Amulet - Book - Knife - Vanessa's Past - Gift Giving 1

A few hours later, Justine arrived at Florida. She tried to sightsee out of nowhere. She also plans to find a gift for the two remaining residents of the mansion

She stayed in Florida for a few days to rest his mind. Even though she could have unlimited energy without eating, drinking, or resting using Energy Manipulation, her mind could still suffer from exhaustion

The energy of the mind is still too much for Justine to analyze and understand using Energy Contemplation and Energy Insight

It was like trying to do a surgery on her hands using her own hands at the same time without alternating

After a few days, Justine was about to leave Florida to fly towards Washington DC when she looked towards a Jewelry Store in the middle of town

Justine entered the store and browsed the displayed accesories and jewelry. A store assistant followed and watch her in case Justine needed assistance

Justine mostly saw silver necklaces, earrings, and bracelets with rubies, diamonds, and sapphires attached to them. The jewelries were extravagant and Justine was overwhelmed by the sight of these expensive items

Until Justine saw an necklace attached to a black stone. She immediately used Energy Contemplation and she could see that the heat around the amulet was drastically less than the surroundings, even though the store is air conditioned

She also used Vector Contemplation to see the transfer of heat around the necklace. She was surprised at what she saw and she smirked

She saw the heat swirling around the amulet, as if the hotness is trying to go into the black stone only to become cool immediately. This created a circulation of heat around the amulet that makes something cold that goes near it

"I'll buy this!"

Justine exclaimed loudly at the store assistant behind her. The assistant was startled and tried to calm herself to hive her the price

"That would be 50 millio-"

"Sold!!!"

Before the store assistant could finish her sentence, the store manager came barging in running with dollar signs on her eyes after Justine pulled out a dark purple colored bracelet from her backpack

It was a very rare gem called Tanzanite and it was carved and shaped into a bracelet without needing to connect two separate parts. Meaning, a very large volume of Tanzanite was grinded down in a shape of a bracelet. It probably wasted 70% of the Tanzanite that was grinded just to make the bracelet

The Tanzanite bracelet would easily cost at least $500 million that would make gem appraisers foam their mouth

The store assistant had her eyes wide upon looking at the Tanzanite bracelt and was shocked beyond belief. She looked back at the customer that just bought the Obsidian Amulet but she could only see the door of the Jewelry Store close as Justine ran across the street

Justine ran to a secluded place in an alley to prepare for flight departure, but five thugs followed her and she won't make a mistake of them witnessing the existence of abilities this early in the Mysticism Age

"Hey girl, you seemed to be lost. Why don't we guide you?"

Justine's body may have been small like a teenager but her demeanor is that of an adult. Especially since she is 24 years of age. It wasn't on purpose that the thug mistaken Justine as a child

Instead of being angry, Justine only raised her left hand and snapped. Using Energy Manipulation and Vector Manipulation, a bright flash of light filled the vision of the thugs as a small ball of light exploded on front of their eyes

The thugs fell down and they should have forgotten what happened for the past minute or two

Justine immediately flew up and manipulated the light around her to make herself invisible to the naked eye. She went northward towards Washington DC to pick a book as a gift for Bea in the Library of Congress

Several minutes later, Justine arrived at the entrance of the Library of Congress. She entered the library and browsed books. There were millions of books that are stored in the library and Justine was willing to browse all of them

Her goal is not only to find a gift to Bea, every now and then, she visits this library to research one thing

Mana and Magic

Of course Justine saw books that had mana and magic in them, but those are novels that was written as a story

What Justine was finding are records about the past, the ancient records that has proof of ability users in the past and how they obtained it

Justine was aware of the existence of Alucard, Camille, Jude, and the Old Man since they lived for thousands and millions of years and they had abilities. But they are an exception since they were born with abilities through fate, bloodline, gene, or curse

She's finding about the existence of ability users, like her, in the past. Ultimately, she didn't find anything

At first, she didn't know why she suddenly had abilities four years ago. As a delusional teenager back then, she was obsessed in science, particularly energy and vectors

One day, she suddenly had a thought that she could analyze and read energy and vectors around her. At this point, she was aware that she has a power, she has an ability

A few years later, after learning about the existence of Mana Hotspots after the Old Man adopted her a few months ago from an accident, she believed that having abilities has some to do with the Mana that was coming from the Mana Hotspots

Therefore, Justine also tried to search for record about Mana Hotspots in the past, but to no avail

Eventually, she reached the most secluded place in the library, where it was quite dark and very little people ever go near the place. There are also fewer books around as dust and particles fill the empty shelves

Justine was in a stasis until she realized she was in a strange place. She looked around and saw books that she hasn't seen before

There is a book that had a 23 pointed star in the cover and it contains illustrations of circles and geometry in it. There is also another book that has a six-finger hand on the cover with a number 10 on it, Justine can't seem to open it and there was a lock

