I leave Lemon asleep and head out into the common room. I grab a handful of rice balls and scarf them down. It is important to be well-fed when experimenting with abilities that might destroy reality itself. Or so they say.

  I managed to wake up several hours early. Likely due to doing nothing but reading all of yesterday. So, I end up heading into the gym for a bit of early-morning running. I run about five kilometers and even manage to gain an endurance stat point. I only tripped once, which must be a new record for me.

  I quickly shower and spend a bit of time brushing my hair while lemon tends to her scales. It turns out they actually require quite a bit of upkeep or they start to fade and eventually turn black when they have absorbed too much energy. Luckily it seems she can easily regenerate them once she removes the older bits.

  I head out and follow an arrow that guides us to the tube station. It is only my second time on the tubes ever. They have always been too expensive, but it seems they are free for all Dragon Guard.

  “We thank you for using the Velcorp transit tube system, cadet. Please wait for just a moment, a route is being created to your destination: Travernium Dragon Guard Headquarters, Rare Ability Research Facility.”

  Oh damn, it seems I get to go into the headquarters. The tube accelerates to a nice 1km/second and I relax a bit. I manage to stay on my feet during the ride. But unfortunately the deceleration does cause me to fall on my ass again. One day, I will get the better of these damn things.

  I step out of the tube and two guards immediately flank me. They both wear helmets. “Come right this way, Cadet Ilemon.” It seems I am being treated all fancy like. It feels like I am a celebrity. Or perhaps they are here to keep me on track?

  I am guided down a lot of hallways. We walk for what must be twenty minutes. Then we come upon a small door set into the wall. “Enter in there, someone should be waiting for you.” The guards then take up posts next to the door. I feel like someone important, it feels awesome.

  I enter the room and my jaw drops. It is a massive room, easily a kilometer in diameter. The ceiling seems large enough to fit an entire adult dragon. Around the edges are a ton of glass panels, with tons of people that I can see moving behind them. The walls are covered in a lot of runes so complex that they seem impossible. But I identify a few patterns that look like shields. This place must be practically impenetrable. Or rather, inescapable.

  Standing in the center of the room is Violet, looking cute as always. Apple is standing next to her and she is talking to Professor Dirge while a scientific looking fellow stands nearby. I approach them.

  “Cadet Ilemon, glad to see you are on time.” Dirge checks his watch, “Welcome to the Class for Rarities. But you are cutting it a bit close, are you not?”

  I arrived precisely five minutes early. “The life of a student is a busy one. I was busy training and such and almost forgot.” I lie. I just wanted to get a bit of training in and was fully aware of how much time I had. “So what's with this fancy room? You're expecting us to destroy reality or something?”

  “Hopefully not something that destructive. But we know to take precautions with dragon types that aren't very well understood.” Dirge points around the room. “Most of these inscriptions are just to absorb any energy should it go flying off. Though a few of them do have some properties that could help keep reality intact should you two destabilize it.” Oh damn, I didn't actually think destroying reality was a real risk. I guess that is why the runes are so complicated, I can't imagine stabilizing reality is an easy thing to do.

  “Does that happen often?” Violet’s scowl seems to be a bit weaker today. Maybe she hasn't noticed my presence. I wish it would come back in full force, after all, it is super cute. Though a smile would be nicer, that is a bit too much to hope for.

  Dirge thinks for a moment. But the scholarly guy next to him speaks up first. “Normally not with the first abilities. But it is not uncommon for Ultimate abilities to cause issues when they are first used. When the headmaster first cast resurrection, the ability damn near destroyed the entire station. Thankfully, the containment barely managed to hold on.”

  “As Scholar Gaema explained, it can happen. But I highly doubt you two will cause any major problems. Probably. Though we will want to be extra careful with the ultimate abilities, presuming you live that long.” Dirge’s confidence in our ability to live long and happy lives is very reassuring. I do wonder what kind of crazy ability Lemon will get with her ultimate. Unfortunately that is a few thousand levels away, being locked until she reaches level 3000.

  “So uh, how does this thing work?” I move up and stand next to Violet. Who seems to be pretending I do not exist whatsoever. I am tempted to ‘accidentally’ bump into her to see if she will at least punch me. But on advice from Lemon, I choose not to.

  Dirge steps back and lets Gaema take the lead. He seems a bit nervous. “Well we will have each of you unleash the ability at different times. Assuming we all don't die, we should be able to help you figure out how to control it. In theory at least. We really can't do much better than that with such unique types.”

  “I will go first.” Violet seems eager to volunteer herself. Her dragon’s ability does seem quite intriguing.

  “Well then, Cadet Ilemon please follow us. No reason to risk you if something does go catastrophically wrong.” Professor Dirge motions for me to follow. We head into a tunnel that is absolutely coated in inscriptions. Then we emerge into one of the observation decks. Dozens of scholars and a ton of others are gathered around.

  I guess everyone is eager to see just what our dragons can do.

