Leaning back with both my hands behind me on the bed, I do my best to think back on what I have learned about magic outside of The System. Generally, a person has no access to their magic until their Mana Core grows large enough to puncture a hole to the other side and connect them to their soul. In humans this takes place once they reach the age of fourteen. “It is possible that the ability is something other than mental magic then.”

  Sera just blinks widely at the suggestion, the idea being completely absurd in her world view. “But The System said-” She starts to deny the possibility, The System labeled it as part of her mind magic and plenty of other people possess the same skill. But that is where I need to start fixing her perspective.

  “The System was manipulating everyone, you can’t trust anything it says. That is even something I need to work on myself. I have made so many assumptions based on information from The System that need to be re-tested to prove what we know is true or not.”

  Having been cut off, Sera can only look on in contemplative shock. She knew that The System was lying to everyone, but knowing and understanding are different things. “That’s true.”

  “Perhaps you have something else inside of you. I didn’t detect anything specific when I looked through your core that would indicate this, but I did find it strange that I could not find any of the pathways in your body for your lie detection ability.” I had done a thorough search both before and after her ascension and still could not find hide nor hair of the ability. That in and of itself was strange. Passive abilities modify the body at a fundamental level but still require mana pathways to channel the power, I could see the other pathways for her other abilities but not the most important one in particular.

  “Y-You looked through my body that deeply?” Nervous at the idea that she had been inspected in such a thorough manner, Sera stammers a bit as she covers herself instinctively. I personally don’t see the issue, I had told her more or less what I was doing. I may have left out the specifics but I did kind of assume she would get the gist.

  “Yeah? I said I wanted to scan you and your magic didn’t I?” Not that I plan to tell her now, I did make a rather invasively deep scan of her body with my magic that would freak anyone out to know it exists.

  “R-Right.” Unconvinced but not able to prove otherwise Sera lets her hands fall. I am sure she is questioning her own memory of the conversation but I am always careful with my wording so I doubt she can come to any real conclusion.

  “Anyway, I want to do a test. Normal mental magic has no effect on me and if what we know of The System is true, then Dream magic does not either. However, I want to know if your ability does.”

  “Okay, so you are just going to tell a lie?”

  Nodding to her, I try and think of a good lie to tell. Honestly, I suck at being put on the spot like this and my mind goes all kinds of places. Sadly, I am forever the impulsive type. “Hmmm, How about: My underwear is black.”

  Sera giggles and Alice rolls her eyes. “You are incorrigible,” are the words I hear muttered under the cute life mage’s breath. I couldn’t help it, it was the first thing that came to mind! And I thought it was funny.

  Sera’s giggle is instantly cut off though as she looks up in shock. “I-It went off. My ability. You lied.”

  Now it is my turn to look on in shock. I am completely immune to mental magic even from higher Classes, so whatever is going on with Sera is something far beyond my understanding. “hmm, interesting. With so many mental magic charms floating about this could be extremely useful.” And I really mean that. I can think of so many ways to use her power for my plans and to cause chaos throughout the world that it is kind of exciting.

  "You think so?”

  “Yep! People will think that because they have the charm that they can lie to us and will do so more freely and thus we can learn even more! We should come up with signals right away. Actually! How about I connect you to a little project I have been working on for some time?” This is something I have been meaning to do for some time but held back on.

  “Okay…” Sera looks happy that she can be useful, but clearly has no idea what is going on as I plow ahead.

  “Here.” Taking Sera’s hand, I start pouring magic into her ring and modify it to connect her to what I will be calling the parental-control edition of the light network. I have messed with the magic so many times that it is kind of getting out of control. I deeply regret several features I added after the fashion show I was forced to put on this morning. With a shiver at the memory I finish modifying Sera’s ring and start to show her the ropes.

  “Now you can send messages to us by using your mana to type on this keyboard. I arranged it a bit differently than your common typewriter and added some special buttons, but you should get used to it in time.” The network is mainly for myself and the demons so it is based on my memories of keyboards on earth and how interfaces like that work. It is not too dissimilar to a few things in this world but is just far enough away that there is some learning curve.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Sera is rather shocked to see all the features available on the limited light network. From messaging to taking photos I didn’t skimp on the design. “Woah! This is incredible… Why didn’t you connect us to it before?” It is a valid question, one I really only have one answer for if I am being completely truthful, which when speaking to a lie detector is my only option.

  Looking over Sera as she inspects her ring I sharpen my gaze which causes her excited and inquisitive look to freeze in place. “I will be frank, I am not a trusting person in the slightest.” My voice comes out rather hard as I lose all levity.

  “You don’t trust us?” A look of serious surprise tinged with sadness comes over Sera’s face as she looks down at the floor.

