<h4>Chapter 176:</h4>


    "Sounds violent" said Kat with remarkably little worry


    "This is serious Kat. If I didn''t know so little about how magic actually functions, I''d bar you from even attempting it. Simple physics dictates that this is a horrible idea, but I also recognise that physics went straight out the window as soon as interdimensional travel got involved and seemingly no cost" said Lily forcefully


    Kat ran her fingers through her friend''s hair "Lily calm down, it''s fine. Look, the system warned me not to try when my energy was low. It must then be reasonably confident this will work if my energy is high otherwise it wouldn''t even attempt it" Kat exined slowly


    Lily pouted, trying to rival Sylvie at her best. She failed of course, but she certainly got closer than Kat would have ever expected she could. Lily''s pout finally broke as she sighed. "Look, can you um… maybe just… actually maybe that''s a terrible idea"


    "Just say it Lily, Kat won''t mind" said Sylvie


    "Fine" said Lily "So… I wanted to say that you have to make sure that we are around when you use that gem, but… if what I''m thinking is even remotely correct it would be better if we weren''t there. Then you don''t have to worry about us getting hurt"


    Kat nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. I remember the first time I ranked up the whole area was frozen… huh I wonder if it''s still like that. Might not have been the best idea to just leave a huge patch of frozen ground in the middle of the forest"


    Lily shrugged "It should be fine. I think we''d have heard about it if someone was causing a big freak out you know"


    "The government might be trying to cover it up though, assuming they know magic exists" said Sylvie


    Kat raised an eyebrow "Where did thate from Sylvie"


    The young girl shrugged and made an embarrassed face "I don''t actually believe that… just that I''ve been able to use Vivian''sputer for a bit"


    Kat groaned "Ugh… I don''t want to know what it would be like if you turned into a conspiracy nut. I already have one of those" Kat looked pointedly at Lily


    "I take offence to that" said Lily "I research ancient topics and even more recent ones then use the information I''ve gathered toe to well-reasoned conclusions"


    "See" Kat pretended to whisper behind her hand "Conspiracy theories"


    Sylvie giggled at that and they all smiled. Allowing themselves to rx. After a few minutes passed Lily bought up another important topic "Shouldn''t we be going through that menu of yours? The one that allowed us to see D.E.M.O.N.S text and what not"


    Kat shrugged "I mean we certainly could, but I imagine that I''ll get new stuff once I upgrade to rank 2 so I''m not sure there is much point. That and I think we should do it with Vivian included as well"


    "Actually, we already talked about it, and Vivian said it was fine as long as I caught her up afterwards?? said Sylvie


    Kat smiled. *It''s nice to know that Sylvie is spending some time with Vivian while I''m away. Perhaps I should find ways to cut down on the longer jobs… at the same time though perhaps we can settle into a better routine in the future, or get say demonic video calls. Then it might not be so bad.*


    "My point about ranking up still stands though" said Kat


    Sylvie shrugged and let herself fall so that she was leaning on Lily''s shoulder and being supported mostly by Kat''s tail. "Enough about me then. What about you Lily did you put any thought into what you want to do?" asked Kat


    "Learn magic" Lily whispered, and Kat was sure she wasn''t meant to hear the quick response because after that she spoke up "Um… I mean, only sort of? I''ve been researching I mean" said Lily slightly flustered.


    *Yup, definitely been researching magic instead.* "So courses? Universities? Something else?" asked Kat


    Sylvie looked like she was about to speak up when Lily red at her. This resulted in Sylvie giving a shrug and settling back infortably. *I see. It''s the both of them isn''t it. That''s why Sylvie wanted me to promise I''d let her join.*


    "Um… I mean, courses?" said Lily


    "Are you asking me for the answer?" said Kat


    Sylvie got a cheeky smile and went to speak up, but Lily cut her off once she noticed the smirk. "Um… telling. I mean, I''ve been exploring my options"


    Kat just nodded. *If she wants to keep it a secret I won''t push. It seems at least that Lily and Sylvie are working together on this. Plus, even though the system said that those tokens I have would let them use magic, it seemed like I''d need to wait a bit.*


    *I wonder if rank 2 constitutes a bit actually. I''d think 3 might be more likely though. One seems like something you just get handed to you, while rank 2 is still training wheels all things considered.*


    *Even the tournament wasn''t all that difficult because of how strong I seem to be inherently. I can only imagine that it''s going to continue like that, so I''m not sure I can even fathom how strong I''d be at rank 3.*


    Pretending she hadn''t noticed anything amiss Kat carried on "What options have been explored so far?"


    "Ah… um well. Um coding!" said Lily. Kat raised an eyebrow "What I ah, mean is that I decided coding wouldn''t work for me"


    Kat nodded and gestured for her to continue "So…" Lily bit her lips "I had a bit of a look, and I wouldn''t say it''s something I couldn''t do. I mean, I kinda get how it functions, and I think if I really dedicated myself to it, I could be pretty good


    "But… I also just don''t really care? If that makes sense to you Kat" said Lily


    *Um… not really?* "Maybe?"


    "Lily has no passion for it" said Sylvie suddenly "She can spend hours researching random topics, but she can''t help but get distracted if she''s trying to write a program"


    Lily turned away in embarrassment but didn''t contradict Sylvie''s exnation. "Well, at least you know that now so you can cross it off the list. What else have you been checking into" said Kat


    "Um… there was also trying to be a librarian? But I''m not sure that would actually be all that good for me either. I mean it sounds cool, and maybe I would like the job but, see, it turns out that it''s really going digital. That''s actually what led me into the whole coding thing.


    "Being a librarian is a lot more about managing the library''s database now then it is just taking care of the books. That''s actually called a custodian and it was really hard to find information about that surprisingly.


    "There is also bing a teacher librarian, but I don''t actually want to go back to school really, um, because it just doesn''t seem like a good idea. So, it just sort of wouldn''t work. I mean there is librarian''s assistant type positions but… and I feel kinda bad saying this, but it''s sort of beneath me? It wouldn''t really be a challenge I don''t think


    "And that''s not to say I don''t respect them, um I do, but it''s just a lot more, talk to people and help with problems then organising the bookshelves and keeping to myself you know? So, it just seemed like something I''d maybe only do as like a part time job… maybe" said Lily


    Kat nodded. "See, that''s plenty of useful information. You''ve still got plenty of time to make a decision… well actually you might only have a few weeks to apply. I can''t seem to rec- I''m not truly sure how that all works"


    Sylvie narrowed her eyes at Kat''s stutter, picking up that it was something she was trying to lie about. Lily however was deep in thought. "Yeah, well, I did apply for a few various things so that I can get offers. Not really sure which ones I''d even want to ept but I did make sure to put things out there so that I wouldn''t bete"


    "I''m d you are making progress though Lily" said Kat "It''s important to figure these things out. I mean, I can''t really talk because I''ve ended up in a bit of a unique situation, but I think my advice stands"


    "Yeah… it does seem like it would be interesting" said Lily


    Kat decided to take her chance "But would you really want to go on adventures like me? It sounds fun but the tournament was pretty serious, and getting stabbed was rather painful"


    Lily opened her mouth to retort but closed it. It was clear that she didn''t really know how to respond or understand what it was she truly wanted. *And if Lily doesn''t know. How would I?*