Got It

Running directly to Rachel's special storage, No. 12 carried Gwen on her back as she dashed through the obstacles that were laid in front of her. A few onlookers saw No.12 running past them once more as they internally sighed at how there would be another troublesome time ahead.

Finally reaching the building on just the outskirts of the manor surrounded by numerous trees and shrubs, Gwen got off No. 12 and excitedly ran inside. The ominous energy inside the building made the people surrounding it feel heavy and stiff.

Despite how dangerous this place was, both No.12 and Gwen nonchalantly entered it. As this extremely evil energy started to get near Gwen, it seemed to have passed by her, completely unaffected by this energy. No. 12, on the other hand, didn't have natural resistance to this kind of energy so she erected a barrier to prevent this energy from even touching her in the first place.

Gwen took twists and turns inside this empty building, completely evident that she knew her way around here. She finally reached the room that held what she was extremely excited for, and without waiting for another second, she went inside.

"A Tier 7 Grimoire! Lucky!" Gwen went in closer and took it out of its lectern, clenching this wide book with both hands. As the Tier 7 Grimoire was within her possession, it started to emit even more weight behind its pressure as even the wooden floorboards below Gwen's feet started to rot.

No. 12 didn't rush and took her time causing her to only arrive just now, "Lady Gwendolyn, this Tier 7 Grimoire was used by a relatively notorious blood mage around the Enia Province. A wandering paladin took him down and sold this grimoire at an auction house. We managed to buy it with ease but there's a problem with the transaction."

Gwen was half-listening to No. 12 as she started opening the grimoire a page at a time. She was looking through the magic circles that this book contained, trying to see if there was something she would be able to use in the future.

Seeing that Gwen was now in her own world once again, No. 12 exasperatedly continued, "Another blood mage wanted to steal it, but after getting caught, our men disposed of him. Unfortunately, he managed to siphon some of the grimoire's mana so it's incomplete."

"What?"

"Now you listen…"

"What was that, No. 12?"

No. 12 looked away immediately, "Nothing, Lady Gwendolyn. I was just saying that you look especially pretty today."

"Humph! Of course, I do, now what about this grimoire being incomplete?"

"We haven't figured out what's missing exactly since we haven't gotten a chance to examine it yet. You're just too restless Lady Gwendolyn, at least let us check it out first."

"It can't hurt me anyways. Alright, time to dig in… eh?" Gwen's eyes lit up as she continued to read it. Her eyes laid on a particular spell that this Tier 7 Grimoire held, the very same spell that she had been trying to find this entire time.

Gwen's wide smile didn't go unnoticed, No. 12's voice slightly trembled, "Uhm… Lady Gwendolyn, did you find what you were looking for… again?"

Gwen was so focused on the grimoire in her hands that it was a miracle she could even utter a single word, "Yeah."

"Do I have to find sacrifices- Ahem, I mean, sparring partners… again?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I need to practice this, oh? Hahaha, so that's why it didn't work before!" Without warning Gwen immediately cast a magic circle in the middle of the room. There was a bubbling darkness starting to form around Gwen as it turned this room eerily dark.

"Great Evil, bestow me the power to control darkness itself! From the shadows, I'll swallow up the light! Devour hope, devour light, consume everything! Eye of Darkness!" Gwen's mad incantation didn't stop as she continued on with vigor.

"Lady-" No. 12's barrier held up for a brief moment before shattering right before her. Seeing that No. 12 actually had to take this seriously, she created an even denser barrier than before. Instead of it being translucent, it actually blocked one's vision due to how dense the mana was.

"Lady Gwendolyn! Are you alright?"

"It's even better than I thought! Now to shorten the incantation until I can use it whenever I want! Alright, I've got my escape spell now. Let's see… I'm still missing my…." Gwen's voice trailed off on her own as she was so engrossed with magic that she lost track of everything around her.

No, 12 sighed as this was the case almost every time Gwen managed to find something that she had been looking out for. Luckily for her, this wasn't an extremely gimmicky spell that required her to use her brain to figure it out like the rest of the spells that Gwen was looking for.

"I've got no choice." No. 12 snapped her finger and a ball of light instantly appeared in front of her. Compared to Gwen chanting the entire spell, all No. 12 needed to do was will the spell to work. This was the difference between their mastery of each respective spell.

As this orb of light left her solid barrier, it was immediately consumed by the light, "Eh?"

No. 12 snapped her fingers again and two more orbs of light popped up in front of her, this time she forced these orbs outside of her barrier and keenly observed where they went. This time she managed to accurately find out what happened to her spell. Her connection to it was immediately severed as the mana in those orbs of light was immediately 'eaten' by the darkness.

'Devour hope, devour light, consume everything…'

No. 12 remembered this small note and nervously smiled, "Don't tell me it also-" As she expected, the barrier that she created had been wearing away this entire time, creating small cracks around it. The thick barrier she previously created was now starting to show signs of breaking apart.

"Dammit! There's always a gimmick! Lord Nio, your 5th child's the most troublesome one out of all of them!"

Crack.