I'm a magical girl in the future

Chapter 24: Spells, Etiquette, Mental Phrases

After Noah put away her longsword, she returned to her teaching and explanation.

"Finally, there's the 'Heart Image.' The Heart Image is a unique ability originating from the soul, unique to every magical girl."

"The effects of these abilities are incredibly diverse; you might encounter anything you can't even imagine. Depending on each magical girl's soul constitution, many gradually awaken their inner nature at the 'Budding' and 'Blooming' stages."

"When a magical girl first awakens her Heart Aspect, the power she can display is not complete. However, as the magical girl continues to progress, the power of her Heart Aspect will also be perfected."

"When a magical girl reaches the 'Blooming' level, her inner vision is basically fully developed and capable of unleashing its full power."

"The 'Mind Image' can be considered the most crucial element in the magical girl combat system. Many magical girls' tactical styles are built around their own 'Mind Image'."

"To go further, when choosing a crafted Mystic Code, the compatibility between the Mystic Code and one's own mindset is often the first consideration."

"The effect of a Craft Essence that resonates with your heart goes far beyond the mere accumulation of numerical values. This is what I referred to earlier as the issue of Craft Essence compatibility."

Everyone fell silent for a moment as the magical girls processed the information.

The word "heart image," which sounds mysterious and full of possibilities, undoubtedly aroused their deepest curiosity.

"Then, Noah-senpai..." Yotsuba couldn't help but ask, "What kind of ability is your Mind Mapping?"

Noah turned her gaze to Clover, and after a moment of silence, slowly answered:

"I'm sorry, I can't easily reveal the specifics of my mind-reading abilities to others. Because my mind-reading is a highly tactical ability."

"Of course, the reason I haven't told you isn't because I don't trust you. It's because if I reveal it, there's a risk that it will be inadvertently leaked. Once the enemy knows the specific effects of my mental imagery, they are very likely to target my abilities."

"Ah... this... I..." Yotsuba lowered her head, somewhat at a loss. "I'm sorry, Noah-senpai! I... I shouldn't have asked that!"

She hurriedly bowed.

"Don't worry about it." Noah smiled gently. "You were just curious, that's why you asked. I know you meant no harm."

"However, you all need to remember one thing during this time—"

Noah's gaze swept over every magical girl present, and her tone became serious.

"In future actions, unless it is an absolutely trusted ally, do not reveal your specific mental abilities to others."

"Of course, not all mental abilities are unsuitable for being revealed. If your mental ability is healing, support, or its effect does not have a strong tactical element of surprise or deception, then in team battles, telling your teammates about your abilities can actually help you coordinate better in combat."

I still don't understand.

Chaoxia looked puzzled. "Our opponents are calamity beasts, right? Even if they know this information, what can they do? Calamity beasts aren't supposed to be very intelligent, are they? Could they possibly come up with some kind of tactical countermeasure?"

Upon hearing this, Noah's smile faded slightly, as if she had recalled some unpleasant memories.

"Because we're not just facing monstrous beasts, but also evil magical girls!"

"what?"

Chaoxia looked completely bewildered.

Are there bad guys in magical girls too?

Noah nodded slightly.

"After all, the awakening of magical girls is inherently highly random. Theoretically, anyone with the potential can awaken, and whether they are good or evil is probably not taken into consideration. So naturally, there are also some bad people who might awaken as magical girls."

Upon hearing this, Lingbo developed a deep and unwavering suspicion about the magical girl community.

...In my mind, aren't magical girls all embodiments of love and peace? Since even bad guys can awaken into magical girls, isn't this self-awakening mechanism a bit too weak?

"Of course," Noah's voice continued, "I think most magical girls are good; they fight with a belief in justice."

"But people change as they grow older. So it's possible that she might awaken as a magical girl first, then encounter something during her growth that causes a change in her mindset, turning her into a big bad guy."

As Noah spoke, her gaze drifted toward the other side of the river.

Of course, Bi'an understood Noah's meaning. However, she simply looked back at Noah quietly, remaining silent.

"Alright, that's about all for the theory." Noah glanced at the four people present. "Then, let's take a break. I'll go downstairs and buy some drinks for everyone."

"I'll go too."

Lingbo, who had been silent all along, took a small step forward as soon as Noah finished speaking.

Noah immediately understood what she meant—Lingbo had something to say.

So, when Noah and Lingbo jumped off the roof of the Civil Defense Bureau building and floated to the ground, their conversation began.

"Your mind is probably related to time, right?" Lingbo looked up at Noah.

"Oh, you noticed?"

"A little bit. The night before last, when you dealt with that calamity beast, it was instantly cut into pieces. Others might just think that you were too fast to see your cutting movements."

"But when you made your move, I felt that at a certain moment, the world seemed to pause for a moment."

"That feeling was very strange," Lingbo frowned, "It was like pressing the pause button and then suddenly starting to play again."

"I see, so you can already sense this level." Noah said thoughtfully.

"However, it's normal that you can sense it, because theoretically our minds are aligned. So even if you're only at the 'Emerging Bud' level right now, you can still sense some of it. Others can't even sense that slight pause."

"So your abilities aren't what I thought they were—" Lingbo began to make a final confirmation.

"Mm." Noah nodded.

"Since your mind-reading ability is the same, I might as well tell you. My mind-reading ability is manipulating time. My ability to travel through time is also thanks to this ability. As for the sense of stagnation you felt, it's because I stopped time."

Even though she had expected it, Lingbo was still quite shocked when Noah directly admitted it.

Are "one's" abilities really that overpowered?

"So, how long can you stop?" Lingbo continued to ask.

"If we go all out," Noah said calmly, holding up five fingers, "5 seconds."

"Huh? It's that long?!" Lingbo was completely taken aback.

"Actually, it's not that long... 5 seconds is still too short."

Then, Noah's expression turned as ugly as if she had swallowed a fly—

"Also, damn it, at that point in the future, everyone will know that I can stop time. So this time, I'm determined not to reveal my true intentions."

This was the first time Lingbo had ever seen Noah swear.

*

Information that can be made public now:

Time Seal

Category: Mindset

Level: S

Holder: Noah/Lingbo

description:

The ability to manipulate time in a limited way, including but not limited to temporarily stopping time (time stop) and time travel.

The maximum stop time for Noah is 5 seconds. However, there seems to be some cooldown time limitation in the interval between uses.

The time-stop effect activates almost instantaneously. It's also important to note that during time stop, conventional ranged projectile attacks will be ineffective, as projected objects will be frozen in place due to the time stop.

Another effect is that time travel requires a very special price to pay, which cannot be easily achieved.

*

Oborozuki Shiroya

Category: Artificial Costume

Level: C+

Holder: Noah

description:

The katana with an astonishingly long blade was a melee weapon that Noah had no choice but to use in order to compensate for her inability to use ranged attacks while in time-stopped mode.

As a weapon in itself, its overall performance can only be described as slightly above average.

However, this sword seems to resonate with the specific environment of "night," unleashing additional abilities and bonuses when used at night. Under the moonlight, the upper limit of its power and characteristics will also differ depending on the phases of the moon.