There is a small book that had a torn black leather cover and back page, Justine saw different names in the contents and she immediately closed it. Finally, she saw a book that seemed rusted and decayed and Justine did not dare to touch it

Justine was confused as to why such kinds of books was inside the Library of Congress, especially since thisnplace is very dirty and dusty

Justine was about to leave as she had no interest at the books that she saw, until she noticed something on the second shelf

The distribution of the sheet of dust and particles are uneven. Justine blowed on the dust and it caused a dust storm in the area. Luckily, Justine manipulated the vector of wind and collected the dust particles in one corner

There, it revealed quite a large thin book. Justine grabbed the book that has a dried aged brown leather on the cover that seemed to peel of the moment it was touched

Justine opened the book only to see one page. She tried reading the contents of the page but she couldn't read it at all. The text were not in alphabetic and she didn't recognized the characters that are written whether it was in some other country

Justine just closed the book as she gave up trying to decipher the text since it was gibberish to her. She also knew that this book was going to be the best gift

She manipulated the light around the book so it will be invisible to the electromagnetic spectrum as she carried it. The book was larger than her backpack, so there was no way she could fit it in her bag

She walked casually through the library and exited through the front door. She immediately became invisible and flew straight towards west. It was time to go back home

"I seem to be forgetting something, what is it... Nah, it's probably not important!"

Justine shrugged her shoulders and boosted through the sky in a sheering sound that she contained in a 50 meter radius using Vector Manipulation

After a few hours, Justine was flying above the skies of Nevada. It was about time before she arrived in California

As she flies above the desert, she felt a surge of energy in a certain direction. Of course due to curiosity, she wanted to check it out

After a few minutes, she saw a military base in a distance

"Is this the fabled Area 51?? This is dangerous... But I'm very curious!"

As Justine said that, two Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and one Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor flew by next to her. The jets tried to communicate with her but Justine ignored them and flew faster than the speed of sound

The jets could catch up to her but there is no point since Justine was aiming for the base. They were about to lock on to Justine and fire their missiles and gatling gun, but they received orders to cease fire

It was then the jets split from each other and flew back to the other military base. Justine looked back with furrowed eyebrows and shrugged her shoulder. She then landed on the airfield of Area 51

An envoy of military vehicle cam with a few tanks and armored trucks. Several of soldiers also came and they assumed positions

One important looking man walked in front while holding his right hand in a fist, commanding every soldier to hold fire

"What brings Justine Miller to Area 51?"

"There was a strange burst of energy that surged over a few kilometers, care to explain..."

"The Marshal General is currently absent while he is attending a secret meeting. I'm currently the person in charge of the base, the General"

"What's the burst of energy about?"

The General looked to his left and right at the soldiers before replying

"Follow me." The General turned around and entered the base. "This is a command! Return to your stations and fortify the defenses!"

Justine followed the General and they entered the deepest parts of the base, underground where peculiar objects are behind reinforced glass

After several minutes, Justine and the General arrived at a large room, more like a hangar. In the middle of the hangar is a circular disc that has a spherical cockpit in the middle

It was an Unidentified Flying Object, an alien spaceship

There was something that looked like a generator that connected to the spaceship with thick tubes and wires. The generator emitted a certain green glow and heat

"This is a UFO that we found and captured a few weeks ago. We are currently reverse engineering it"

"I see... Well, be careful then"

Justine turned back around after seeing the source of the burst of energy. She decided to leave after her curiosity has been satiated

"W-wait!"

The General tried to stop her but Justine has already flew away through the gallery

"This is your general speaking! Stall the girl as much as you can and don't let her leave!"

The General reached to his radio and commanded everyone in the base

Justine flew through the gallery and saw something at the corner of her eye that made her remember something that she forgot

She appeared in front of a pedestal that had an opened Swiss Knife behind a reinforced glass box. Justine placed her hand against the glass box and the box suddenly generated a deep sound that rocks and vibrates the pedestal and the ground

A few second later, the glass shattered into millions of pieces but it retained its shape. It immediately broke down after Justine pushed her hand and grabbed the Swiss Knife. She used Energy Manipulation to amplify the energy generated by the vibration of molecules on the glass to break it

