you, Mirexia.” Seeing that she agreed, Vinny expressed his gratitude.
“...You don’t need to thank me.” Mirexia said softly.
“Huh? What?” She spoke too softly for Vinny to hear.
“Nothing.” Mirexia shook her head, focusing on the food in front of her.
A few days later, the two of them, along with several accompanying instructors, returned to Carillian Academy.
After being cooped up in the carriage for several days, Vinny finally breathed a sigh of relief upon getting off.
After resting in his long-missed dormitory for a night, early the next morning, Vinny headed to the student council. He made his way to the student council president’s office on the third floor.
Mirexia had been waiting for him there for a long time.
“You’re here, follow me.” Knowing what Vinny was here for, Mirexia, in her student uniform, led the way. Her golden twin tails swayed in the wind as they went downstairs to the training ground located in the basement of the student council.
This was the student council’s exclusive training ground. Besides that, there were storage rooms, testing rooms, and various other functional spaces here.
Today, only he and Mirexia were in the student council building. They bypassed the large and quiet underground training ground, and Mirexia pushed open the door to a room. After they entered, she locked the door to prevent anyone from seeing inside.
Vinny looked around the room’s furnishings. It was quite spacious, with only a few tables, chairs, and shelves. The most conspicuous item was the crystal ball emitting a faint golden light placed on the central table.
This item, which seemed out of place in the room, was clearly placed here today.
Indeed, the favor Vinny had asked of Mirexia on the carriage was to help him obtain a crystal ball for testing light elemental affinity.
Mirexia, of course, understood that this crystal ball wasn’t for Vinny to use, or rather, not for Vinny’s current identity to use. After all, elemental affinity had been tested at the beginning of the semester, and Vinny’s various elemental affinities were recorded in the archives.
Mirexia vaguely guessed something and, after a moment of contemplation, asked, “Do you need me to wait outside?”
“No need.” Since he had already asked Mirexia to prepare the elemental crystal ball for him, showing distrust and not wanting her to know the results now would be redundant.
Vinny glanced back at Mirexia and, in front of her, clasped his hands together in a praying gesture. The pure and flawless wings of an angel enveloped him, and when they spread open again, the pure and flawless cherry-haired girl opened her eyes, blooming like a radiant and holy petal and feather.
It wasn’t the first time she had seen this, but it still felt quite magical. Moreover, as her understanding deepened, Mirexia felt that her knowledge of the secret of Vinny’s bloodline was too superficial.
“Your generous assistance is deeply appreciated, Mirexia.” Vanessa placed a hand on her heart, expressing her gratitude to Mirexia once again.
“Vinny, can I still call you that?” Mirexia asked, feeling that using this male name to address the very feminine girl in front of her was somewhat inappropriate.
“It doesn’t matter much, but if possible, it would be better if you called me ‘Vanessa.’” If others heard, who knows what they might think, although the idea of a man turning into a woman was already quite unbelievable.
“Vanessa?” Mirexia softly pronounced the name. “Is that your real name?”
“Well, Mirexia, what do you think?” Vanessa asked, clasping her hands behind her back and looking at Mirexia.
“Actually, there isn’t any external disguise, is there?” Mirexia voiced her speculation.
Initially, she thought that between Vinny and Vanessa, one of the identities was a disguise. But when she realized that Vanessa and Vinny had different elemental affinities, Mirexia felt her guess was wrong.
Moreover, whether it was Vinny or Vanessa, their personalities didn’t seem like they were disguises.
Just as a person is multifaceted and three-dimensional, the relationship between Vanessa and Vinny might be the same, two faces of one person, with significant differences between them, but both faces being genuine.
“That’s right. The reason for this transformation is probably because the correction effect of the Goddess’s blood is too strong.”
“So, Vinny’s body isn’t a disguise but actually exists?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Vanessa had no reason to hide this from Mirexia. Since she had chosen to trust Mirexia, being secretive was meaningless; it was better to lay everything out.
“The Vinny in Mirexia’s childhood memories was real; there was no disguise.”
After saying this, Vanessa walked toward the light elemental affinity testing crystal ball. Watching the fluctuating light elements reflect in the dim room, her expression became more serious.
