‘Ah, Shanghai. What a very busy environment they have going on here.’

After having been able to keep track of the working portals back at the academy, the portal to Shanghai seemed to be a strange hub for having an infamous reputation. It was this reputation that led Abigail to wonder just how things were in that side of the multiverse. Of course, seeing that the region had been quite populated was a bit of an understatement. Who would’ve guessed such a thing were inevitable in the future? Regardless, it was known that tea had been rich in such a region, as well as clothing that had been similar to that of Abigail’s royal attire. While things had been much more costly, the exchange rate for Abigail’s currency had been quite high. Now the only problem was figuring out what to wear.

From the latest trends in fashion to the more traditional side of fashion, Abigail had a relatively difficult time choosing what exactly she wished to buy in order to wear on her adventures while in Shanghai. The kimono market had caught Abigail’s eyes quickly until she viewed the prices. It was almost a bit outrageous to hear just how much they had cost. While Abigail had no issue with pricing, it would probably come back to bite her later in the near future. She’d often find the folks around with a bit more lighter clothing anyway, seeing as many of them had walked long distances around the region. It had then been settled that Abigail followed this trend, heading to a clothing market to shop for the latest trending clothing.

It seemed that Abigail had only spent a small portion of what she had exchanged for. The clothing had also been quite simple: Black undershirt, a relatively large yet fitting button up shirt, extremely short shorts, a few small bracelets as accessories and black shoes. Her appearance was much less refined and hardly anything that would strike out as royalty. Alas, her forehead symbol would often stick out. ‘This is what the common folk wear now? How drab and simple they’ve become!’ It was then that a sigh escaped Abigail’s lips as she made her way around the region. Her stomach would soon grumble quietly as her appetite became to grow.

She had been wondering where exactly she would be able to eat, but she seemed to have gotten herself lost during her thought process about Shanghai’s fashion. She had been passing by along with the crowd of people, noticing a strangely unfinished building in the distance, hardly noticing much and glancing away from it. It was then that her sharp ears perked to the sound of a small explosion. Had she been hearing things? Perhaps someone had dropped something? It was then that Abigail’s thoughts had been answered when a minute had passed and the building seemed to be caught on fire, though a majority being on the inside.

She squinted her eyes before focusing her vision onto the inside of the building from what she was able to see. As she listened in, it sounded as if there had been folks trapped within. Seeing as many of the citizens rushed to get away or stay at a safe distance, many of them spoke in an incomprehensible language Abigail hadn’t understood. It seems that the information for language had to wait. Upon running directly towards the building, Abigail’s forehead symbol began to glow a vibrant blue before enveloping her in a translucent blue aura. This had been Abigail’s shield for the meantime as she entered the building.

The heat began to rise, and Abigail had to remember that her time within could only be temporary as her shield was only to keep her protected from the heat and flames, not the various gases that would soon build up. It took a moment, but as soon as a bit of rubble had begun to crash down, an assortment of blue wisps had begun to appear, speedily condensing together to form what appeared to be large, vibrant blue gauntlets forming in her hands. It was from here that Abigail had been able to move through the rubble, lift and pull out any of the visible workers. To some strange occurrence, there had been looming shadow in the distance, only to appear as a large woman of tall physique, with a spear in hand.

'Did they call for reinforcements?' If that was the case, Abigail would’ve let them handle the situation. Regardless, she had already jumped into action. She then called out to the woman, her forehead symbol glowing all the while. “Are you a reinforcement?” She allowed a bit of time to pass before replying once more. “Regardless, you seem to be pretty formidable. How do you feel about breaking down a wall? I’m sure it won’t help whatever it is that’s going on here, but we’ll be able to save these few!”

To think that something could start out so small before turning into something completely uncontrollable. Fire was something Abigail hadn’t really enjoyed being around. It was fire that often started issues back at home where folks had literally burned down their homes simply on accident by leaving candles on at night. While it sounds like a harmless thing to do, Abigail had been one to take precautions on a very high level. As to what started the fire, Abigail would probably soon find out as soon as she escaped the building. If she even escaped.

“Of course they won’t! But while you’re running and leading, I’ll make sure to stick along with the folks here! There can never be too many stragglers!”

Like the memories of candle-started wildfires, Abigail had always made sure never to leave someone behind. It was then that the sound of an evident ‘crack’ had struck through the supports before chipping away at the more fragile parts of the building. Her ears perked to the sound, forehead glowing, and just before the supports could topple over the workers from frightened yells and grunts, Abigail had been found overhead of the workers, along with a translucent blue, glass-like shield that had been summoned by Abigail. A deep exhale escaped her lips before she motioned for the rest to quickly catch up with the other mage.