She then immediately left and flew again outside of the underground in a ventilation system. She manipulated the light around her so no types of sensors will be able to detect her, even X-ray and Infrared. No one will be able to follow her

~~~

"And that's my whole trip!"

Justine finished telling the story of her travels to everyone

At this point, Mathilda arrived with Vanessa and Kyouko following behind her

Surprisingly, Vanessa showed up with a whole new look and expression. Instead of her usual lewd clothing that showed most of her skin, she wore a jogger shorts and a an oversized black shirt that gives the impression of her being a NEET. Her eyes also change from being melancholic and sad to being clear and full of hope. Her brunette hair is also properly tied into a ponytail while there are loose side hair and bangs

Meanwhile, Kyouko radiates the aura of a diligent girl. Her movements were so fluid and careful that it almost looked like she was an angel. Her eyes were half-closed, as if she was very calm and serene

Philip was surprised by this change, not by Vanessa, but by Kyouko. He remembered that he saw her exuding the aura of an Ultimate Sadist after she learned that he has a Pain Denial ability

He racked his brain trying to understand what caused this change since he couldn't feel any sadistic look or intent at all. Untill he realized one thing that changed around here

The arrival of Justine

He looked at her slowly with confused eyes. Justine was having fun with the sibling while having a small talk until she abruptly turned her head towards Philip

Justine felt that someone was looking at her with Vector Insight. She would always know if someone was looking at her direction

She tilted her head in confusion but she immediately understood after Philip gazed back at Kyouko. She was plenty surprised after seeing Philip's expression as he gazed at Kyouko that he already knew about her true nature

Kyouko went forward and sat on a wooden chair, near Philip as much as possible and far from Justine as much as possible

Vanessa confidently walked towards Philip's direction and sat on the armrest of the one-seat sofa while crossing her legs and leaned towards Philip as she put her right arm above Philip's head

Alucard did not mind it kept his smile while hos eyes are closed

Altought, Natsume wouldn't let Vanessa away and spoke

"You too have gotten close, huh?"

"No, not at all"

Philip denied and shook his head with difficulty as half of a grown woman's weight was resting above his head

He didn't mind that Vanessa was leaning on his head, he quite liked it since this is the first time that someone used him as a leaning object. Another reason is he liked heavy objects resting above him, it gives him the sense of strength. Besides, it also makes him feel comfortable because his stiff muscles were being contracted

Looks like Philip's masochism was acting up

He then remembered Vanessa's memories of her past that was transferred to him last night

~~~

Vanessa was an orphan, she didn't know who her mother or father is. She grew up having no parents to take care of her

As she was growing up, she was very intrigued and curious about the world around her. She studied all objects that she could get her hands on and examined their properties and composition

In such a young age, she learned Chemistry and Physics. This caught the attention of a prestigious school that majors in Science and Technology. They gave her a scholarship to study in their school in exchange for her knowledge

Over the course of several years, she made mixtures and concoctions that advances the development of the school

She was the gateway of making the possibility of alloying any types of metal into each other possible. She also made purifying water so much easier and lesser consumption of gasoline in all vehicles

Of course, doing all of this took a toll on Vanessa's mental health. Especially since she was starting to open the gates in learning the secrets of the universe. As Vanessa goes deeper and deeper from molecular level to atomic level and understanding the concepts behind it to create the possibility of material crafting, the more he becomes closer to subatomic level and quantum level, until she reaches the particles that started and composed the universe

She tried to peek once but it immediately overloaded her brain. She lost a bit of her emotional substance and essence. At this moment, her miserable trait has been amplified and she had been suffering ever since

She made a potion called the Grey Serum that lowers her serotonin level that makes her feel sad and melancholic but also increases her serotnin levels to lessen her miserable trait particularly. It also enhances her muscle control and sensory perception

As Vanessa became an adult, she secluded herself in a very secluded place, away from the world so that no one could take advantage of her. Ultimately, the Old Man seek her and took her in the mansion for protection, shelter, and a living. The catch is that she needs to try and make a potion that can grant Alucard's desire and Camille's curse

Apparently, Camille has a curse called the Curse of Clotting. The Curse of Clotting makes Camille's blood clot even though her blood is not exposed to air. This makes her body unable to move once the Curse of Clotting takes place because solid matter is literally in her veins, arteries, and organs

Philip didn't know how Camille could still live if her body was like that. There was also no information in Vanessa's memories and it seems that she didn't know about it

