Four Split Personalities

The next day

Game Time AM09:21

Violet Empire, former Marshal Territory, Mercury City Mage Guild Branch First Laboratory

By the fireplace brimming with lazy Fire Element warmth, a petite girl was curled up on the carpet, engrossed in a book. She wore nothing but a thin layer of close-fitting clothes, surrounded by piles of soft cushions, creating a loose and sloppy nest for herself. In the corner, a large Mage’s robe was carelessly draped over a high-backed chair. Personal belongings such as undershirts, shoes, gloves, scrolls, and dozens of functional books of various types were scattered in every corner of the laboratory, turning what was once a neat and tidy space into a complete mess. The experiment table in the middle was piled high with parchment bearing various mysterious symbols and food that was either half-eaten, barely touched, or completely untouched...

Even the most slovenly of peers, upon seeing this temporarily requisitioned laboratory, would likely only be able to describe it as a ’disaster’ and then come away with the mistaken impression that perhaps they had obsessive-compulsive disorder.

But for Double Leaf, this was the most comfortable environment. Only within such a place could her surprisingly efficient brain get either the maximum exercise or rest it required.

Clearly, although the girl was flipping through the pages of "Nismonte’s Amazing Aquatic Creatures and Their Characteristics" at an effective rate of two seconds per page, she was actually resting at the moment.

"Cheek Pouch grass... grants the consumer the ability to breathe underwater for thirty to fifty minutes depending on the race or Constitution. Hmm, seems familiar. Did I read about it in some alchemy book?" She lazily turned over, lying on her stomach on the cushion, legs with gentle curves swinging, and covered her small mouth with a yawn, "So boring. Isn’t there anyone around who could give me a little trouble..."

Click.

Just then, the laboratory door behind her to the side suddenly opened from the outside, bringing with it a burst of refreshingly cold air that made the girl shiver immediately.

"Ana~"

Without turning back, Double Leaf hummed, slowly inching closer to the fireplace, "Close the door already, it’s freezing!"

A slim woman with waist-length silver hair and wearing a pale golden mask heaved a reluctant sigh, flicked her finger to summon a light breeze that closed the door, and then, accompanied by a hazy silver light, appeared in front of Double Leaf in an instant, whispering, "The temperature outside is quite normal; you wouldn’t feel cold if you weren’t wearing just your undergarments."

"Lazing about half-naked in a cozy house during winter is a pleasure, Ana."

Double Leaf carelessly closed the book in her hand, slowly sat up hugging her knees, flashed a bright, white smile, and with a hint of mischief suggested, "Why don’t you try it too?"

Tara Lasha’s lips twitched slightly, then she elegantly crossed her legs and hovered half a meter in front of Double Leaf, bringing a hand to her forehead, "You’re a girl after all..."

"I am a girl, sure, but right now, isn’t this First Laboratory accessible only to the two of us? It’s not like anyone would take advantage of the situation." Double Leaf shrugged nonchalantly and then sent a flirty glance toward her informal teacher, chuckling, "Or is it that, Ana, you get excited seeing me like this? Oh, by the way, are you sure you don’t want to undress? It’s addictive you know!"

"I’m indeed quite stirred, considering every time I think about the fact that you, this brat, are my only Apprentice, my blood pressure rises." Tara Lasha rolled her eyes at Double Leaf, sarcastically remarked, then resolutely said, "Not undressing."

Double Leaf pouted her lips, swaying side to side and spoke up, "At least take off the mask, there’s no one else around."

"Sigh, fine..."

Perhaps not wanting Double Leaf to linger on the topic of ’undressing,’ Tara Lasha readily removed the mask, known as "Tara Lasha’s Wisdom Mask," revealing a pretty face that looked no more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight at most. Her oriental features were delicate; though she wasn’t enchanting enough to cause fish to sink or geese to descend, she was undeniably beautiful, with pale purple pupils.

If anything was distinctive about her, it was the Crescent-shaped Black pattern on each side of her cheeks. Yet these did not detract from Tara Lasha’s beauty; instead, they added a touch of enigmatic allure to her appearance.

"I don’t see what there is to hide with this thing."

Double Leaf propped up her chin with one hand as she appraised Tara Lasha’s ’Magic pattern’ and said with a grin, "It looks pretty good."

"Not pretty."

Tara Lasha huffed lightly, clearly not interested in discussing this topic any further and looked straight at Double Leaf, "I wasn’t able to kill Bafi Marshal."

Hardly had the words been spoken when Double Leaf, who previously seemed so lax and relaxed, sprang to her feet, eyes wide in shock, "What? You didn’t kill him!? Did his strength exceed our expectations, or did that bastard Tan Mo play me for a fool!? Where is he now!? Can you track his whereabouts? I must..."

"Let me finish."

Tara Lasha gently raised her right hand, motioning for her almost out-of-control Apprentice to calm down first before she continued in her unhurried manner, "The reason I didn’t succeed in killing Bafi Marshal is that someone else did..."