"Alrighty! Now make a barrier!"
His red panda summon roared, creating a red barrier that resonated with Rysen. Mina thrust her Artifacts into the barrier, causing a tremendous force to impact the barrier. Waves of wind gusts surge beyond the barrier before finally showing a small crack. In the moment of opportunity, Mina took it, smashing through the barrier and leaping on top of Harold.
Grasping onto Mina on the ground, he was stunned at the unusual boost in power that was displayed. "Woah... your attacks are definitely stronger, and it seems the power of my summons also correlates with my Artifacts." Petting the red panda, he gave a smile of relief. "That means I don't have to train you. I just need to keep upgrading my Rysen Storage, and you'll get stronger alongside my Artifact.
"By the way, shouldn't we give him a name?" Konge asked, perching himself on Harold's shoulder.
"Well, I guess since you have a name, it's only fair for Mister Panda Dude to have a name too."
"What kind of name is Mister Panda Dude...?"
Mina's face perked up, having an idea. "Why not name him Tavas?!"
To Harold, the name had some ring to it and could fit, but he had one curiosity. "It sounds great, but how did you come up with the name?"
"Tavas is the name of the red panda in my favorite book, which I read as a kid!"
"Don't name my summon after a children's book animal!"
In a mocking tone, Konge adds, "Hey, it sounds great at least, right?" Harold began swatting his hand at Konge. "You dumb bird! Are you trying to fight?!"
Harlibue entered the fray, swirling his cane as he approached the entourage. "Yo! How is your guys' progress?"
"Hmmm... To be quite frank, I have no clue about how much we've improved." Harold says.
"Yeah, me too." Mina mentioned in the background.
"Well, to figure something like that out, you'd need to check yourself with this medical tool." He takes out something that resembles a large rod. "I'll activate the inscription, and it'll tell me what stage your Rysen Storages are." Tapping Mina's forehead with it, she lets out a tiny yelp before the rod flashes. He then took the top of the rod and read something that they couldn't see. "Wow, your Rysen Storage is at level 2! That's impressive growth for just a beginner!" Proceeding with the readings, he tapped Harold's forehead, which caused him to flinch. Rereading the rod, Harlibue chuckled. "Your Rysen Storage is also level 2! It seems I've found some prodigies!" Both Mina and Harold's faces lit up from the praise, leaving a tiny blush on their cheeks. "Ehehehe... It's nothing." Mina says, facing away in embarrassment.
Harlibue exits through the door, giving one last send-off message. "You both surpassed my expectations! Since the academy day is over now, just go around and explore it. Who knows, maybe you'll find a club to join as well." Shutting the door behind him, the noise echoes in the vast training area.
"He mentioned clubs..." Harold looked over to Mina. "What club did you want to join?" After a moment of thinking, she came up with a response. "I want to join a movie club!" The club sounded highly noneducational, so Harold didn't think it would be in a prestigious academy like this, but he'll try searching anyway.
They roamed the hallways of the academy with some lingering students who did after-school activities. Harold saw one room open on their walk. It was the chemistry lab, and it had a multitude of students working on potions in there. One of them dripped a solution onto a rat before it transformed into a blob of flesh. Mina recoiled in terror at the horrific sight while Harold's stomach turned. "Someone should moderate those guys..." he says.
"Yeah. Someone really should." It was the voice of an unknown person behind them. Startled, Mina and Harold screamed before clutching each other tightly. The person behind them was a student with a bird mask on. "W-Why are you wearing that?" Mina questioned, pointing at her mask. She replied, saying, "Oh, this is just to disguise myself. I'm a ninja after all." Noticing their discomfort, she quickly introduced herself in an attempt to break the ice between them. "Apologies for the sudden appearance! My name is Kin, and I am part of the student council of this academy! I'm here to request a meeting between you both and the president!"
"But why would the president want us in particular?" Harold questioned, still holding onto Mina. He suspected it was due to their attendance in their classes, but Harlibue should've covered it for them, as he said earlier. "On second thought, knowing him, he probably forgot..." Harold didn't want to go to this meeting. He figured it was just going to be something bothersome and wanted to spend some free time with Mina instead. "I mean, we've both just gotten done training. I was hoping to see a movie with Mina instead."
