Chapter 63: Extraction

Magic constructs, or magic gear for short, are an important component of a magical girl's combat capability.

Cuique had previously explained to the two newcomers that as one reaches the Bud-rank, the total amount of magic increases and the magic construct awakens, leading to a leap in a magical girl's combat capability.

Of course, this all comes with a prerequisite: the magic gear itself must be suitable for combat. After all, there are individual cases like Cuique, who had almost no combat capability when her magic gear first awakened, only an increase in her total magic.

And now, the most important thing is to see what exactly Xia Liang's magic construct looks like and what kind of abilities it possesses.

"So... how do I do it again?"

Lifting her arm and looking around herself, Xia Liang asked with some confusion: "They say it's my true form, but I feel like I haven't changed at all? Although my magic is indeed much fuller."

"The true form is a part of you; how could you possibly feel strange because of constructing your true form?"

Still keeping her arms crossed, Cuique explained concisely: "As for using the magic construct, you have to take out your magic wand first."

Hearing this, Xia Liang very obediently raised her magic wand and held it level in front of her: "Like this?"

"No specific movement is needed; just try to inject your magic into the wand like you usually do," Cuique continued to instruct.

"Ha... like this?" Xia Liang followed her instructions and released a small stream of magic.

Instantly, her magic wand reacted in a way completely different from before.

When her magic came into contact with it, a pattern of light quickly lit up on the surface of the wand, and immediately after, just like Xia Liang herself a few minutes ago, it produced overlapping phantoms.

The magic wand within the phantoms flickered and jumped as if it were a distorted image, and its shape began to change, becoming vastly different from its original form.

Fine particles of magic sprayed out along the glowing patterns, enveloping the amorphous magic wand as it floated and rotated, resembling a nebula.

Xia Liang couldn't help but widen her eyes, admiring the scene with a sense of wonder.

Lin Xiaolu, who had been uninterested, finally picked up some interest and also stared intently in Xia Liang's direction.

"The magic wand is actually the most basic form of a magic construct; it is the external manifestation of your own power. It's just that at the Seed-rank, a magical girl without a true form has no way to discover its true appearance."

Looking at the nebula formed by magic particles in front of Xia Liang, Cuique said calmly: "But now, its state is proving to you that you have already obtained this qualification."

"...And then?"

While pondering, Xia Liang asked with interest: "What should I do next?"

"Recite your own code name."

Cuique lifted her chin slightly, signaling to Xia Liang: "Then communicate with your magic gear, and at the same time, issue a declaration to the magic gear you are about to awaken, extracting it from its current shell so it can reveal its true appearance."

Xia Liang composed her expression and nodded earnestly.

She looked at the turbulent magic in her palms, controlled her nervousness and excitement, and took a long breath:

—"Xiaojin, magic construct, extract."

The magic particles that had been flowing in a cluster paused slightly, then began to move upward and burst apart completely.

The dispersing magic stopped its momentum before touching the ceiling and fell in drops like a rain of light. Within a small screen of light, Xia Liang looked at her palms in a daze:

The object that appeared was somewhat beyond her expectations.

"This is... my magic construct?"

Because there, there was only a hand-sized vanity mirror.

In the imagination of ordinary people, since so-called "magic constructs" are weapons for combat, they should naturally be items that look more lethal. But in fact, the appearance of a magic construct is not necessarily a "weapon" in the conventional sense.

Just as Cuique's magic gear is thread and scissors, which are sewing tools as understood by ordinary people, there are other magical girls whose magic gear is even stranger: writing pens, watering cans, handkerchiefs... these bizarre magic gears are also where magical girls best reflect their individual differences.

And the power of magic gear has nothing to do with its appearance; it only relates to the user's proficiency, depth of development, and the potential of the magic gear itself.

Therefore, Cuique was not surprised that Xia Liang's magic gear was a mirror.

On the other side, after a brief moment of surprise, Xia Liang picked up the mirror and looked at her face from left to right, but didn't find any changes.

"Is that all?"

She muttered to herself, then a thought flashed through her mind, and she wanted to try injecting magic into it. She immediately raised her hand, and hibiscus-purple magic was released from her palm, attempting to make it touch the mirror.

—"Although I approve of your attempt to use magic, I suggest you don't do that inside the house."

Seeing her do this, Cuique first spoke up in time to stop her, then pointed outside the window and signaled: "If you don't want to accidentally blow up your own house, it's best to find an open space."

"Ah, sorry, sorry."

Coming back to her senses, Xia Liang laughed apologetically: "I was a little too impatient."

After briefly apologizing to Cuique, she took Lin Xiaolu and Cuique and left home, heading to an open space she knew of.

Once outdoors, after landing in a relatively open spot, Xia Liang couldn't wait to take out her magic gear and began trying to charge magic into her mirror.

As expected, driven by magic, Xia Liang's magic gear began to show its true capabilities. Soon, the group discovered several simple functions of her magic gear:

The most primary one is the change in shape and quantity. Xia Liang can control her mirror magic gear to increase its quantity or enlarge its area. The upper limit for the quantity is about 5, and the upper limit for the area is only 1 square meter. She can control its movement at will within a radius of about twenty meters.

Besides this, there are two uses for the mirror:

The first is to block and reflect magic to a certain extent. It can weaken the magic that touches its surface and reflect it in another direction. Through the attempts of Xia Liang and Cuique, whether it is a magic beam, a scattered flow of magic or particles, or even a spell with a fixed structure, all can be reflected back by Xia Liang's magic gear.

Although the upper limit it can currently withstand is only the strength of a casual magic beam from a Bud-rank magical girl.

The second use is to transmit magic. Xia Liang can allow magic that touches the surface of the mirror to be transmitted out from another mirror. Through this ability, within the controllable range of the mirrors, she can make magic beams originally aimed at any position change direction.

The upper limit for this ability is significantly higher; even when Cuique increased the strength of the magic beam to a standard close to the Leaf-rank, it could still be redirected by the mirror.

It can be said that although this mirror magic gear has no intuitive destructive power, it has a lot of room for development in terms of functionality.

"Feels like a magic gear with a strong auxiliary role?"

As if she had discovered a new toy, after playing with all the functions of the magic gear, Xia Liang judged it so: "Although it might take a lot of brainpower to use it well in battle."

"Currently, yes; it indeed hasn't shown any lethal capability."

Cuique was also studying the magic gear in Xia Liang's hand and gave her judgment quite objectively: "But from my preliminary observation, if you want it to exert lethality, after reaching the Leaf-rank, there will be many spells that can coordinate with your magic gear."

"So should I start aiming for the Leaf-rank now?" Xia Liang stuck out her tongue.

"How many times have I said it, don't be overly ambitious."

Raising her hand, she tapped Xia Liang lightly on the forehead, and Cuique glanced at her: "Don't think so much for now; give your magic gear a name."

"It hurts! I oppose corporal punishment!" Xia Liang shouted, covering her head.

"I didn't use any force at all," Cuique said expressionlessly.

"But it's the delicate heart of a young girl that was hurt!" Xia Liang feigned indignation.

"Did your delicate heart tell you the name of the magic gear?" Cuique didn't take her bait at all and asked with drooping eyelids.

"Oh, about that, if you're talking about the name, I actually already knew it when it awakened."

Xia Liang lifted her head slightly, holding her magic gear, and anyone could feel the excitement in her emotions:

"Its name is 'Yinli'."