4-06: Tournament Prep II

Everyone was surprised how early Veronica was awake, and how good her breakfast was, considering she never cooked before.

After eating and a morning shower, the girls were transfixed on preparing for the tournament.

"So, we'll need to come up with something. Seeing as how we don't really know who our opponents are just yet, we'll more than likely need some better equipment at least." Aviris was the first to speak up.

"Thabks for reminding me!" Veronica spoke up. "When I was at Liaif's yesterday, I picked up some gear for all of us." She placed everyone's new piece of gear on the table.

"Ver, how much did this cost you?" Cassidy asked.

"Uh... well... technically I got them for free."

"She gave you another deal?"

"Yeah."

"Is it that thing we talked about yesterday when you got back?"

"Yeah..."

"At least they're good." Cassidy finished, looking at the gear. "So, who gets what?"

"Alright, so, the belt goes to Avi. You'll get a pretty decent boost to your agility." Veronica started.

"More speed and whatnot? Sure. I'll take it." Aviris said, grabbing the belt and inspecting it. "I can even make it work with some outfits I have back home. Nice."

"Next, is a necklace for Elly. Your Holy magic will be enhanced and you get a form of shield effect that should block some attacks for you."

"Even at a school, I'm still showered in jewelry. But it does look pretty. And the effect will certainly help us out." Eleanora responded, carefully picking up the necklace and putting it on.

"And for Cass, I've got a ring." Without hesitation, or even a thought, Veronica grabbed Cassidy's hand and slipped the ring onto her ring finger. This action had, unsurprisingly, caused the void witch to blush uncontrollably. "Stronger magic overall and more casts. The perfect ring for an offensive magic user."

Cassidy stayed silent, still blushing, perhaps replaying g that scene in her mind over and over again, but with different wording.

"And finally, for myself, a circlet that grants me a lot of defense against magic."

"How much defense, Mistress?" Tisha asked. Her calling Veronica that made the rest look extremely oddly at Tisha.

"Um... uh... you don't need to call me that..."

"But, you ordered me to call you that yesterday, did you not?" She responded simply, causing the other girls to look at Veronica.

"It was a mistake! Seriously! I'm still trying to figure out this Charm thing. A-Anyways, back to your question... The magical defense should completely negate low level magic."

Everyone was simply in silence, still thinking about what Tisha had called Veronica.

'Please tell me I can fix her...'

"Well, do you want the good news or the bad news first?"

'Let's do good first.'

"Alright. Good news, her personality and thought process should still be the same since before you used Charm, is it usually enhances one's deepest desires."

'I see... and the bad news?'

"Charm isn't reversible."

'And you couldn't have told me that earlier!?'

"Sorry! It kinda slipped my mind. And I didn't think you'd get this far this quickly."

'So, what can I do for her?'

"Well, you could either kill her, or kill yourself, but I don't think you'd do either. So your only option left is to simply embrace her and never use Charm on her again."

'Fuck...'

"Naughty girl!"

'Pot, meet kettle.'

"Just make sure to use Charm more conservatively."

'Right... I'll try.'

"Anyway, the tournament is in a few days. I'd suggest you should all work on minor exercises and light training so you don't get too rusty or wear yourselves out before the tournament." Tisha said to the silent group.

"She's right. We should at least do something before the tournament. But for now, I want to just relax." Aviris said, leaning back into the sofa.

And so, that's what they did for the rest of the day. Simple relaxation, some chatting, and some exercise, just to break up the laziness.

Veronica thought to herself that she was sorely lacking in any combat techniques. So, she decided to work on that.

Tomorrow. She'll work on it tomorrow.