Special Lectures

“Commander, this one is called the Shadow Hunter. Its ability is to temporarily decompose its body and dissolve into magic particles, hiding within shadows that light can’t reach.”

Seeing Tidal arrive, Lao Lin quickly began the explanation.

“I see, Senior,” Raging Flame said. “It shows up from the shadows when it wants to attack and vanishes when it wants to escape. So sneaky…”

She grumbled, all the while scanning her surroundings warily, making sure to stay far from any dark corners untouched by sunlight.

“Is there any way to tell where it’s hiding right now?” Tidal asked.

“Once it dissolves into shadows, its magic disperses like it’s returning to nature—making it impossible to track. The only moment we can detect it is right before it attacks, when it materializes.”

“Huh? So if it doesn’t attack, we’ll never catch it?” Raging Flame exclaimed.

“In theory, yes,” Lao Lin nodded.

“The Shadow Hunter isn’t strong in direct combat. Without its shadow ability, even a rookie like you could easily kill it in a one-on-one fight. The problem is that very ability—hiding in shadows. That’s what makes it dangerous.”

“Both are rated C-class, but if the previous Arm Monster was like a tank—brute strength and defense—then this Shadow Hunter is more like an assassin. Sneaky and deadly. For a beginner with little combat experience, both pose serious threats,” Lao Lin analyzed.

As they spoke, the two girls and the cat had moved to a safer spot.

Thanks to Tidal’s reckless entrance earlier, part of the third-floor wall had collapsed. Sunlight now poured in unobstructed, creating a bright zone free of shadows.

As long as they stayed here, they were safe from ambush. But conversely, they also couldn’t lure the enemy out or land a decisive blow.

While they waited, Lao Lin continued the lecture.

“Raging Flame, I don’t know if Violet Lightning taught you anything, but she’s a mess when it comes to theory, so I’ll assume she didn’t,” it said.

“As the Commander mentioned earlier, magical girls, aberrations—and even I—are all constructs made of magic particles.”

“Though individual strength is influenced by complex factors like environment, experience, and psychology, the core determinant of a construct’s power is the concentration and quantity of its magic particles.”

“Concentration and quantity of magic particles…”

Raging Flame repeated the phrase quietly, then suddenly snapped her fingers.

“Oh! I get it!” she shouted.

“The more magic particles, the stronger the magical girl! It’s like baking a cake—the more flour you add to the dough, the bigger the cake rises. Right now, I’m a small cake, and Senior—”

She pointed at Tidal, who was nearly a head shorter than her:

“Senior is a big cake! Right?”

…What kind of analogy is that?

Tidal and Lao Lin both mentally groaned at the same time.

“…Ahem. Your understanding isn’t entirely wrong. You can think of it that way for now,” Lao Lin coughed, reluctantly going along with it.

“Based on the size of the ‘cake,’ we classify aberrations into D, C, B, and A ranks. The Bubble Man you defeated alone was a D-rank—common and weakest. Even without magical girls, agents from the Anti-Aberration Special Operations Bureau can eliminate them using conventional methods.”

“When we reach C-rank, their strength jumps. These aberrations usually have special abilities, making them hard to handle with normal tactics—like this Shadow Hunter.”

As Lao Lin spoke, he gazed into the deeper part of the floor.

Even in broad daylight, shadows lingered. The cunning enemy was hiding somewhere within, silently waiting for the sun’s position to shift.

“…As long as it stays hidden in the shadows, human weapons are useless against this supernatural ability—unless they decide to blow up the entire building.”

When Lao Lin said “blow up the entire building,” Tidal’s eyebrows twitched slightly, as if an idea had sparked. Neither Raging Flame nor Lao Lin noticed.

“Question.”

Raging Flame raised her hand like an eager student in class.

“If aberrations have ranks like D, C, B, A—do magical girls have ranks too?”

“Of course. Magical girls are divided into five stages, corresponding to the threat levels of aberrations. You can refer to the documents I sent you for detailed explanations… Ah, speaking of which.”

Lao Lin’s narrow eyes flashed with mild scolding.

“…You don’t even know this? That means you haven’t even opened the cover of those files I sent, have you?”

“Haha, caught me.”

Raging Flame admitted it openly. But faced with her carefree smile, Lao Lin just sighed, unable to stay mad.

“…Forget it. Since I started, I’ll finish. Raging Flame, listen—these are the five stage names. For now, just remember them.”

“First stage.”

Lao Lin lifted a front paw, raising one toe.

“One Petal.”

“Second stage, Two Rings.”

“Third stage, Three Leaves.”

“Fourth stage, Four Petals.”

“And finally, the fifth stage—the Full Bloom.”

“One Petal, Two Rings, Three Leaves, Four Petals, Full Bloom. Those are the five stages. Within the stages from Two Rings to Four Petals, each is further divided into three sub-stages: Sprout, Bud, and Bloom.”

“I see…” Raging Flame nodded, only half understanding.

“For reference, the magical girls from the Second Ring you’ve met—Violet Lightning, Frostail, Heron, and another you haven’t met yet, Yu Bing—all are currently at the Bloom stage of Three Leaves. They each have the strength to solo C-rank aberrations, or even ordinary B-ranks.”

“Ordinary B-rank? Do aberrations have sub-stages too?” Raging Flame asked.

“The official system doesn’t define sub-stages. But after years of battling aberrations, we Connectors noticed that even within the same rank, there are differences in strength. To improve combat risk assessment, we privately divided B and A ranks into two categories: ordinary and intense.”

“For example, the Sky People are classified as intense A-rank—stronger than the average A-rank. At that level, it usually takes a full squadron—six or more experienced magical girls—to conduct a successful elimination.”

“Wait a second.”

Raging Flame suddenly noticed something.

“Why do magical girls have five stages, but aberrations only four? D, C, B, A… that’s it?”

“There is one more,” Lao Lin paused, his eyes flickering with a trace of fear.

“Aberrations that surpass the A-rank are given the title… Forbidden.”