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  “Alright Cadet Sharpe, just let your dragon guide you. Once you activate the ability he should project some sort of incantation to you. Do be careful and repeat it exactly, even a minor change can drastically change the effects.” After a bit of talking with some others, it seems Gaema is actually the chief scholar of the entire Dragon Guard. We have drawn some big attention for sure.

  Violet simply nods and then her brow furrows in concentration. It is super cute of course. “Vixelos, o grand nature of space. I plead that you lend me that which can make which is not into that which is from what could be.”

  The moment she stops speaking, the entire station seems to shake. Inscriptions all round the room start glowing a blinding blue color as they thrum with mana. But even then, the shaking does not stop. In fact, it seems to intensify despite the protections.

  Then, with a sudden flash of light, it stops.

  When my eyesight returns, I see only Violet. She is absolutely beautiful.

  There is a strange red substance that seems to be floating around her. It looks strange, almost like it should not be here. Violet’s brow is scrunched and her eyes are closed. She seems to be concentrating intensely on something.

  “I.. can't. Hold.” She whispers faintly, but the microphones somehow pick it up.

  With a massive cracking sound, it seems like the air itself starts to shatter around the strange red substance. Red warning lights and sirens blare. Panels rip from the walls, and start circling around, causing even more damage.

  “Hmm.” Gaema seems concerned. “I am no expert on strange red energy, but this seems not good. In fact, I would venture to say it might be quite bad. Reality isn't really meant to crack apart like that.”

  Maka, I am feeling a strong tug. Almost as though every fiber of my being wants to go in there right now. Lemon says.

  Well, that is enough for me I suppose.

  As fast as I can I run back down the hallway. Someone shouts for me to stop, but I just keep running. Along the walls of the hallway, all of the runes are glowing a bright blue and seem to be trying to impede my movement. But, I push through it and emerge into the main chamber.

  I am immediately hit with a massive surge of energy. It pushes against my mind, trying to crush me into a tiny ball. But, I push back. I start to feel it, a tug towards Violet’s direction. Or rather, towards the energy swirling around her.

  I take a single step towards Violet. Space itself seems determined to stop me. But, I take another step. Then another. The more I resist it, the easier it seems to become.

  Maka, I feel some sort of incarnation appearing in my mind. I think you should say it.

  Alright, hit me with it.

  I focus intently on what Lemon says. It is strange, almost like the words sear themselves in my mind. They burn my tongue as I speak, “Vixelos, o grand nature of space. I propose an exchange. Lend me but a fraction of your divine power so that I may achieve what I desire.”

  Something else speaks back to me. “Will you pay the price for what you desire?” I feel a massive amount of energy rise up inside of me. Almost as though it is asking for everything. But it is too late to go back now. I don't even think I could cancel it, even if I wished.

  “I will” I say, just as I reach Violet.

  “Very well then. Do not die, mortal. Succeed in the task before you, and you shall be my champion.”

  My body seems to flip upside down. Or rather, space itself does? I spin, and spin and spin. The world seems to shift, and I am now in a weird place. I orient myself, but my body seems to have gone completely weightless. I raise my hand and it seems to have gone partially translucent, and is glowing a bright blue color. All around me is what appears to be a vague outline of the chamber. But it seems very faint. Almost like all the color and substance has faded from the world.

  Two meters in front of me, I see Violet. She is also partially transparent and all crazy looking. But she has a red glow around her. The red energy is floating around her. Yet it seems much stronger here.

  Violet turns to me, her eyes blazing a beautiful blue. “Help.” she says weakly. Not wasting any time, I run towards her. I grab a hold of her hand.

  My body sets on fire as the red energy surges towards me. It is trying to consume me, and everything that I am. I resist, pushing back against the energy. I throw my entire soul at it. To my great surprise, it yields. All of the red energy flows away from Violet and into my hand, forming a weird red sphere that glows brightly.

  The energy strains against my mind. Almost as if I am holding it still by sheer willpower alone. But I do not relent. I throw everything I have at it. Beside me, Violet collapses to the ground. I try to catch her, but I only manage to slow her fall. She seems very faint, almost as if this energy took almost everything from her.

  I feel a strange tug in my mind. Almost as if something is guiding me. With no other clue of what to do, I follow the tug and bring my hand towards Violet. I press the ball of energy to her chest and it gets absorbed. A bit of color seems to return to her, and she turns faintly red. She seems to be asleep, or unconscious in some other way.

  Suddenly, the strange world disappears and everything returns to normal.

  Well, normal aside from the fact that chunks of the walls and floor are missing. Giant scorch marks surround the spot where Violet and I are. It seems like many of the windows are missing, and the scholars are nowhere to be seen. What the hell did Violet’s power do? Better yet, what the hell did my power do?

  Maka, are you okay? Wait, what happened to your arm? Lemon sounds worried. I wonder what she could be talking about.

  I take a look at my arm. Or rather, the lack of an arm. It seems to have gone missing, and I am leaking blood absolutely everywhere. I have a feeling this is very much not good.

  I pass out.

  Next Chapter: The Equivalence Principle

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