Vanessa’s light elemental affinity was surely above excellent, but the exact level was still unclear.
She hoped it wouldn’t be too exaggerated.
She placed her pale jade-like hand on the crystal ball. Instantly, the surface of the crystal ball lit up like a lamp, as if ignited by the vast light elements within the girl.
“This is?...” Mirexia covered her eyes with her hand, the dazzling light making it difficult for her to look toward Vanessa.
If she remembered correctly, Vinny had no light elemental affinity, which was quite exceptional. After seeing Vanessa cast light magic in the secret realm, she had thought Vanessa’s light elemental affinity would be very high, but she hadn’t expected it to be this astonishing.
Bathed in the light, Vanessa felt no discomfort, nor did the light seem blinding to her. Looking at the crystal ball she had lit up, her pupils contracted, and her cherry-colored hair floated up without any wind.
The room was filled with radiant light, and faintly, the silhouette of a six-winged angel with hands clasped in prayer appeared above the crystal ball.
“Goddess of Radiance?!” Mirexia’s heart was filled with shock. Fortunately, the room was sealed, and it was in the basement; otherwise, the commotion would have been significant.
Amid her exclamation, the sound of glass shattering was crisp and clear.
The figure of the six-winged angel faded away. This wasn’t the limit of Vanessa’s light elemental affinity but the limit of the crystal ball.
This light elemental testing crystal ball could no longer display the vast and dense light elements within Vanessa. The moment it couldn’t bear the burden and shattered, the figure of the Goddess of Radiance dissipated.
In the ensuing silence, only the remnants of the crystal ball, still glowing, remained on the ground.
Vanessa withdrew her hand. The scattered fragments didn’t harm her at all, as if deliberately avoiding her, falling harmlessly to the ground.
“Light elemental affinity, [Breaking Shackles] — Transcendent.” Mirexia stepped forward, murmuring softly.
It was hard to believe, but considering that this person was a direct descendant of the Goddess, inheritor of the Varelis bloodline, everything seemed so reasonable.
Vanessa fell silent. Her light elemental affinity level was Breaking Shackles. Logically, she should have been very surprised, but in fact, she wasn’t the least bit astonished. Her emotions remained undisturbed, as if she had known this all along.
“It seems we’ll need to spend some effort cleaning up.” After a moment, Vanessa sighed, looking at the mess in the room.
“This light elemental affinity testing crystal ball seems to be broken. Won’t it cause you trouble, Princess Mirexia?”
“No, it’s just a testing crystal ball. It’s not valuable to the academy. We can just pay for it and say it was damaged during transport.” Mirexia shook her head.
It was truly astonishing.
If Vanessa was included, then there were now two people in the academy with Breaking Shackles elemental affinity: Aesphyra with her fire element, and Vanessa with her light element.
However, the academy would never know about this.
The two of them spent some time cleaning up the shattered crystal ball fragments. Unlike the last time with Aesphyra, whose testing crystal ball had cracked but not exploded, Vanessa’s testing crystal ball had exploded like a bomb.
Vanessa didn’t know the difference between the two, nor if it was due to the difference in elements, as she wasn’t a researcher in this field.
“I’ve never been able to test my affinity in this form before. Thank you, Mirexia, for satisfying my curiosity.” After disposing of the crystal ball fragments, Vanessa smiled at Mirexia.
“Vanessa, is your Soul Armament Saint Envoy?” Mirexia remembered Vanessa healing her with holy light in the Demon God’s plane.
“Yes.”
“But shouldn’t your Soul Armament be that suit of armor?”
“Well, perhaps it’s also related to my special constitution. Saint Envoy awakened the moment my bloodline # Nоvеlight # did,” Vanessa explained.
“With your talent, if you wanted to return to the Church of Radiance, it would be a great boon for the peace of the Terraria continent,” Mirexia commented.
“Princess Mirexia, you know that’s impossible. I don’t want to, and the Church of Radiance doesn’t want to either. There’s no reconciliation between us,” Vanessa shook her head. “Besides, I have no interest or desire for the Church of Radiance or the position of Saintess. To me, it’s just a shackle.”
“Perhaps it’s hard for you to believe, but if the Church of Radiance knew the secret of my bloodline, I might even lose my current place of refuge.”