  “I barely know you, and we have not had the time to see the limits of our current relationship. The only person in this whole world that I trust completely is Alice, and I would burn this whole world to the ground for her sake.” The intensity in my stare and the fact that her ability never activates, proving that I am telling the truth, makes her wince.

  Alice jams me in the side with her elbow for the comment. “Don’t go scaring her.” She turns to Sera apologetically. “Sorry, she is overly protective of me for many reasons.” Many valid reasons if I might add.

  “Like that bitch who threw a knife at your head.” Muttering sharply under my breath I accidentally let out a bit of my aura which causes goosebumps to run across Sera’s skin.

  “Lua.” Alice places a hand on my shoulder and speaks in a warning tone. A moment, and she gives in and sighs. Leaning close, she hugs me. “I know you have been through a lot, but I am not going anywhere. Let’s keep the intensity down, okay?” Leaning into the warmth I relax within her arms. “...kay.”

  My aura having retracted, Sera looks warmed by the scene, but then flinches as the words fully register. I know that Sera has been informed of the woman who tried to kill Alice in the forest just after I killed my father. I am probably causing her a lot of grief on top of what is already a stressful day, so I should calm down for now. “Sorry, I got carried away.” Slapping my cheeks, I refocus. “We need to get you acquainted with the interface and figure out how to use your powers to benefit the mission. The Oracle and The Dragon Emperor are requesting we venture out to meet with the dwarves and elves in hope of convincing them to fight against The Demon Lord.”

  “I doubt that will be easy.” Alice murmurs from the side.

  “I quite agree.” Sera raises an eyebrow at the same time and nods her head.

  “Well, we have a month before we leave. Tensions are too high to be trekking across the Divine Theocracy for the dwarven nations, and we are too weak to make it up The Great Divide to see any elves.” If I am being honest I was expecting to have reached Class 4 already before this part of the plan took shape, so I am kind of focusing on delaying right now.

  “Right.” Sera, having only just reached Class 2 would have no hope of crossing The Great Divide without a proper escort, and Class 4 is the bare minimum. And with my discussions with the team about working independently, we have no choice but to get that strong ourselves. Letting tagalongs from any nation would cause us problems, especially with our anti-system and anti-discrimination ideals on display. Even though some people are waking up from The System’s influence, we just can’t be too careful with spies and other such groups sneaking in. Though, that may be easier to avoid with Sera’s new ability.

  “For now we should focus on getting stronger and learning new magic. I should be able to reach Class 4 within a few weeks but I can’t be certain about how long it will take and what the results will be.” I am mostly running blind when it comes to class advancement right now, so a few weeks is an absolute bare minimum, which is why I have the Duskallen running delay tactics as their priority. The war is a real pain in my ass as it was supposed to take longer to happen.

  “Do you think we should hold off on the trip until you safely reach Class 4?” Sera is a bit absent from the conversation at this point, mostly focused on playing with the interface for the light network. I can tell she is still thinking deeply about what we should be doing though.

  “Hmm, probably. It would be stupid to march into what is basically an enemy nation without a single Class 4. Alice, we need to work on your preparations as quickly as possible as well. I will set up something.” I had a segmented space in my shadow that she is filling with her mana as well in preparation for ascension, but it is going much slower compared to my own room being filled, and if we are going to ascend at the same time then we will need to speed things up.

  Right now however, there is something even more important to work on. Turning to focus completely on Sera, I get us moving as fast as I can. “First things first, we should think about who we can use your new lie detection on right now.”

  …

  ..

  .

  In the end we decided to keep the revelation of Sera’s lie detection ability within the party. For safety and plausible deniability. It is for the best that only we know so that the leaders we are acquainted with don’t go trying to mess with her.

  “Are you sure we should have let her live with that ability?” Alice has a rather hard look on her face. I know she is concerned for me and my heart, but cares more for my safety than anything else.

  “Eh, it will be a good thing to study. I have added her to the list of people being monitored 24/7 through the new interface on her ring. It is a shame there is no audio, but the lip readers should be enough.” Naturally, I would not let someone as dangerous to me as Sera walk off scot-free. I have demons monitoring people through the light network all the time, so she is just being added as a priority.

  “You just don’t want to kill her.” Alice adds, and she is right. I hate the idea of having to kill Sera. She is a good kid who has done nothing wrong. Not that I won’t kill her if she becomes a problem.

  “True, I am not heartless. I would rather only do so when there is no other choice. I made my threats and she should understand what would happen should she learn anything she shouldn't at this point.” Sighing and flopping onto the bed, something I have noticed is becoming a consistent habit, I bury my face in my pillow. Please don’t make me regret letting you live, Sera. Please.