Rags To Riches

'Refraction!'

"What about me?" Freidmirth snarled as his nostrils flared out of disdain.

"I will later let me test something."

"Fine, go, do your thing."

Tasha rolled her eyes then further inquired, "By the way, you can sense me, right?"

"Of course, that's pretty much easy for mighty beings like me!"

'I need to limit my use of prismatic power. I'll just use the mana around me and wait for an opportunity to strike.'

Now that Anasthasia turned invisible. Her palms flung high up the air; a forceful motion headed unto barrier's way, but she stopped halfway. Instead, and she raised her hands, flicking the barrier with her slender fingers.

'Why am I getting so cautious? Do I think that this is some weak barrier created by humans in this generation?'

She raised her hand again. With a fierce move that evoked a bursting wave of air from its drag, she slapped her way to the barrier thrice. Loud thuds heard from each strike she took. It caused crackling snaps that reverberated the air. However, she noticed the ripples dwindled right away; it was quite rigid than she thought, she sighed.

"Didn't you say that human technology regressed over the years?"

Unperturbed, Fried's eyes blinked, saying, "Yeah, so what?"

"Then what about this barrier right in front of us?!"

"It looks normal?"

"Uh-Huh," She rolled her eyes, scoffed aloud, countering his remarks, "Why don't you try to punch it?"

"You'll regret this for intimidating me!"

Freidmirth slashed the barrier with his claws, only to cause a slight wave throughout the barrier; this had him flail his arms and growled aloud, "Preposterous! Unfair! You must turn me back to my original size!"

"No can do, Fried." She clicked her tongue, shaking her head before she spat once more, "Or else we'll find ourselves in a precarious situation."

"You think I'm afraid with a bunch of puny humans?!"

"You sound so cute right now; you should stay like this forever."

"What—No!" He growled back, "That's the last thing I'll do for as long as I'm alive!"

"Too bad, I hold the upper hand," Anasthasia haughtily sneered.

"You!"

His amber eyes sparked ablaze; his snout scrunched from the humiliation he had received. Tasha giggled from his reaction. Her heart, burdened and bothered by the terrible omens mentioned by him, suddenly uplifted. It was refreshing for her.

'This is quite a strong force field. I'm impressed.' She pondered for a moment then nodded, holding Freidmirth tightly in her embrace.

"Anasthasia…"

"Yes?"

"What are you thinking at the moment?"

"Nothing much." She lowered her head, smiling, and then added, "I'm just glad."

"Glad? For what?" he jeered at her, mocking at her remarks slightly, "I swear, you're one bat-sheet crazy woman."

"Did you just call me a crazy woman?"

"Well—"

"Who goes there?!"

To her surprise, Anasthasia glanced up and saw a dark silhouette near the embrasure of the towering castle wall. His features were obscured due to the sun, casting a shadow that beamed her way, and all she could discern was the sheen on its armor plate around its edges. She narrowed her eyes in a relaxed manner.

'This must be castle guards.' Her gaze locked to the man, at the same time, gently dropped Freidmirth to the ground.

More and more knights converged in the area, this caused a foreboding chill in her heart. She cursed inwardly, but her ears perked up from their commotion, chattering among themselves.

"What was that loud, noisy sound?"

"I have no idea—Could it be this lizard down there?"

"A lost lizard?"

"Look! It's quite a darkish red drake. Is it a lost monster?"

"I think so too! But on that size, it's impossible to create such thunderclaps that could shake the heavens!"

"Maybe it's too stupid to ram its head here, leave it. It will move away soon. Like how other monsters come their way here."

"I'm glad I looked down first before ringing the alarm, or else, our commander will get mad at us!"

The castle guards laughed their hearts out and patted the man on his shoulder for his deemed decisive action. The buzzing commotion died out as they dispersed back to their position.

Anasthasia rolled on the ground, giggling from the pursed mouth, and gripping her stomach from further aches. She squeezed her eyes shut, preventing tears from trickling.

"Stop laughing!" Freidmirth chirped, his limbs thrashed around.