Upon finally reaching the group on the next level, Abigail’s mind wondered who this mage could’ve been. ‘Has she been here this entire time..? Wait-- curses Abigail! You’re dawdling in your own head, get it together!’ She then shook her head, her expression remaining stern as ever, shouting over to the other mage.

“Did you actually have a plan, or are you improvising?” Given the tone of her voice, she wasn’t quite sure if she had been able to trust where the mage had been going, hoping that she would have a solid answer. Or at the very least, an honest one.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to Abigail that the mage hadn’t really had a thoroughly executed plan, but anything that didn’t involve harming the mundanes was a stable plan. However, it was when Abigail heard that she would simply throw them out the nearest window that frightened her. Had she forgotten how fragile mundanes typically were? It had been quite obvious that this mage hadn’t been someone from the academy, but someone who seemed to be doing things on her own accord.

“Throw them out? What kind of--” She spoke, furrowing her brows as she watched the mage carry a man before watching as she stepped towards the nearest window. She felt her heart drop in the moment as she watched the mage toss him out carelessly. If it weren’t for the boost in speed, Abigail wouldn’t have reacted quickly enough.

Luckily, she was able to squeeze herself just past the woman, and out of the window before floating just outside, having her gauntlets dissipate and her arm reaching downwards for the man. While she had been suspended in the air, a large number of wisps had appeared, spreading out thinly as to outstretch and reach to the falling man before finally solidifying and obtaining a grasp around the man’s waist, much like a whip of wisps.

She allowed herself to make time to catch her quickened breath, setting the man just onto the surface of the ground in front of the building, allowing her wispy-whip to disappear. As she looked just down the road, she had been able to hear the sounds of sirens wailing in the distance. Soon after, she hovered quickly to the window that the mage had used to toss the man out before mustering her strength to remain calm rather than spurting out how insane the mage had been for doing something so reckless.

She set two fingers onto her forehead before summoning a large amount of wisps. This time, the wisps had gone from the window, curving in circles downward until reaching the surface of the ground from stories above. As she remained suspended in the air, her fingers remained on her forehead. The wisps had then solidified once more, creating what appeared to be a thick glass slide heading all the way down. She then called out to the mage, her eyes focusing on the construct she created.

“Just have them slide down from here! Please try to hurry, this is much more complicated than it looks!” She spoke quickly, hoping the mage would at the very least make sure the workers had gotten down safely without harming them. The expression on her face showed that there was a bit of strain in keeping up with such a construct from being formed and keeping it from dispensing.

It was a great thing that the mage had actually caught up with Abigail’s way of thinking, more so on the part where saving the workers with minimal injuries as possible. Abigail wasn’t one to bring harm whilst trying to save a person, this was something she often learned during her time when receiving her abilities. Her eyes then watched as the workers began to use the slide as an escape to safety back down on the surface, where the actual reinforcements began to appear in the distance. It wasn’t until the mage turned quickly and made her way back into the building speedily that Abigail began to question what she had been doing.

Her eyes looked towards the inside of the window, focusing on it before watching as she let four more others down the slide. Abigail had been impressed. This mage had quick wits and showed hardly any repercussions while using her abilities. When everything was all said and done, Abigail might just actually invite the mage to lunch, depending on how the situation played out. She then allowed her wispy slide to dissipate, sliding right back into the building and following just behind Diana.

“I’m quite surprised at how fast you were able to do that.” And indeed she was, but the compliments had to be withheld till the end.

As they then headed down, the flames from previously seemed to be quite more intense. It was getting much harder to make out any sounds that could’ve been made by the workers, so Abigail went with another strategy: sight. Her eyes then began to glow, having her pupils dilate and her irises appear much more brighter, having her eyes dart around the area as the two ran. Of course, with the enhancement in sight, Abigail had been much more observant, but less reactive.

“I’ll see if I’m able to spot anyone out on this level. You can… wait-- look!” She spoke as she squinted her eyes, pointing towards the sight of a shadow in the distance just underneath a pile of collapsed debris.

It was then that a small chunk of stone had begun to crumble from above, literally falling just above Abigail’s head. If caught, Abigail would’ve ducked before using her aura to defend against it, however, it would’ve sent a crack throughout her entire form, giving her a potential risk of being exposed to the actual smoke and heat.

In a lucky turn of events, Abigail had just barely managed to escape the path of the debris’ sights by the mage’s speedy reflexes. She then lagged behind momentarily, catching up with what just happened with the debris.

“So that’s what’s been affecting my abilities... It isn’t necessary, but I appreciate the heads up.” She then nodded, closing her eyes momentarily and allowing her forehead symbol to glow and emit a glow through her entire body in a wave of blue light for just a moment, from head to toe.