The words put Kin in a predicament. "Shit... the president wanted them badly!" She was at a loss until she came up with an idea on the spot. "Wait, since you two are going on a date, we'll offer to pay for exclusive VIP tickets to whatever movie you're watching!"
That singular sentence struck a chord, causing them both to blush immensely at the statement. Mina was stunned momentarily, but then she saw this as an opportunity. Tugging on his sleeve, she pleaded desperately. "H-Harold, let's take her offer! Let's do it! I want to do it!" Meanwhile, Harold pointed at Kin, his face still red. "O-One, we aren't d-dating! I merely wanted to hang out with her in our dormitory! In fact, we can't leave the academy; we're restricted from doing so!"
"Restricted from leaving the academy?" Kin wondered but worried more about them accepting the deal than going deeper into their reasoning. "Oh well, I want to ask questions, but getting you to the prez is more important!"
Kin brought them to the third floor of the academy, stopping in front of a room secluded in the back of the hall. "Spooky..." Mina murmured, sensing the eerie vibes the place gave off. Slamming the door right open, Kin announced her presence. "Prez! I am here! I have the two people you asked for!" she loudly exclaimed as she slammed the door open. Instead of praise, or at the very least, a "thank you", she was given a powerful blast of light that sent her away like a ragdoll.
Beyond the student council room's doors was a tall, busty lady holding a scepter with a yellow jewel at the tip. The tip smoked like the aftermath of a gun firing a bullet. Placing her scepter to the side of her desk, she cleared her throat before introducing herself. "Ah, hello. I am Linia Tynzel, the student council president."
Mina and Harold both looked at Kin twitching on the floor, making incoherent noises. "Don't mind her. She'll be fine. For now, I want to speak strictly business." Linia states. Not only were Mina and Harold surprised by the sudden assault on Kin, but they were also stunned by the massive bosom that the student council president held. "T-They're huge!" Both Mina and Harold thought.
Underneath her desk, Linia summoned her Artifact. "Now, it's time to get some answers out of them..." Acting nonchalant, she gave them questions. "So, I've heard reports of a few students getting excused absences. Out of the three who were getting excused, you two are seen together with Harlibue. What were you guys doing?" The Artifact flickered, activating its ability.
"My Artifact allows me to read minds, so I'll be able to get my curiosities out of the way! Harlibue is never seen hanging around any students, so they must be important! Why these morons, though? Why not me?! I should be the special one!" Mentally chewing out her hair, she focused hard, finally reading their minds.
Harold: "Damn, she has huge boobs. I wanna squish em'."
Mina: "Wow, her boobs are super big! I wanna try jiggling them!"
Upon the comments, her face lit up red in embarrassment; all the while she was holding back the urge to use her light inscription scepter on them. "T-These idiots!" Slamming her hands onto the desk, she yelled in frustration. "FOCUS ON THE ANSWER, YOU MORONS!"
Harold: "Huh? How did she know I wasn't focusing on whatever she was saying?! Did she see me staring at her boobs or can she read minds or something?!"
Mina: "Her boobies are jiggling! Jiggling! Woah!"
Finally realizing their silence, Harold spoke to alleviate his perverted suspicions. "O-Oh, Harlibue was simply teaching us, that's all." He says, trying not to make eye contact with her bosom. From what Linia read in his mind, he spoke the truth. But that irritated Linia more. "W-Why would the strongest guy on the continent train you random nobodies and not me, the student council president?!"
Esmeralda walked in, not realizing the situation before it was too late. "Hey President, I have a question for you-" Mina and Esmeralda built eye contact momentarily, until she snapped. "Why is she here?! Get her out of here!" She screamed, pointing at Mina. The memory of that day haunted her ever since. A genuine demon and the similarities in personality she had with the creatures that killed her family. Her intent to slay Mina was heavy, but she understood Mina had something odd going on about her.
Harold, watching her outrage, was rightly defensive. "Oi, what problem do you have with Mina? I don't appreciate you being rude to one of my pals." He began to pat Mina's head, which made her jolt in the sudden affection. "I bet you're just jealous that Mina is way more attractive than you could ever be!" Mina's face began to turn red, quivering at her emotions skyrocketing.
Esmeralda's face scrunched up. "Hah?! Why would I be jealous of a hideous freak like her?! I'd rather die than be anything like her!"
