Chapter 10: The Choice Between Blaze and Sapphire

Saturday morning, 8:30 AM, Dormitory 321, D10 Male Dormitory Building, University No. 3 in City A.

Lu Ren, just finished washing up, yawned as he opened his computer to browse the City A Daily News, intending to see if there were any new updates about the other two Magic Girls in City A.

“Hey, Ren-ge, are you still going off-campus to buy those sauce pancakes? Can you bring me one?”

Xu Wenxing, sprawled on his bed playing with his phone, turned over lazily, watching the Magic Girl combat power rankings on a forum.

“Sure, more sauce then?”

“Yeah, yeah, more sauce. I’ll transfer the money to you later, Ren-ge.”

“Alright, I’m heading out.”

“Bye.”

Lu Ren skimmed through the news a bit more and found that the latest reports about Miss Sapphire and Meteor were from a few days ago.

He then closed the laptop and got up, preparing to go buy something to eat off-campus to fill his stomach.

After slipping his phone and dorm key into his pocket, Lu Ren stepped out of the dorm and jogged lightly along the wide campus pathway to warm up.

“Hey, student, check this out! We have a special discount right now.”

A street vendor clutching a large handful of fans spotted Lu Ren and hurried over, handing him a fan printed with a driving school advertisement.

Lu Ren stopped, took the fan, and then continued toward the school gate.

These vendors were daily wage workers who just needed to hand out their goods and find someone to settle up with.

As long as they didn’t force him to buy anything, Lu Ren was happy to lighten their load a bit by casually taking a flyer or fan and moving on.

If he didn’t need them, they’d just go in the trash later—no big deal.

Passing by the basketball court, Lu Ren heard the familiar screech of sneakers against the wooden floor.

He glanced over and saw the students sweating profusely while playing basketball.

Looks like these guys got up even earlier than him.

“So energetic,” Lu Ren murmured, then continued jogging toward the school gate.

He dodged the bread delivery van restocking Commercial Street, sped past students holding umbrellas walking to the Library, and flicked off an unknown bug that landed on him while passing a small grove…

About ten minutes later, Lu Ren arrived at the school gate. He took a breath and then slowly walked out of the campus.

After crossing two concrete roads, Lu Ren reached the storefront and said,

“Boss, two sauce pancakes, one with extra sauce, and one…”

“One with extra sauce, one with garlic chili sauce, plus a potato spring roll.”

Before Lu Ren could finish, the shop owner had already said his order for him.

Lu Ren paused, looking at the smiling boss, and nodded.

“That’s right, that’s right… Wait, how did you know what I wanted?”

“Every Saturday morning from eight to nine, you come here and order these exact things. It never changes,” the owner explained with a laugh. “I’d have a hard time not remembering.”

“You’ve got a good memory, huh?”

“If you’re in the food business and can’t remember your regulars, you’d have people running out without paying all the time,” the boss joked lazily, handing over two sauce pancakes in separate bags. “I’ll warm up your spring roll. It was made at seven, so it’s a bit cold now.”

“Thanks.”

“No need to be so polite, just wait a moment.”

Lu Ren took the sauce pancakes and watched as the boss grabbed the spring roll and went back inside.

Half a minute later, with a “ding,” the boss returned.

“Here you go, be careful, it’s hot.”

“Thanks.”

Lu Ren responded, took the spring roll, and turned back toward the school.

Walking, he used a long bamboo skewer to pick up the sauce pancake with garlic chili sauce and began eating his breakfast.

As Lu Ren strolled lazily back toward the school gate, ready to head back and rest, he suddenly felt something in his pocket heating up slightly, like an overheated battery.

His Magical Outfit was alerting him again to the presence of an abnormal magic source.

Looking down at his still-warm breakfast, Lu Ren sighed deeply. His good mood instantly plummeted.

“What the hell, these monsters. Can’t they just behave for once and stop causing trouble?”

He glanced at the school gate just a few steps away, helplessly turned around, and headed toward a deserted alley outside the campus.

***

Meanwhile, at Miss Sapphire’s home.

Reading quietly in her room, Sapphire heard a faint noise coming from behind her closed door. She frowned and looked at the wooden door.

“Dice, what are you doing? Didn’t I tell you to be quiet?”

“Contractor! I sense a blazing magic aura! Blazing Flame has appeared! We need to move quickly!”

With a bang, a cat-shaped little beast dashed out of the room, circling rapidly around Sapphire’s feet.

“If you can sense Blazing Flame’s magic, why didn’t you tell me sooner so I could find her directly?” Sapphire pointed out the flaw.

“You didn’t ask, so I just assumed you didn’t need to know,” Dice whined. “Besides, Blazing Flame hasn’t appeared until now, so how could you have found her?”

“I have my ways of tracking people. You just need to tell me where Blazing Flame appeared.”

“Oh…”

Dice drooped its head and lay flat on the ground.

Sapphire pinched the loose skin on the back of Dice’s neck and lifted it up like a cat, setting it on her lap and stroking its head.

“But since Blazing Flame has appeared, that means the Shadow Beast must have appeared as well,” Sapphire said. “Blazing Flame only shows up when monsters appear, so this time shouldn’t be any different.”

“I don’t know! I can only sense Magic Girls’ magic auras…”

“Can you be a little more useful?”

Sapphire grabbed the little beast’s face with both hands and pulled the cat-shaped creature’s cheeks outward hard.

“Meow?!”

Startled, Dice arched its back and stared wide-eyed at Sapphire, taking on a defensive posture.

But being weaker and knowing Sapphire was its Contractor, the little beast could only endure the torment helplessly as she played with its face.

“Alright, I’m done teasing you.” Sapphire released her grip. “Take me to find Blazing Flame. I really want to see who this mysterious Magic Girl is. Why does she always arrive at the scene first whenever a Shadow Beast appears?”

“No problem!”

Shaking off Sapphire’s grasp, Dice eagerly jumped down from her lap, ready for Sapphire’s Transformation.

Sapphire took a deep breath, then picked up a water-drop-shaped blue gem from the table. Closing her eyes, she calmly said,

“Generate Regalia.”

The next moment, countless brilliant azure lights appeared, swirling around Sapphire.

On the tiled floor, a magic circle resembling a clock face materialized, with Sapphire at its core, enveloped in the center of the clock.

“Regalia: Sapphire has been constructed. Please touch your Magic Fairy to complete authorization.”

A calm feminine voice echoed from the magic circle, then the runes on the floor began to flow clockwise, rotating within the clock face.

The water-drop-shaped blue gem flew from Sapphire’s hand and transformed into a radiant, translucent pearl hovering in front of her.

“Dice!” Sapphire called out.

“Okay! Touch me, Contractor!”

The cat-shaped little beast floated up from the floor, landing beside Sapphire’s hand.

With a gentle touch from Sapphire, Dice dissolved into countless droplets that flew toward the transparent pearl.

As the droplets merged inside the pearl, it suddenly emitted a dazzling light, enveloping Sapphire.

“Power from the endless depths of the azure abyss, stirring echoes of intertwined souls, unveil the curtain on the unknown stage and grant me the strength to purify all Shadow Beasts!”

“Come forth! Sapphire!”

As Sapphire spoke her Transformation Phrase, the calm feminine voice turned into a triumphant symphony, exclaiming loudly,

“Authorization confirmed!”

“Magic Girl Attire—Sapphire, fully equipped!”