“I suppose one can only take so many enhancements at the same then, yes? I should be able to catch up now.” She then gave off a bit of a confused look to the woman, shaking her head. “My enhanced vision only allows me to see what’s already in the surrounding area, but on a much grander scale. I can’t actually see through walls or floors, but maybe that won’t be necessary.”

Abigail’s magic had been rather tricky. She had always used it as a boost in her own abilities, but to an extent, as she only has so much energy in her reserves. In addition, due to her having access to more than one magical ability comes the downside of being able to activate so many of her abilities. It had been much like multitasking; specifically where she had been able to use one ability more subtly whilst being able to activate another right after. Anything that happens coming from outside forces had been somewhat of a distraction, which often leaves Abigail susceptible to lagging behind.

She then collected her thoughts mere moments after, looking to the man who had been magically enhanced by the mage’s abilities. She squinted, glancing over to the mage, floating once more and heading just besides him.

“Here, I’ll lead him off the building while you search the rest of the levels. However, I just need one moment…” She then closed her eyes for about a few seconds, emitting a strong glow from her forehead symbol before opening her eyes with a glint of blue aura seeping from them.

“The second and ground floor have a few more folks. You’ll be capable enough if you’re quick.” She opened her mouth, perking an ear before quickly grabbing the man’s shirt and pulling him back from a nearby collapsing wall. It had been scorched and the heat seemed to be quite intense. The entire thing had blocked Abigail’s view of the other mage, leading her to shout.

“Just do what you can! We’ll meet back outside! Good luck!”

Abigail then hovered before having the magically enhanced man follow just behind her, leading him through the window, only to perform an air dive with the man who had been left in a hesitant yell. Abigail couldn’t help but furrow her brows, wincing a bit to his yelling and patting his back as she finally set him down on the surface. Luckily for Abigail and the mage, the police and other reinforcements had come around, awaiting further notice.

It was unfortunate that Abigail had to watch the building catch fire, but at least a majority of the people who had been within it were safe. It was also the sight of the men in large suits and red hats that interested Abigail, watching as they used large, snake-like contraptions filled with pools of waters that shot out quicker than the eye can see. She could’ve enhanced her eyes to watch at a closer view, but she felt as if it would be find at the current moment.

It wasn’t until the mage had finally made her way out of there that she found herself glancing around, attempting to keep an eye on her. She was probably heading to a healer of sorts. No? She had been walking away, which led Abigail to give off a curious face, flicking her ear slightly, raising an eyebrow to her simple wave. Where could she have been going? Abigail made her way towards her, speedwalking before finally reaching a good distance at her side.

Her eyes trailed about, from the mage’s leg, to her abnormally bent knees. “Aren’t you hurt? Perhaps you should take a second to rest.” She glanced slightly as a passersby looked in Diana’s direction with a horrified look. She then furrowed her eyebrows, looking back up to the woman. “At the very least, what’s your name? Mine is Abigail, only to be fair in which I’m asking of yours.”

Abigail had been noble, but sometimes she could be a bit too virtuous in different settings. She didn’t seem to mind it with the mage, although her face did seem to give off a bit of concern when it came to the mage’s injuries, only to find them healing quite rapidly. “Now that’s something you don’t see quite often. Are you headed somewhere? I would’ve thought you’d stay behind seeing as you were helping the folks within that building. Of course, it would be understandable if you were just doing it out of the kindness of your heart, putting yourself in harm’s way to protect the safety of others.”

Abigail then set a palm just around her stomach area, covering the sounds of her stomach grumbling. She glanced a way within the moment, glancing about in search of a place to eat with wandersome eyes.

“Ah, I see. Amplification? I haven’t heard that word ever since I left the medical ward back when I was but a tiny princess. Goodness, that was long ago.” She let her eyes trail just to the side in memory of the event of having to do weekly checkups with the doctors back in London. “I have to say, the healers, or rather, doctors were very instructive and quite strict when it came to their work. Such a noble profession, don’t you think?” She looked back over to Diana. “I’m sure they’ve probably replaced them now, but they’re quite the decent folk in their own regard.”

“Hrm... seems this era has learned quite a bit over the years. I might have some catching up to do.” She mumbled quietly as she spoke to herself. Turning, she then raised an eyebrow with a simple grin. “Is that what you call the ones who lack our enhanced capabilities? It’s a fitting name.”

“Is that so? I’m sure there isn’t much to ask for.” She then lowered her eyelids to her final response. What could she have meant by giving her whatever she asked for? Just what exactly had this mage done in the time she had been here? Abigail had always had a rousing curiosity, so instead of having a feeling of being concern, she was much more inclined to figure out more; Even if it might having to stick around for awhile just to figure it out.

“I’ve never actually gotten a chance to try the food from here. What do you typically get? I’ve always wondered how food was around the world. May as well try it now!”