"But it's—"

She laughed for quite some time. Meanwhile, Friedmirth crossed his arms, huffing out a puff of flame. It undoubtedly infuriated him to the core.

"Alright, it's time for me to stop."

"Finally!" He harrumphed, hardly looking at her.

"Fried!"

"What?" He said.

"You better not bomb it this time!"

"What did I even do?"

"Don't tell me you forgot what happened last night—" Tasha's menacing stare halted, she facepalmed and groaned, "You troublemaker!"

"Mind you, Anasthasia, I did nothing wrong the whole time! What in the blazes—"

Anasthasia tapped his snout, and a sudden bubble formed around his head. His amber eyes slowly flickered and revealed a haughty sneer when she only noticed something in him.

Freidmirth gnawed his mouth, for quite some time, his pupils dilated at the sharp rate when he realized the predicament; arms flailed around and spat puffing flames.

"Don't you worry, you're in good hands. Now, be obedient so we won't encounter a few problems."

'Refraction!'

She cast one for himself, reassuring him, but her blue gaze plummeted the temperature around them. The dragon, on the other hand, audibly gulped as tears welled up his eyes. She picked up Freidmirth as she got close to him.

"We should get going." She added, smiling.

'Somehow, this contains a simple mechanic of the barrier, but I can do this.'

Her palms reached out the barrier, eventually latching on it. Her hand glowed brightly, albeit not enough to notice the guards.

'Raw mana compressed from both sides created a condensed film for the barrier. I'm impressed. Let's reverse this then.'

With her touch, the barrier slowly distorted. Her hands slowly plunged within the area and entered hassle-free.

"I'm finally here. Now for the next step." She glanced up, scrutinizing the towering wall that cast a long shadow. "This will be quick."

Anasthasia hopped, twisting her heel, and fluttered all the way up with a gust of wind. In one fluid motion, she reached by the walkway on the castle walls and landed with grace.

Meanwhile, the castle guards, who stood upright and calm under the sun's searing heat, overlooked the sentry areas. But they could only flinch from the sudden burst of wind that flashed their way. It caused an uproar among the ranks.

"What was that?!"

"Dang it! First was thunder, and then it's wind this time!"

"Was it windy these days?"

"Did you feel a sudden burst of wind over there?!"

"No, are you crazy?"

"I— "

Anasthasia grimaced from the common she'd brought upon herself, slowly pondering, 'I guess I'll have to be gentle from now on.'

They all continued to mumble and nag one another, which had her saunter in an incredibly light and slow manner. She headed downstairs with ease. The weight in her heart was uplifted from the nerve-wracking attempt.

'I don't seem to sense any mana fluctuations from them. Perhaps they aren't but an ordinary citizen of the kingdom.'

When Anasthasia continued her advance, she finally reached the streets filled with people coming from different directions. Her eyes glistened, mouth agape from the bustling activities therein.

'This brings me nostalgia!' Her mouth trembled, and her body sent her hair on ends. She frantically looked around as she saw different stalls. Ears perked around from the chattering voices, buzzing shouts and giggles from the children nearby.

Spreading arms on either side of her body, she playfully moved and twirled around as she avoided the children from crashing her. Seeing a bunch of kids rushed past her and brought forth the memories buried deep inside her mind, making her nostalgic about the long-forgotten past.

'It's been a while…'

Her eyes glanced on the different stalls, with varieties to offer, which had one thing that came to her mind.

'I'm hungry.'

Anasthasia smacked and bit her lower lip. She did her best to resist the urge as she needed on the thing.

'I need money!'

Her pace gone back and forth; eyebrows furrowed from the current issue at hand. She founder hand squeezing Freidmirth's limbs, and he could only groan in silence.

'Transmutation decays over time.'

'It's too much of a hassle to transmute objects to gold, and this foolish one right here would also contest for the rights for ownership. I have to do something—"

She stopped her tracks when she noticed rolls of fabric stacked on the damp ground. She strutted her way towards it, which had brought immense happiness to her face.

'Well, well, what do we have here?'

Her blue eyes gleamed brightly, and these qualities were dulled purposefully.

'Fashion and designing is my game.'