Meanwhile, Blazing Flame successfully avoided the attention of all the residents of City A and hurried back to her dormitory door.
Seeing that the Black Bracelet still showed 87% battery, Blazing Flame let out a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, she made it in time. She didn’t have to worry about being stuck in her transformed state forever.
“Ah! Oh no!” Pandora pushed the wooden door with her claw. “You’re still in Transformation! We don’t have the Key to open the door!”
“Don’t worry, I have the Key,” Blazing Flame replied.
“Where did you get the Key? Wait, you’re not planning to punch the dorm door down, are you?!” Pandora exclaimed.
“As if. Do I look like that kind of person?”
Blazing Flame shook her head helplessly, then used Magic Power to gently float up to the doorframe, reaching out to grab something placed above it.
“Huh? Where did you get that Key? Is it your roommate’s?” Pandora asked curiously.
“No, it’s from a Senior who lived here before. When I was cleaning up trash in the dorm at the start of the semester, I found it in a drawer. I thought it might come in handy, so I placed it on the doorframe. Never thought it would actually be useful.”
Blazing Flame shook her head again and inserted the Key into the lock, twisting it with a little force.
Then, with a “click,” the door opened.
“Alright, now it’s your turn, Pandora.” Blazing Flame pushed the door open and stepped inside the dorm.
“Got it! Don’t worry!” Pandora eagerly trotted to Blazing Flame’s desk, waving her paw repeatedly to signal her to sit in front of the computer.
“Do you need me to do anything?”
Blazing Flame casually closed the door, then, following Pandora’s instructions, powered on the computer and placed her transformed Magical Outfit—the weapon form—onto her bed.
“Let’s play games, Blazing Flame,” Pandora said. “Any game is fine, just avoid ones that keep your mind too tense or make you angry or frustrated.”
“Just play games? Don’t I have to do anything else?” Blazing Flame asked curiously.
“Nope. If you don’t want to play games, do something that helps you relax. Just as long as you don’t get any negative emotions like wanting to curse or get mad, it’s fine,” Pandora said confidently.
“As long as I don’t get negative emotions… then I’ll translate some black-and-white manga?”
After hearing Pandora’s words, Blazing Flame thought for a few seconds and decided it was better to do something she was interested in.
Most of the games on her computer were high-stress and easily made her face flush with anger.
Translating manga suited her better.
“Okay, no problem,” Pandora’s paws started to glow with a faint black light. “Then let’s get to work.”
“Thanks, Pandora.”
Blazing Flame logged into the website skillfully, entered her username and password, and began looking for content that interested her.
“It’s no trouble at all. I’m just helping you with some passive support work,” Pandora said.
She pressed her claw against Blazing Flame’s spear and Dragon-head Shield, letting the faint black glow enter the weapons.
“What do you mean?” Blazing Flame asked in confusion.
“Just a metaphor. Simply put, your Magic Power is like a water reservoir. When you absorb Purification Shards, you’re pouring water into it. But if you pour too much water at once, the reservoir can’t hold it all. You have to release some water to keep it balanced. Does that make sense?”
Pandora paused for a moment and then explained the principle behind what she was doing.
“Of course it makes sense. I even did math problems like that before,” Blazing Flame said, instantly understanding the metaphor.
“Good. Then I’ll keep working.” Pandora nestled into Blazing Flame’s weapons, half-closing her eyes, seeming a little tired.
“Yeah. Oh, by the way, Pandora, I have a question,” Blazing Flame suddenly remembered something. “Why does absorbing Magic Power too efficiently make me stay in the Magic Girl Transformation state forever?”
“Didn’t I say before, absorbing Purification Shards strengthens your power during Transformation?”
Pandora tapped Blazing Flame’s weapons and explained.
“The essence of this phenomenon is that the shards’ power modifies your body, enabling you to endure more Magic Power.”
“Modification…?” Blazing Flame muttered.
“If you don’t like that word, just think of it as eating food. The principle is basically the same,” Pandora yawned and scratched Blazing Flame’s bedsheet.
“…I still don’t get it.”
Frowning, Blazing Flame opened a newly released black-and-white manga on her computer.
She wanted to see how impressive this manga was, with a cover showing Miss Sapphire blushing cutely in a maid outfit.
“Why don’t you understand? When you humans eat too much at once, doesn’t your stomach either burst or forcibly stretch to adapt to the binge?” Pandora gave another example.
“Hmm… that’s true.”
Blazing Flame felt like she was starting to understand.
“In the same way, when you Magic Girls absorb too much Magic Power at once, your body changes to adapt to the sudden surge.”
“Good thing you didn’t absorb a large Essence Shard before. Your body was still in normal condition. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to help you solve the over-absorption issue,” Pandora said helplessly.
“I see now. Got it,” Blazing Flame nodded, fully grasping the cause and effect.
“Good. Sigh…” Pandora suddenly sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Blazing Flame asked curiously.
“Nothing. Just thinking about having to stay like this for at least four more hours tires me out,” Pandora complained.
“Four hours?”
Blazing Flame paused, quickly glanced at the time table in the bottom right corner of her computer.
It was 10:27 in the morning.
Just over an hour and a half until the morning classes ended.
Even if Xu Wenxing finished class and went out to eat Chicken Hot Pot alone, then strolled around or killed time playing billiards, he could still make it back to the dorm before her Transformation wore off.
“…Hah, I’m done for,” Blazing Flame suddenly laughed.
Although she had already suspected she’d expose her Magic Girl identity when making the choice, when the moment actually arrived, her feelings were still complicated and she wasn’t sure what to say.
“It’s only four hours. Nothing to be afraid of. After all, the power you absorbed is still there—you haven’t lost out.”
Pandora heard Blazing Flame’s laughter and thought she was just annoyed by the long time, so she comforted her.
“It’s not because of that,” Blazing Flame said calmly. “I’m going to be exposed, Pandora.”
“Huh? So what if you get exposed? It’s no big deal…”
Pandora froze for a moment, then quickly realized what Blazing Flame meant.
“Don’t ask me what to do! I don’t know! You figure it out with your roommates! I’m just an innocent Magic Fairy! It’s not my problem!”