He could also see the abilities of the others from Vanessa's memories but he decided to ignore it for now because Justine was about to give gifts to everyone

~~~

Philip did not expect for Justine to give him a gift since they just met. He could only feel jealous and questioned as to why he was even here while everyone receives their presents

Of course, Philip immediately erased that emotion as he deemed it bothersome and unneeded

"But you seemed awfully close to him"

Natsume said directly at Vanessa

"Nope, I just became interested in him. That's all"

"Wha--!"

Natsume couldn't retort as her cheeks turned red. Kyouko was surprised as he leaked a tiny bit of her sadistic aura and Natsuki narrowed her eyes while her cheeks were tinge with slight red

Justine was also surprised, after seeing Vanessa being close to the new person, as well as Alucard that seemed to favor him. She ignored their relationships and moved on to the gift giving

"Alright, since everyone's here... First gift is... Let's start with this... For Mathilda!!"

Justine rummaged around her backpack as a twinkling particle came out of it. She pulled a puppy wrapped in cloth and presented it to Mathilda

Mathilda gasped upon seeing the puppy and stars appeared on her eyes. It was the same for Mei'er

"Wha! That's so cute!! I'm envious!"

Natsume exclaimed as she went closer to the puppy

Mathilda shoved her to the side and gently grabbed the puppy from Mathilda's hands. She then went to the corner of the room and played with the puppy

The puppy didn't dare to move and only stared at Mathilda as it started to sweat bullets

It could feel the power of five people in the room and it was skyrocketing to the sky, that includes Mathilda. It was also extremely scared because it's instinct was detecting an incredibly dangerous person near it. It avoided looking at her as much as possible

"I'm going to name you Merry!"

Mathilda went ahead and named the dog without confirming its age. Well, Mathilda was lucky that the puppy was a girl

Jude smiled upon seeing Mathilda trying to play with the dog. He thought that it was the best gift that she could receive, considering her tragic past. Jude couldn't help but be angry as he slightly frowned from rememberimg Mathilda's past

"Next gift belongs to... Mei'er!"

Justine pulled out the flower that she picked up from the uncharted island and lend it to Mei'er

Mei'er's eyes was sparkling, the same as the rest of them because of how beautiful the flower is. It was nothing like they've seen before

Philip slightly smiled upon looking at the flower, it gave him a light feeling around his chest and it cleared his mind

Of course, Philip removed these emotions after reminding himself that the flower will eventually die and disappear. Unless it feed off of Mana then it will live for a couple of years, at least Philip was hopeful

Mei'er gently grabbed the flower and placed it on her lap. Justine has already placed it on a ceramic pot and removed it from the wind pot

"It's so beautiful!"

"Yeah..."

Natsume and Natsuki quietly exclaimed as they watched the twinkling particles of the flower

"What are you going to name it, since it's a new species?"

Justine asked Mei'er after lending a pen and paper to her

Mei'er took the pen and paper then wrote a name

[Celestial Nebular Twinkler]

"Oohh, that's a good name!"

Justine exclaimed at the grand name of the flower. Philip nodded in agreement as he deemed such an extravagant name is suitable on a very eye-catching flower

After Mei'er lend the paper, Philip couldn't help but notice that she didn't speak at all. She thought that she was mute or she also had a tragic backstory. He will eventually learn about it later and ignore it for now

"Next up is... Alucard!"

Justine pulled out a 12-inch Wooden Stake that exudes Holy Energy and lent it to Alucard

Alucard was surprised and reached for the stake. As soon as he held the stake, it began burning his hand as he felt a presence inside the stake

"Thank you, I appreciate it"

Alucard slightly bowed and spoke. Of course it rumbled everyone's soul in the room, except for Justine, Jude, and Philip. The puppy was extremely shocked and ducked down as Merry covered her ears with her small paws

"You're welcome. If you want to do the deed, you can try and do it. That might have a higher chance of granting your wish"

Justine said with a small regret behind her voice. This also made everyone's mood plummet since they knew that a family member will be gone soon. They were aware of Alucard's wish

Alucard could only maintain his smile as his red eyes were clear and full of hope, not because of the stake in his hand, it's because of something else

Philip didn't know that everyone knew Alucard's wish. He then decided to order Alucard after the gift giving

Justine clapped and resumed speaking

"Anyways! On to the next gift... It's for... You two siblings!"

Justine pulled out the Obsidian Amulet and the Hexagonal Stone. She gave the amulet to Natsuki and the stone to Natsume

"What are these?"

Natsuki asked

"Yours is an Obsidian Amulet. Apparently, it has the power to help you in controlling your ability"

Upon hearing Justine's explanation, Natsuki's ears popped up

"Really?!"

"Yeah! You could try it next time!"

"T-thank you..."

Natsuki thanked Justine while feeling shy. She rarely receive gifts from anyone and this was the first time in a while

"How about mine, Justine nee-san?"

Natsume asked

"Yours is apparently an amplification stone, it will help you when you're using your ability"

Natsume gasped from Justine's explanation. She jumped and hugged Justine

"Thank you so much, Justine nee-san!!"

Natsume greatly appreciated Justine's gift and this made Philip ponder the siblings' abilities

An amulet that helps ability control and a stone that amplifies the ability. Looks like Natsuki had an ability that was too much for too handle and Natsume had an ability that was small and weak that it needed amplification

That's all what Philip could ponder

"Next gift is for... Kyouko-chan!!!"

Justine said excitedly as she pulled out a Swiss Knife and raising it to the air. Philip stared at Justine's hand with wide eyes and Alucard could only smile wryly

Meanwhile, Kyouko still had her gentle smile and closed eyes but her arms were slightly shaking and bullets of sweat are dripping on her face