"Hideous?! You're exactly what I thought! One of the jealous people who give Mina envious looks! You have the same attitude and eyes as they do!"
"I'm the top contender on the admission exams, why should I be just like them? I dislike her for personal reasons!"
"Oh, I heard it's because she almost beat you during the admission exams! Well, why not you two have a rematch? She has gotten way stronger since those exams!"
Mina shuddered, raising her arms in a frail voice in order to ease both parties. "G-Guys, please stop arguing... it's scary."
Amidst their argument, Linia wanted to know why Esmeralda, a usually calm and collected person, would be outraged by the mere presence of a moronic shorty. It's not like Mina purposely did anything bad to anyone else, according to the reports on her. Activating her Artifact hidden underneath her desk again, she read Linia's mind. In there, splurged harsh memories of their battle and flickering traces of dark trauma entrapped in her mind. "So she's getting worked up because Mina turned into a demon in the middle of their battle?!"
Observing the other memories of Mina in Linia's mind that spurred in the moment, she was confused. "Mina has the exact properties of a demon, but something is wrong. Usually demons are beings that are unable to control their deadly desires of sin. They're amplified and run rampant in their minds. This is why humans had exterminated them, because they're uncontrollable monsters. Not only that, their eyes are constantly red too. So why?"
She took her time thinking before coming up with a logical answer. "She's able to tap in and out of this demonic alter-ego. This means she has something to mediate her demonic desires. Human-demonic hybrids still have uncontrollable demonic desires, so what is Mina doing to subside their effects?" Seeing Mina's cute and petite outward appearance, and her soft inner personality when gently trying to calm Harold down in his argument against Esmeralda, it clicked. "Could it be?!"
Attempting to fish out info, Linia asks Mina a question. "Mina, what are the Artifacts you're using? I want to understand the rumors of the person who is said to give Esmeralda a tough battle." Answering the question, she reveals her Artifacts to Linia right away. "Oh, my Artifacts? Look, here they are!" She summons out Sorrow and Ruin. Immediately, Sorrow scolded Mina. "You idiot, don't just reveal your weapons to strangers!"
Linia's jaw dropped. "My theory is right! She must be a hybrid with an angel if she has two Artifacts. That's the angel's blessing right there. Even if the blessing is seen as a genetic mutation to society, the truth is it's actually a blessing granted by the heavens. That makes sense why she's able to control her demonic desires, because her angelic traits balance them out! This is insane! A divine-demon? That makes no sense! That's beyond cursed, there is no way a divine-demon exists! An angel and a demon creating a child is something even forbidden by the gods! But putting this together, it makes sense why she's getting the special treatment on day 2 of this academy!"
She glanced over at Harold. "But what's up with this guy? Nothing seems special about him." She watched him comfort Mina in his arms, talking to her in a soothing voice. "There, there, Mina. This ugly boar is nothing compared to you, don't cry." Harold says as Mina shudders in tears from Esmeralda's harsh bullying. "I'm not a boar! I'm just saying she's an actual menace to society! She doesn't belong here!" Mina teared up more, causing Harold to yell at Esmeralda. "Stop it! You're just an ugly wretch who is ugly on the inside too!"
Linia sighed. "He's possibly her lover, but this situation is too ridiculous for me to grasp right now. In any case possible, I need Mina's alliance. She'd be a great power to my people back home. And to do that, I have an idea."
Linia took up her scepter and shot a light blast to the wall next to Esmeralda. "Shut up for a moment!" The three of them abruptly stopped to listen to Linia with her assertion. "Mina and Harold, I want you both to join the student council!"
"WHAT! NO! Don't invite these buffoons to the student council! Why?!" Esmeralda whined, her cold demeanor now shifted into something that almost felt forbidden to look at.
Mina, on the other hand, pounced onto Harold, starting to plea with him. "Let's do it! Let's join the student council, quick, quick!" She remembered the deal Kin told them and desperately wanted it bad. Smothering his head with her body, Harold tried hard to breathe past her grip. "Alright, alright, calm down! We can join, just let me free!"
Linia gave a confident smile about her decision in which Esmeralda had always despised. "Listen, we have the opening festival for our academy soon, so we'll need more members. Ever since I've taken mantle of the president position, nobody wanted to join the student council." She aimed her scepter at both Harold and Mina, which startled them. "Now, I've found two great potential members!"